We offer curated highlights of  UK design festival Clerkenwell Design Week, of interest to bathroom and kitchen designers and specifiers

UK design festival Clerkenwell Design Week returns to London, from May 23-25, 2023, and will be its biggest event to date.

Now in its 12^th year, the festival will be ‘scaled up’, with the addition of Design London and will boast resident showroom participation, installations and a programme of topical talks.

Sponsored Video

Lauren Goodbrand of Kitchens International on winning the Kbsa Concept Designer Award 2024

The 2023 festival is set to offer more 600 events across the EC1 neighbourhood, across 12 exhibition venues.

These include Design Fields for international furniture and interiors brands, Contract, focusing on commercial interiors; Light, featuring international lighting brands; Project, spanning home to workplace furniture and solutions; Elements, featuring architectural hardware and finishes; British Collection, home of British interiors brands; Details, presenting luxury interiors, Platform highlighting emerging design talent; Old Sessions House introducing brand pop-ups and activations, plus Ceramics of Italy starring Italian tile brands. And new for this year will be The Garden introducing home to outdoor furniture and Catapult containing contemporary design for office, hospitality and retail.

Together, Clerkenwell Design Week will present over 300 design brands and emerging talent – covering furniture, kitchens and bathrooms, textiles, home interior accessories, lighting, materials and surfaces.

Street art installations from British artist Steve Messam

These will be alongside a network of showroom partners, holding a line-up of topic-led initiatives and events, from product launches and exhibitions to workshops and panel discussions.

Over 130 established brands from the UK overseas will take part, including Ideal Standard, Kohler, VitrA, Cosentino, Gessi, Iris Ceramica, Arper, Formica and Multipanel

In addition, returning to the event this year will be Conversations at Clerkenwell, a schedule of daily talks curated by brand consultant Katie Richardson and sponsored by RAK Ceramics.

There will also be installations from British artist Steve Messam and PLP Architecture exploring sustainability with Symbiocene Living: Mycelium Building Block encouraging the public to engage with fungi architecture.

PLP Architecture explores sustainability with Symbiocene Living: Mycelium Building Block

Design division director of organiser Media10 Marlon Cera-Marle commented: “CDW is always known for being one of the key destinations for specification – as well as discovering new talent and ideas – for architects, interior designers and creative minds alike.

“From product showcases to one-off installations, headline talks to networking events, CDW 2023 will bring some of the most exciting and forward-thinking content to Clerkenwell – while celebrating the best of design and creativity from around the world.”

EXHIBITORS

ELICA

Italian manufacturer of cooker hoods and extractor hobs, Elilca will be bringing its show trailer featuring new appliances across Europe to Brewhouse Yard in Clerkenwell.

The show trailer will be the first opportunity for UK designers, kitchen studios and interior designers to see LHOV, which integrates hob, hood and an extractor oven into one, single appliance.

This will be joined by NikolaTesla Unplugged, an extractor hob which brings together the aesthetics of its NikolaTesla Switch with the benefits of analogue control using fixed click-release knobs. 

Completing the line-up of products on show will be Elica’s new ranges of Virtus ovens and Ratio hobs.

BAGNODESIGN

Visitors to Clerkenwell Design Week will have a new location to add to their list of must-sees, with the Bagnodesign Architecture + Design Gallery, which has just opened at 119 Charterhouse Street.

The two-floor building has been designed for customers to network, discuss ideas and plan for future projects.

It also includes a dedicated meeting room and entertainment area, with a built-in bar.

There will be new launches on display including mixer range Chiasso, which comes in a range of finishes, with customisable inserts, and available in Alpine finishes to match furniture of the same name.

RAK CERAMICS

As one of the sponsors of Clerkenwell Design Week 2023, RAK Ceramics is celebrating the first anniversary of its Global Design Hub opening, at 100 St John Street, London.

Boasting 7,276 square feet over two floors, on display will be RAK-Valet, a range of sanitaryware designed for RAK Ceramics by Patrick Norguet.

It also features the manufacturer’s brassware collection, which encompasses over 30 tap ranges in five finishes, and its decorative porcelain slab Metamorfosi.

IDEAL STANDARD

At Clerkenwell Design Week 2023, Ideal Standard is unveiling a variety of design-led ranges to its premium Atelier Collection at its London Design & Specification Centre.

Continuing its partnership with design powerhouse, Palomba Serafini Associati, Ideal Standard will unveil kitchen tap range Gusto, sustainable Alu+ shower, a glossy grey finish for its i.life collection and preview of the Solos range combining basin and fitting.

As well as exploring the latest products, visitors will also be able to take part in a drop-in pottery workshop with London-based ceramics studio, Social Pottery on May 24 and invited to visit the Gusto bar – designed around Ideal Standard’s new kitchen mixer tap range.

TOTO

Fresh from its takeover of the Forum at international bathroom show ISH, TOTO will showcase its range of sanitaryware, including its latest washlet Neorest WX, taps and accessories and tell its sustainability story.

By joining the RE100 initiative, TOTO Group will convert all its facilities to sustainable energy powerby the year 2040 and its has  received certification from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBT) to cut CO2 emissions further on this basis.

In addition, TOTO will host an exhibition of  photographs by architectural photographer, writer and curator Gareth Gardnerm with handpicked images from his 20-year archive featuring staged photography through to documentary.

COSENTINO

Participating for the fifth year as a resident showroom, Cosentino will once again sponsor Clerkenwell Design Week.

It will host a plethora of events and talks with experts, including a preview of its new collection for Silestone, Le Chic, and discussing the company’s sustainability story with its ESG global director Ramon Ruiz and circular economy manager Luis Henz Del Campo.

Cosentino will also bring back its 12-seater bar bike, in partnership with Pedibus, offering design professionals a fun way to explore Clerkenwell Design Week.

Read an interview with Cosentino City London showroom manager Sasha Joseph about the event and register for Clerkenwell Design Week 2023.

VILLEROY & BOCH

Villeroy & Boch will be showcasing a number of ranges, including several new tap collections, at Clerkenwell Design Week.

Focused on international furniture and product, Design Fields will play host to the bathroom manufacturer which is celebrating its 275th anniversary.

Villeroy & Boch has manufactured premium ceramic products since 1748.

LAMINAM

Manufacturer of large-sized porcelain surfaces, Laminam, will be showcasing its latest Diamond Series at its UK debut at Clerkenwell Design Week in the Design Fields.

The Diamond series comprises four colours: Cristallo Gold, Onice Grigio, Cristallo Macchia Vecchia and Calacatta Black (shown).

In addition, it sees the introduction of two finishes – Caress, with a slightly opaque nature, designed to offer a feeling of softness and Polished Starlit with a stardust effect.

Cristallo Gold comes in a Caress finish, while the other three additions are available in the Polished Starlit finish.

MULTIPANEL

Visitors to Clerkenwell Design Week will be able to see Multipanel’s extensive collection of wall panels and flooring options, as the company opens its doors to its newly-renovated showroom in London.  

 
A first for the company, Multipanel’s presence at Clerkenwell will be used to showcase its bathroom panels, including The Tile Collection, with a preview of new decors set to launch later in the year.  
 
Over the course of the three days, Multipanel will host events at its showroom, including lunch and learn events on sustainable specification and innovation. For those looking to learn more about bathroom design trends for 2023, Multipanel is hosting a trends workshop on Wednesday 26 from 5.30pm with guest speaker Egger. 

GRAFF DESIGNS

Exhibiting for the first time at Clerkenwell Design Week, luxury brassware manufacturer Graff Designs will be presenting its bathroom and new kitchen tap collections – Futurismo and Segovia in Design Fields.

With pull-out heads, which reach up to 1800mm, and built-in lock mechanisms, both feature in the Chef’s Pro edition.

These will be joined by Graff’s MOD+ range, comprising 55 products for the bathroom – spanning washbasin, bath and shower, offering 63,000 possible combinations.