A report from London's new Clerkenwell Design Week

'Doris Nesting Table' by Scene Design Studio, shown as part of Scene Plus at the Farmiloe Building

(Image credit: TBC)

last updated 1 September 2022

Clerkenwell has an impressive density of furniture showrooms, so it seemed a natural step that the London district should stage its own design festival. During the first, annual Clerkenwell Design Week, its showrooms laid on special exhibitions, talks and parties, while the Farmiloe Building - the festival hub - hosted a broad range of shows by an interesting mix of emerging and established names.

The last 18 months have seen many a brand open a Clerkenwell outlet, including Modus, Knoll and the Poltrona Frau Group. The latter transformed its space on St John Street into the 'London Design Village', showing highlights of the 2010 collections of Poltrona Frau, Cappellini, Cassina and Alias. A few doors down, Japanese bathroom specialist, Toto, opened its first European store, bringing with it its supersonic 'Washlet' toilet systems and minimalist bathroom fittings.

Over at the Farmiloe Building, non-Clerkenwell-based designers got a look in. Some showed new products for the first time, including Cornish brand, Mark, while others gave those that couldn't get to Milan a chance to see their products launched at the Salone del Mobile, including Tom Dixon. Shoreditch design studio Scene put on an impressive collaborative show, titled Scene Plus, with unusual pieces by independent designers.

Floor view, Grey floor with word 'warm' in black letters, coloured metal style crate stools, neutral door mat, computer screen, bottom of wooden unit — 'Ramen' stools by Warm, shown as part of Scene Plus

Grey floor, red tape line, multi-coloured triangular shape pattern coffee table, persons feet in black shoes and black trousers at the top right of the shot — 'Shift coffee table' by Toby Winteringham and Paternity, shown as part of design collective, Scene Plus

Grey brick floor, white rustic walls, multicoloured armchair design, two purple basketballs on the floor, 'Camira' in gold letters on a white sign leant against the back wall — 'Random sample 2010' by Nina Saunders and Camira

Outside daytime image, paved area St John Square, tall floor standing lamps, white base and colourful design shades, brick house with white framed windows in the backdrop, long grey stone bench, tall trees to the right, grey sky — A lighting installation in St John Square, featuring work by illustrators Joel Holland, Shout and Stuart Daly from Dutch Uncle, Luke Fenech and Chris Dent of the Young Creatives Network (YCN), James Lambert and local graphic design house, Picture.

Concrete floor, white walls, chair with black rib design seat and four pink legs, silver lamp stand, brown piping up wall and along floor — 'Rib' chair by Alexander Lervik for Johanson Design

Grey floor, black wall, cluster of metal lid table designs with wooden legs and handles, in various shades of pastel blue — 'Spin' by Tomoko Azumi for Mark

Outside daytime image, low brick wall, concrete floor, three different style chairs in various shades of pastel green, purple sofa in the background, bottom of bicycle wheels — New editions of the 'Nest' stacking chair by John Miller, include a meeting chair and pedestal chair, for Mark

Grey metal textured floor, white wash brick wall, long light wood table with lime green top, rustic brown drain pipe to the left — 'Waldo' table by James Burleigh at the Farmiloe Building

Blue painted brick wall backdrop, long light wood table, two white ceiling lights suspended above the table — 'Josiah' pendant light by Terence Woodgate for SCP

Dark grey marble floor and walls washroom, white Giovannoni washlet’ , white floor standing toilet roll holder, silver towel rail with dark blue folded towel, folded towels, white ornaments and plant on back wall platform — The 'Giovannoni Washlet' designed by Stefano Giovannoni for Toto

Bathroom image, white/grey walls, white rectangle shape mirror, rectangle cabinet, round white sink on a narrow shelf unit, silver towel rail with small white flannel, white toilet to the far right — Bathroom furniture from the 'NC series' by Toto

Lounge area, top of yellow leather sofa in front shot, glass doors open into next room, neutral floor with large black rug, tall glass black framed windows with surrounding view of white building and tree tops, table and chairs, small cream sofas with cushions, pink ottoman, three large round white lights suspended from ceiling — The recently completed Knoll showroom, designed by Piero Lissoni, on Goswell Road

Open ground floor space, neutral floor, square textured red rug with a cream sofa and two armchairs on top, black stairwell with black handrails, white brick walls, black framed pictures, large glass front with black frame doorway and external shrubs in view against a brick wall, white ceiling with spotlights, white round and oval shaped ceiling lights, small glass side table and white wall bench — The ground floor of the showroom is dedicated to the KnollStudio collection

White wooden floor, cream leather sofa on metal feet, two black wooden coffee tables, large tray of apples on the left and square glass vase with flower on the right, brown and red stripe rug, white wall backdrop — 'Bebop' sofa by Cini Boeri for Poltrona Frau, at the recently opened Poltrona Frau Group showroom

Light wood floor, long black wooden table, two cream chairs and two red chairs, square glass vase with white flowers, white tray of apples, small white armchair ornament, white oval frame, white walls, picture frame — 'Palio' table by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba for Poltrona Frau

Light wood floor, row of four fabric armchairs with dark grey metal frame and legs, in colours, dark blue, light blue, orange and green, black divider screen, blurred view of room in the distance — 'LC2' chairs from Cassina's Le Corbusier collection

White floor, black wall, pastel green armchair — 'Graffa' chair designed by Alfredo Haberli for Alias

White floor, white metal girders on wall, orange and blue recliner armchair, white frame glass wall, open doorway, blurred brown leather sofa, office, person sat at a desk in the distance — 'Cloth' armchair by Jehs+Laub for Cassina

White floor and walls, white wooden chair — 'PLC' chair by PearsonLloyd for Modus

Malaika Byng is an editor, writer and consultant covering everything from architecture, design and ecology to art and craft. She was online editor for Wallpaper* magazine for three years and more recently editor of Crafts magazine, until she decided to go freelance in 2022. Based in London, she now writes for the Financial Times, Metropolis, Kinfolk and The Plant, among others.

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