Clerkenwell Design Week 2019

Last week, the Pfeiffer Design team headed up from Sussex to London to attend Clerkenwell Design Week. An important part of any design calendar, CDW takes over the streets of Clerkenwell in May – bringing thousands of visitors to EC1 to experience a wealth of temporary installations, designed by specialist architects, engineers and designers. This year, CDW celebrated its 10th birthday – making it an extra social year to visit. We spent a wonderfully sunny day meeting with new and existing suppliers, getting inspired and sampling just what the design world has to offer in 2019.

This year, there was a definitely focus on sustainability from all sides. Many suppliers and designers are making real strides to be more sustainable in their designs, production, sourcing and logistics. We saw a strong return to the use of natural and organic materials, as well as utilising sustainable organic cotton and recycled fabrics in upholstery. We also noticed the continued use of as much greenery as possible, and bringing the outside in in the form of living walls and houseplants in order to purify the air and lend a sense of calm to all of our busy lives. Live demonstrations of the restoration of mid-century furniture, and an exhibition of refurbished vintage lighting were also featured, both being something we are very interested in using for future projects as work on making our designs more sustainable.

Not just focused on interior design, we met with a few different suppliers offering waterproof outdoor furniture and beanbags, tipis, outdoor rugs, garden swing seating and even outdoor kitchens and pizza ovens! We are getting asked more and more frequently for designs that offer balance and ‘bring the outside in’ in terms of creating a harmony between indoor and outdoor space, so these new products gave us a lot of pause for thought. And, of course… a lot of fun testing out the swing seat!

After a busy morning mingling and meeting with suppliers, we headed to the fabulous Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings for lunch. What an exquisite venue – and so appropriate for Design Week! Worn-in upholstery in varying weathered botanical prints, cast iron chairs and bold marble tables interspersed with overgrown jungle plants suspended from the crittal-style greenhouse ceiling – definitely a piece of us. Not to mention the delicious food and cocktails!

With our own new-build studio in the pipeline, we paid particular attention to office design, ergonomics and storage solutions. Crittal doors and industrial-inspired units made from metal frames and timber shelves aren’t going anywhere it seems. Bronze accessories are certainly still around, however there seems to be a stronger focus on more industrial black, and smoked bronze, metalwork and ironmongery.

We absolutely loved the use of warm neutral tones and the continued appearance of our current favourite deep clay pink terracotta shade – across everything from walls, to furniture, to terrazzo kitchen worktops. Feeling a little bit like Millennial Pink’s grown-up sister, we’re dying to get to use this shade in one of our projects soon. Luckily for us, where Design Week leads, everyone follows – it won’t be long before we’ll start noticing this distinctive shade coming through in absolutely everything.

So that’s a wrap on Clerkenwell Design Week 2019 – a wonderful opportunity for us to meet with existing and new suppliers, and network with other designers in the London sunshine. All in all an absolutely brilliant day out – it does us all good to get out of the studio sometimes!

We’re really looking forward to getting going on some new and existing projects, utilising this newfound inspiration. Keep checking back for more – we’ll be sure to update you all on our website and social media. Until next year…