Welcome

We’ve traversed the strange hinterland that is January and the time for New Year’s wishes has passed. Resolutions are presumably already broken and gym memberships discarded. Yet, I’ve noticed, there’s still a sense of shifting sands; of centres of gravity fluctuating.

One, is the pivot in interest from the capital to England’s north – where Manchester has been steadily gaining steam as the UK’s second most important creative, cultural and economic hub. The imagination seen here – as well as the ferocious pace of change – is evidenced in this issue’s case studies, one a 1960s conference centre turned slick music venue, another a BTR project that aims to recontextualise city living. It’s seen also in our property story, Supply and Demand, in which we explore the rush on Manchester working spaces from the creative industries.

Ideas also feel unsettled; ways of doing things in flux. That’s manifesting in brave, pioneering design choices – including The Office’s Group’s new Black & White Building, another of this issue’s boundary-pushing projects – and in unexpected ones.

That renowned restaurant designer, Afroditi Krassa, was recently approached to design the headquarters for a global hotel group is proof that the lines between sectors and disciplines are growing ever woollier. Workplace no longer stands apart from hospitality; hospitality from commercial residential; residential from public sector, or any combination of the above, and then some. Failure to recognise this is folly. In our interview with Krassa, we discuss what constitutes good design and why it isn’t as subjective as you may think.

But while we’re seemingly still in a period of revision, revolution and uncertainty, we do aim to help you steer the way. In our The Year Ahead piece, we chart upcoming projects, products and events, and hear from industry leaders as they offer their thoughts on what lies ahead. Separately, tp bennett’s Leigh Dimelow posits his greatest lessons, in our newly introduced Things I’ve Learnt piece; while Gensler’s Collin Burry demonstrates why some items will always have appeal, in the equally new Height of Design.

So while I can’t guarantee you’ll ever use that gym membership again, I can be certain there is something for you in these pages. Happy reading.

CELEBRATING THE BEST PROJECTS, PRODUCTS & PEOPLE IN COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGN

22.06.23 EVOLUTION LONDON

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