Since our inception in 2009, Sphere8 has been committed to introducing innovative floor and wall products to the interior design industry - products that offer a significantly lower environmental impact compared to mainstream alternatives.
Our flooring systems feature cutting-edge, ecoconscious materials, including plant-based resins and 100% recycled, carbon-negative fillers.
We are proud to offer Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for our systems, ensuring transparency and accountability in our sustainability claims.
In recognition of our efforts, we were awarded ‘Surface of the Year’ at the 2025 Surface Design Awards, celebrating our excellence in both design and sustainability.
At Sphere8, we love what we do and truly believe that anything is possible.
240
14 Upfront Projects, products and people through a future-centric lens.
24 Things I’ve Learnt Oli Heywood, Director at Allies and Morrison, shares industry advice from a career so far.
26 The Height of Design Studiomama director Nina Tolstrup shares the item she sees as the epitome of great design.
28 View from the Outside Architect, curator and urbanist Madeleine Kessler explores London’s groundbreaking Tideway Tunnel.
30 In conversation with: Dorothée Meilichzon Dorothée Meilichzon talks fantasy, Frenchness and why every design must tell a story.
38 In conversation with: Manijeh Verghese Open City CEO Manijeh Verghese discusses rethinking systems and why she’s no longer using the word ‘architecture’.
46 Designing for Difference POoR Collective’s Shawn Adams onthe importance of championing small architecture studios.
48 Case study: Downstairs at dMFK dMFK reimagines its own basement as a bold, adaptable space for work and play.
54 Case study: The Hoxton Edinburgh Hoxton’s first UK opening outside of London offers a cliché-free take on Edinburgh.
60 Case study: Stockroom SpaceInvader unveils a public library and cultural hub in the rapidly developing borough of Stockport.
68 Case study: Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park
With its latest BTR development, Mason & Fifth creates a lifestyle ecosystem on London’s Grand Union Canal.
76 Case study: M Moser Living Lab, London Joining 13 global studios, M Moser’s latest living lab is a net-zero, peoplecentric prototype.
82 The Ask Tina Norden explores how to balance the global with the local in an increasingly online world.
84 Positive Impact
Colour consultant Justine Fox examines the impact our spaces have on people and the planet.
90 Fast Forward
Following the Designer’s Saturday biennale in Oslo, we ask if Norway could be the future focus of Scandi design.
96 Paradoxically Speaking
Sage’s Neil Usher muses on romanticising the future of work and the reality of living in the moment.
98 Mix Roundtable with Autex Acoustics
We ask if tech and data can offset existing climate damage, or if we’re just designing better band-aids.
106 Mix Roundtable with CMD
We chart the bold ideas shaping tomorrow’s office and how to bring these concepts to life.
114 Events: Mix 30 under 30
We gather in Clerkenwell to celebrate the next generation of design talent.
126 Events: Hotel Experience 2025
The second edition of Hotel Experience returns at Athens’ Technopolis.
132 Mix Talking Point: Please wait
From doctors’ waiting rooms to public realm, we explore the potential of transitional civic spaces.
136 The Making Of: Impact Acoustic
We sit down with the Swiss brand forging a new path for sustainable fabrication and industry change.
140 Material Matters
OEO Studio co-founder Thomas Lykke shares the materials in rotation at his Copenhagen practice.
141 Material Innovation Furniture by Rotterdam studio The New Raw blends robotic precision with traditional craftsmanship.
142 The Final Word Workplace design strategist Mike Walley discusses the law of unintended consequences.
KITCHEN - RIVIÈRE ROSE
Colophon
The cover Designer Manufacturer
Get in touch
Managing Editor
Harry McKinley harry@mixinteriors.com
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Chloé Petersen Snell chloe@mixinteriors.com
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Charlotte Slinger charlotte@mixinteriors.com
Editorial Assistant
Ellie Foster ellie@mixinteriors.com
Managing Director Leon March leon@mixinteriors.com
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Founding publisher Henry Pugh
Founded by three friends from architecture school, over 25 years dMFK has grown into a multi-award-winning practice of 60+ architects and interior designers. Known for creating characterful buildings to live, work and gather in, within each of its projects dMFK strives to consider everything from the foundations to the perfect door handle – creating cohesive, human-centric spaces that make moving through the day feel natural, important and spectacular.
dmfk.co.uk
Since 2009, resin flooring expert Sphere8 has specialised in both the supply and installation of hand-applied wall and floor finishes. Operating throughout the UK and internationally, the flooring contractor crafts resin, polished concrete and terrazzo surfaces, using natural, environmentally friendly biopolymer resins. The brand also offers a unique colourmatch service for maximum design freedom, complementing its already broad selection of in-house shades.
sphere8.com
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As I write this, I’ll soon be hosting some of our Mix Awards 2025 project winners for an intimate supper at a Covent Garden hotspot. One might think being handed a nattily designed gong in front of one of the design industry’s largest and most glittering gatherings would be reward enough, but even when weighed against the spectacle of Mix Awards, there’s something to be said for connecting on a more human scale. Similarly, and not long after, I depart for Athens – where I’ll chair a series of live talks at Hotel Experience, the dynamic forum for futurecentric hotel design. Here, we’ll gather round the metaphorical campfire and chew the fat on tomorrow’s luxury, radical concepts and breathing new life into heritage places and spaces.
Amidst this, I’m knee deep in recording for the second season of our popular (at least according to the stats) podcast series, Things I’ve Learnt. Across another round of eye-opening and provocative conversations, I’m hearing from industry
Welcome
leaders and disruptors; how they manage success, navigate failure and what their thoughts are on the discipline that connects us all – design. It’s far from superficial fluff, instead an opportunity to discover how their inner worlds shape the world around us. There are often laughs and often moments of profound weight. No tears. Yet. It’s coming later this year and it would be remiss of me not to encourage you to subscribe, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts –with video episodes at mixinteriors.com and YouTube.
Now, I’m not rattling off this list out of expectation that anyone is interested in my professional calendar. Instead, it’s because these things – like so many others in my and your work – are tied together with a common thread.
In a moment when headlines are dominated by artificial intelligence and rapid, sometimes terrifying technological leaps, it’s worth remembering that what truly resonates — and often what
endures — are the human stories and connections at the centre of it all. Technology can amplify, streamline and even astonish, but it cannot replace the spark of authenticity that comes from lived experience and honest exchange, between people. The projects we celebrate or create, the talks we host or attend, the podcasts we record or listen to — they matter not only because of the ideas themselves, but because they carry the imprint of the people behind them; their hard won successes, their unvarnished failures, their personal perspectives shaped by the real world. That intimacy is what allows design to remain alive, relevant and deeply human. So, while I look forward to the innovation ahead, I’m just as excited about the conversations, the laughter and the moments of recognition that remind us that we are, first and foremost, storytellers and listeners.
Harry McKinley Managing Editor
SCAN ME TO FIND OUT MORE
Reintroducing Flo Monitor Arm
The new Flo is designed to accommodate the latest generation of flat or curved screens (up to 34 inches and 7kg). Whichever screen you choose, Flo provides the ergonomic excellence you need to work comfortably –improving posture, concentration and well-being.
Sound materials for healthy buildings
We’re on a positive journey towards momentous change because we want to make a material difference to the planet and its people. That’s why we’re not resting on achieving carbon neutrality across the organisation and our products. We’re committed to being Nature Positive, which ultimately delivers systems and products that contribute to biodiversity replenishment, carbon sequestration, and many positive environmental outcomes. It’s manufacturing that cares for human beings and the generations to come.
Learn more about our journey here:
New HÅG Tion Mesh
The newest addition to our most flexible task chair family.
With a breathable mesh backrest and the agile, ergonomic design that defines HÅG Tion, it offers a lighter look and even more versatility. Perfect for flexible offices, meeting rooms, or creative studios. The mesh edition delivers comfort, movement, and long-term support.
Now you see me
On the banks of Oregon's Rogue River, Tu Tu' Tun Lodge – named after the indigenous Tututni tribe that once settled there – has undergone an expansion of its remote retreat-style lodgings in collaboration with Finnish cabin designers, ÖÖD.
A part of a site-wide renovation by new management Charming Hospitality, twelve of ÖÖD's signature Glass Cabins have been dotted across the rocky terrain, reflecting the contemporary rustic interiors of the site’s existing 1970s lodge. Orientated towards mountain, creek or
river respectively, three façades of floorto-ceiling glass (treated to be tinted on the inside and mirrored on the outside) grant guests a direct visual connection to the landscape, whilst being cocooned within a simulation of the starry night sky, mountainsides or water’s surface beyond.
Of late, mirrored or ‘invisible’ architecture has been on the rise, speaking to design principles rooted in biomimicry as well as the increasing desire for city dwellers to be at one with nature. Designed for two, each cabin’s compact floorplate accommodates a
double bed, wet room and a small lounge – quietly luxurious but intentionally distraction-free to encourage guests to reestablish real world connections.
Outside, a private deck feeds off to a wood-burning sauna (also crafted in ÖÖD’s two-way tempered glass) which has been placed within reach of the river’s cool up current. Alongside immersion through materiality, Tu Tu' Tun Lodge enables guests to easily participate in contrast therapy with natural cold plunges between sessions, fully integrating digitally fatigued metropolitans with the earth.
Image:
Elliot
Hawkey
Lighten up
Renewed for 2025, LightMass^ by Raw-Edges builds on last year’s collection, where the London-based product designers first challenged conventional lighting design by playing with perceptions of weight, volume and translucency, and reframed the role of a light fixture as a sculptural presence.
Studio founders Shay Alkalay and Yael Mer have redeveloped the LightMass^ model in response to shifting trends in the lighting industry, the duo sensing that adjustable LED systems were pushing out the time-honoured function of lightshades. Instead of dismissing light covering as archaic, Raw Edges asked, “So what’s next for the light shade?”, before setting out to make a playful alternative that made the lightshade into a glowing art piece in and of itself.
Emitting what the pair has dubbed the ‘lantern effect,’ LightMass^ products are large in volume but minimal in mass, boasting voluminous gossamerthin lighting structures that consist of intricate woven strands. The technological mesh weave developed by the studio is drawn digitally from one continuous brushstroke.
Taking inspiration from the Victorian era’s looping greenhouses and precisionengineered bridges, Raw Edges has designed the unique mesh using additive technology, with filaments being fused together to reconstruct the fluid lines as a flat, airy surface. These feather-light filament planes are then manipulated into a three-dimensional structure and stitched together like a piece of tailoring.
raw-edges.com
Tablo. Elegant table range incorporating a simple, highly functional cable management system within each base, keeping power and connectivity at your fingertips - no clutter, no fuss. Available in a wide variety of sizes and finishes, and as rectangular, boat and vase-shaped.
Nobu joins the boom town
In partnership with property developer Salboy, US-owned hotel group Nobu Hospitality has unveiled its plans for its first branded residences in the UK. Proposed as a mixed-use hotel, restaurant and residential complex, the property will occupy a prime city-centre Manchester location.
Standing at 246 m, the £360 million property development will place Nobu Hotel Manchester as the tallest building outside of London, comprising 76 storeys. Alongside 160 guestrooms, event spaces and an on-site Nobu F&B offering, Nobu will mark its debut into the UK’s luxury real estate market with 452 residences set to ‘redefine city centre living’. Through refined, thoughtful, Japanese-inspired interiors, each apartment will reflect the brand’s signature minimalist design, with residents not only benefitting from Nobu dining and room service but an array of luxury touchpoints, including access to an exclusive swimming pool, spa, podium garden and gym.
Named Viadux 2, the debut Nobu property will join its predecessor, Viadux – a Simpson Haugh Architectsdesigned tower of serviced apartments that formerly identified the demand for hospitality-inspired homes in this area. Nobu is also amongst a flurry of notable hotel brands making Manchester home, with Soho House Manchester in the pipeline, the recently-opened Treehouse Manchester being the hotel group’s first outpost outside of London, and Hilton’s recent announcement that it will open the largest Hampton by Hilton in Europe at the Etihad Stadium.
Reclaimed, ReFramed
At 2025’s Designer’s Saturday, held 12-14 September in Oslo under the curatorial direction of ‘Repurpose’, USM Haller revealed a poetic and provocative collection entitled ReFramed by the CEO of Studio M3, Martin A Andersen.
Following the redesign of a Kredittkassan bank in Oslo, a stockpile of USM Haller filing cabinets fell into the lap of Andersen, their characteristic chrome tubes and connector balls sparking the idea for an interactive display for the event. Approaching both established names and emerging talents, the brief was to convert the discarded frames into functional benches or seating units, demonstrating the possibilities of adaptive reuse with self-sourced materials.
Furniture maker Kjetil Smedal transformed his unit into a record player with integrated vinyl storage and designer Lloyd Winter’s gave the impression of being reabsorbed by the wilderness with grass and woodchips. Meanwhile, creative studio Hunting & Narud used wooden panels, sourced from a century-old barn in Dokka, to extend theirs, and Johansson used spent cargo straps from a shipping company to make a comfortable seat.
Mic Poy, on the other hand, salvaged teak panels formerly covering an outdoor heat pump, where Marianne Skarbøvik of the eponymous studio utilised an awning from her neighbour's house.
Stian Korntved Ruud topped hers with a highly polished birch log; Bjarte Sandal with pine floorboards by Dinesen and
Bård Arnesen with traditional Norwegian woven blankets. Andersen added two of his own designs into the mix – one fabricated from disused climbing ropes, the other clad in leftover acrylic tiles from the brand, Fired Earth.
Upon completion, the 11 pieces were arranged as an auditorium for the event’s talks programme, not only exemplifying the practical aspect of radical reuse but its role in transforming furniture iconography into something surprising and unexpected.
uk.usm.com
Image: Birgit Fauske
PATTERN PLAY
NEW collection out now
All designs, in all colours manufactured in 10 days PLAY TO CREATE
Google it
A decade on, London's most anticipated new HQ, Google King's Cross, enters the final stretch, with its distinctive sculpted greenroof being recently glimpsed by commuters arriving by rail, bike and car. Following a collaboration on Google’s Californian campus, the tech giant enlisted Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studio to design its London office, destined to be its first wholly owned headquarters outside of the US.
Slated for completion by the end of 2025, the 60,386 sq m destination office campus is due to house 7,000 Google employees, characterised by its cascading form, mezzanines jutting out in triple-height volumes and a variety of workstations which will encourage interdepartmental connection and optimise productivity. Making a splash, Google King's Cross will additionally grant staff access to a fulllength lap pool and other sports facilities (including a rooftop running track), as well as the market halls, auditoria, cafés and retail units, situated at ground level.
Acting as a milestone in workplace design, the unusual site inspired the design team to opt for an 11-storey landscraper over the archetypal stacked office tower, adhering to the site’s shape, respecting natural pedestrian throughways and retaining proximity to a major London rail hub. Upon opening, Google King's Cross will not only stand as an architectural feat – measuring a gargantuan 330m in length (as long as The Shard is tall) – but as a one of the most significant and innovative office buildings in UK history.
Image: Hayes
Davidson
Things I've learnt
Oliver Heywood is a Director at Allies and Morrison, a practice of architects and urbanists based in London, Cambridge, Manchester, Dublin, Jeddah and Toronto – known for designing beautiful buildings that have long life and can adapt over the generations. His work spans the arts and education sectors, currently fronting the Barbican Renewal project, a major capital programme that will ensure every part of the iconic site is restored, revitalised and relevant for future generations.
alliesandmorrison.com
Nobody knows everything
When I walked into my first job in architecture aged 22, I assumed that everyone around me knew everything about how to design and build buildings and that I should too. Once I realised this wasn’t the case, I felt comfortable to ask questions and this is when I really began to learn.
Teamwork works
I find working in a team very rewarding and it is most successful when everyone feels they have a voice and are genuinely contributing to a process. Good design is always a product of discussion and debate, and is a process that cannot be done in isolation. Young designers should be part of this process; they should be given the space to think and develop ideas alongside more experienced team members.
Learn when to let go
Being too much of a perfectionist can lead to stress, disappointment, breakdown of relationships and even the collapse of a project. The most important thing in my view is that the idea itself is fully realised and legible within the finished product – this may be about how people experience, use or read a space, which is about its character, not necessarily its minutiae. This is where energies should be prioritised.
Never stop listening
If you don’t understand your clients, you will fail. It is essential to really get to know them – their motivation behind a project, through to nitty gritty operational detail. This can only be achieved through thorough engagement at all levels within an organisation, asking the right questions, being genuinely inquisitive and absorbing everything you hear. Find ways to work with, rather than for, your clients.
Avoid long emails
Not to rant, but we are all busy people in this industry and reading long-winded emails is not what we trained for years to spend our time doing. Emails should be concise and get to the point as quickly as possible. If you want to be heard and have impact, brevity is power.
The height of design
Nina Tolstrup is director of Studiomama, the multidisciplinary design studio she founded alongside Jack Mama in 2000. With a portfolio ranging from objects to architecture, the studio has worked with a diverse client base from Ottolenghi to the London Design Festival.
studiomama.com
The item VOLA tap by Arne Jacobsen.
The why
VOLA reflects a complete and enduring design philosophy. Conceived by Jacobsen in 1968 for the Danish National Bank, it was designed as part of the architecture, not as a stand-alone object. That integration is central to how I understand good design – something considered holistically, with sensitivity to context and user. VOLA’s beauty lies in its clarity and modesty. There is no decoration, only precision. Every element has a purpose and nothing more is added. It is a system, not just a tap – modular, adaptable and refined over decades.
The
inspiration
The VOLA tap inspires me in its quiet confidence and deeply integrated design thinking. What resonates most is its systems-based approach – how it was conceived not as a single object, but as a modular framework that could adapt across uses and spaces. It inspires me to think about longevity, not novelty –to create with intention, restraint and respect for material. The fact that each tap is still made to order in Denmark speaks to a level of care and skill that aligns with our studio values around local production and craft. VOLA reminds me that great design doesn’t compete for attention – it earns its place through integrity, usefulness and the quiet confidence of knowing exactly what it is.
The
impact
VOLA has had a subtle but profound impact on how we understand and interact with everyday design. It redefined the role of the tap – from a purely functional fixture to an integrated architectural element. VOLA showed that utility could be beautiful and that good design didn’t have to rely on trends or
excess. Its impact can be seen across generations of product and interior design, but perhaps most powerfully, it lives quietly in the background of people’s lives. That’s the real legacy: design that enhances daily rituals, without ever needing to assert itself.
The personal connection
VOLA has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Denmark, it was always there – familiar, understated, quietly elegant. It was never treated as a 'design piece', just part of the everyday landscape, which is exactly what makes it so special. It blends into the background, yet it’s impossible to imagine the space without it. That balance – between presence and humility – is something I find deeply moving. It has influenced the way I think about my own work: how to create things that last, that feel natural in their environment and that don’t chase attention. VOLA has, of course, been copied to the point that all taps look like a VOLA. But a copy remains a copy.
Super sewer, super city
Earlier this month I was lucky enough to have a sneak preview of the new Bazalgette Embankment, part of Tideway’s ‘Super Sewer’. In one of London’s most congested corners, a riverside space has been carved out, with benches and planting overlooking the Thames, framed by Nathan Coley’s artwork and the sound of water trickling through. A much-needed breathing space in the heart of the city; a place to pause, sit, meet, contemplate and watch the tide.
After more than a decade of tunnelling, the 25 km Thames Tideway Tunnel opens this autumn. Its purpose is to capture the raw sewage that has poured into the Thames for generations, but its legacy is more than what lies underground. The project has also created seven new public spaces along the river, from gardens and artworks to new connections along the Thames Path. Heavy infrastructure has been delivered as civic space.
It’s a lesson we once knew. When Joseph Bazalgette built London’s sewers in the 19th century, he gave the city the Embankments. Layered places of road, rail, sewer,
promenade and park. They solved a public health crisis and left London with civic landscapes we still enjoy today.
Elsewhere, similar lessons are already embedded. As a student I discovered a park in Tokyo built directly above a wastewater plant, where tai chi, children’s play and quiet gardens unfolded above tanks quietly churning below. In Connecticut, the Whitney Water Purification Facility sits in a rural landscape but doubles as a park, its landforms narrating the treatment process for visitors. These examples show how infrastructure can do more than function, and support health, wellbeing and ecological resilience while opening up new spaces for public life.
The UK urgently needs this ambition. In 2024, water companies discharged untreated sewage into rivers and seas for 3.6 million hours, a 54% rise on the previous year. Our Victorian system is overwhelmed by climate change, population growth and neglect. Failures stay hidden until a swim spot is closed or a riverbank reeks after rain. When infrastructure is invisible, its failures are too.
Embedding design into infrastructure from the outset changes this. It can add value socially, by creating public space; environmentally, by restoring ecosystems; and economically, by strengthening resilience and reducing long-term costs. Infrastructure can –and should – work harder: cleaning water, creating habitats and giving back civic pride.
Tideway is not without controversy, no mega-project is, but it proves that even the dirtiest systems can create joy. The question is whether we treat it as a one-off, or the beginning of a new normal. With climate change bringing heavier rain and rising sea levels, we will need to rethink water systems across the UK. Every project could follow this lead: wetlands that defend against floods, treatment plants that double as parks, pipes that bring people to the water’s edge. Infrastructure should not be hidden. It should be part of our civic life, built with pride, for people and to last.
Madeleine Kessler is an architect, curator and urbanist dedicated to designing joyful people-centred places that contribute positively to our planet.
madeleinekessler.com
Free to create
Dorothée Meilichzon on fantasy, Frenchness and why
every
design
must tell a story.
When Dorothée Meilichzon was tasked with the redesign of Cowley Manor, she was inundated with messages from patrons of the much-loved boutique property. “It was the first time that had ever happened. On email, on Instagram – people saying they knew that the Experimental Group had bought the hotel, that I was involved and that I had to do a good job because it was their favourite place,” she recalls. “So many messages! Which was a lot of pressure, but also cool, because in that scenario, pressure is a good thing.”
The Cotswolds hotspot, which originally opened its doors in 2002, was given a new lease of life no less than 21 years later by Meilichzon. Taking design cues from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, who was rumoured to have based some of his classic tale at the manor, she also spent time in the Cotswolds, exploring the environs and gathering inspiration for the refurb. “It’s a Grade II listed building, so there were things we couldn't touch,” explains the Paris-based interior architect. “I love the English countryside, but I couldn’t copy English designers as
Words: Claudia Baillie
Dorothée Meilichzon
they are by far the best at that particular style. What the French do well is to play more on graphic elements, so rather than florals or damasks, we pulled out geometric patterns from the illustrations in the old Alice in Wonderland books.” These manifest themselves as chequerboard fabrics, wallpapers and tiles, which sit alongside rabbit head knockers and playing card carpets. Tiny doors above the skirting boards and giant columns in the lobby are a nod to the book’s playful shifts in scale, marrying the whimsy of Carroll’s imagination with Meilichzon’s contemporary French flair.
Drawing inspiration from an existing build, its history or indeed its location is something that Meilichzon excels at. “There's always something that we want to pay tribute to. It's the only way to create something new each time, so we research specifics to ensure every project is unique.” Another prime example is the Experimental Chalet in Val d'Isère, which was originally constructed in the 1990s in an American lodge style. “I've been skiing in Val d'Isère since I was a kid, so I knew the area, but we still do the research, read the books and watch the documentaries and movies so we can really understand the vibe,” she explains. With bed heads made to resemble giant skis, table legs made from ski poles, and bronze wardrobe and drawer handles cast to mimic branches and twigs, the characterful hotel, which reopened in 2024, sits comfortably within its mountainous surroundings.
Born into a creative family, Meilichzon always knew she wanted to be a designer, an ambition that was underpinned by the fact that her mother was passionate about interiors. “She was a huge fan of Kit Kemp’s Firmdale brand, so from a young age I was introduced to those spaces, then later on to hotels like The Standard and Chateau
Left: Experimental Chalet, photography by Mr Tripper
Right: Cowley Manor, photography by Mr Tripper
“What the French do well is to play more on graphic elements.”
Marmont in LA,” she says. Having studied at the Strate School of Design in Paris and at Rhode Island School of Design, she worked for a couple of design companies, before launching her own practice, Chzon, in 2009 aged just 27. Her first project, the Prescription Cocktail Club in Saint Germain de Prés, opened its doors the same year. “My background was in industrial design, so I was really into function and how to make things work. Mixing cocktails needs to be a superefficient process, so it was interesting designing a cocktail station that could help the servers make as many drinks as possible in just a few minutes.”
These projects, as well as a multitude of others, were masterminded alongside dynamic hospitality brand the Experimental Group, founded in 2007 by Romée de Goriainoff, Olivier Bon and Pierre-Charles Cros; the trio were subsequently joined by Xavier Padovani in 2010. “I met them at a party!” Meilichzon laughs. “We were about 20 at the time and we became friends. Since then, we’ve shared so many experiences at restaurants, at hotels and while traveling. We also have the same love for hospitality – them on the business side and me on the design side. Above all, we understand each other, which makes working together very easy.”
Dorothée Meilichzon
Not all of Meilichzon’s projects have been with Experimental however, and in fact her first hotel, the Hotel Paradis, which opened in 2012 in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, was with independent French hotelier Adrien Gloaguen – a partnership that extended to Hotel Panache in 2016. Thirteen years, a place on Architectural Digest’s AD 100 list and multiple industry awards later, her burgeoning portfolio includes a host of hotels, bars and restaurants in London, Paris, New York, the Middle East and beyond. Highlights include the Henrietta Hotel in London (with a restaurant by renowned chef, Ollie Dabbous), the Gran Hotel Montesol in Ibiza town, Hotel Regina
in Biarritz and Il Palazzo Experimental in Venice, with the newest, Hotel Mylos, having debuted in Corsica in summer 2025. “Mylos is completely different and super cool,” she enthuses. “We worked with Orma Architettura, an architectural firm based on the island and they used soil excavated from the site to build the walls, so the structure appears to blend into the landscape.” Focusing on the texture of the ochre-hued, cave-like build as well as the village’s Greek heritage and of course, Corsican themes, the interior features Greek style columns and motifs, as well as black lozenge shapes above the beds and mirrors – an homage to traditional Corsican shepherd’s hats.
“As a creative, if you try to do too much, it’s very difficult to do it properly.”
Rght:
Residential projects are strictly off the cards – her enthusiasm for public spaces outweighs the desire to create private ones – but in recent years the studio has branched out into both retail and product design, most notably with Italian fragrance and beauty brand Aqua di Parma. A coffee shop in Seoul led to stores in Saint Tropez, Guangzhou and Paris, complete with bespoke furniture in the maison’s signature sunshine yellow, while products include soap and soap dishes, and a ceramic candle inspired by the brand’s iconic Art Deco perfume bottle.
“It was an interesting relationship, as at the time, I didn't know anything about retail, so I learned a lot,” she notes.
“We also had plenty of freedom and I'm always happy to do projects where I can really create.” An ongoing partnership, a new Aqua di Parma concession in Paris’ celebrated department store, Bon Marché, will open in October 2025, while retail concepts are also in the pipeline for Soho-based desert shop Crème and smashburger restaurant Supernova, for whom Chzon has already designed several London outlets.
Though these and indeed other diversifications have been fruitful, hospitality is where Meilichzon’s focus always returns. “As a creative, if you try to do too much, it’s very difficult to do it properly and hotel design is complicated – there are many things happening at the same time, so you need to be connected, and to know what's going on in the hospitality business,”
“I love working in London as it’s so rich in terms of culture and very different from French culture.”
Left: Gran Hotel Montesol, Ibiza, photography by Karel Balas
Hotel Mylos, Corsica, photography by Julie Ansiau
she says. As such, a contract for a new London hotel is imminent, as is a refresh of the Experimental Cocktail Club on Chinatown’s Gerrard Street, originally launched in 2009. “I love working in London as it’s so rich in terms of culture and very different from French culture, which is something I appreciate.” Beyond these shores, a hotel in Cadaqués in Spain is also on the horizon, as are two more properties in Portugal’s Alentejo.
With her distinctive approach, Meilichzon continues to redefine what it means to create remarkable spaces and her philosophy remains unchanged: everything must tell a story and every story must be authentically its own. “These days, many hoteliers have a strict brief, and they don’t want to take risks,” she says. “They see what they think is a good formula and want to stick with it. But there is no good formula and we always need to innovate.” In an industry where cautious conformity often prevails, this commitment to narrative-driven design ensures that Meilichzon’s uplifting projects are not just a destination, but an experience worth remembering.
“These days, many hoteliers have a strict brief, and they don’t want to take risks.”
Above left: BRASS at SaintGermain-des-Prés, photography by Benoit Linero
Below left: Vibrant furnishings at the Hotel Regina
Right: Mirror details at the Hotel Regina, photography by Mr Tripper
Open City, Open House, Open Heart
Manijeh Verghese on rethinking systems, who gets to make decisions about public spaces and why she’s no longer using the word ‘architecture.’
Words: Katie Treggiden
Image: Elena Andreea Teleaga
Iarrive early to meet the CEO of Open City, Manijeh Verghese, and the sun is shining, so I take my time walking from North Greenwich tube station to what she described in her directions as ‘the building with the basketball court on the roof.’ Once a remote post-industrial wasteland, this area was dubbed London’s ‘Design District’ when it opened in 2021. A car-free zone, it feels calmer than much of the capital, and yet the early morning light and excited groups of school children overtaking me as they move between its not-yet-open venues add a sense of anticipation. Of its 16 distinctive buildings, I am looking for a concrete construction with external corridors and stairways. The mesh that keeps the basketballs on the roof extends all the way down the building, in place of
glass or balustrades, giving it a vertiginous quality as I climb to the first floor. Still early, I beat Verghese there, but she arrives right on time, and we head back out to sit outside a nearby café.
If I was expecting to be intimidated by this accomplished woman who has explored architecture and place-making from every angle, she quickly puts me at ease by laughing at my first question about her early life. “Wow, this is going to be an extensive piece, huh?”, she says with a twinkle in her eye, pausing for no more than a beat before diving right in. “I was born in London to Indian parents but moved to Bangalore with my mum when I was five,” she starts. “I grew up there, spending summers in London with my
Left:
Architecture in
Translation by Byron Blakeley at the AA Public Programme
Above: South Asia Gallery: Manchester Museum and The British Museum, designed by Studio C102 & Mobile Studio
Architects with Manijeh Verghese & Sthuthi Ramesh.
Photography by Gareth Gardner.
dad.” Brought up in a tight-knit multigenerational community, she saw firsthand how the IT boom turned the ‘garden city of India’ into a ‘building site,’ but she always felt at home behind her mother’s bright pink front door. “It was incredible in hindsight because so much of that shaped who I am today.”
She got a scholarship to study maths at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA, where a throwaway comment changed her entire trajectory. She was volunteering, reading to children with learning difficulties, when the third-year
architecture student tasked with driving volunteers to and from school started talking about a study abroad programme. “Until that moment, it had never occurred to me that architecture could be my career,” Verghese explains. “She convinced me I could do it and changed my life. I declared architecture as my major and even signed up for the exact same study abroad programme in New York and Paris. She set me on a path I never expected.” Verghese often talks about such pivotal moments in her life as if they were unearned, but it strikes me that it takes a certain sort of student to have found herself in that car in the first place.
After working for John Pawson and Foster + Partners, she completed her studies at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture, and this time it was a lecture from Indy Johar – the architect behind the ‘building with the basketball court on the roof’ we are now sitting opposite – that proved pivotal. He had been commissioned to design a new school lunchroom because an expanding student body had outgrown the existing space. After research and analysis, he recommended a new bell system instead – one that would enable staggered lunch breaks, relieving pressure on the canteen without the need for more space. “I remember feeling like my brain was exploding as I realised: 'Oh my God, this is architecture!’”, she says. “Architecture is about rethinking systems by understanding who they are for and how people use them. That’s how you influence systemic change.”
From here on in, her career reads like a considered endeavour to explore this idea from every angle. She has written for design magazines, taught at the AA and Oxford Brookes University, and co-curated both ‘The Garden of Privatised Delights’ – the British Pavilion for the 2021 Venice Biennale – and the South Asia Gallery for Manchester Museum, in partnership with the British Museum. She has also served
as a Mayor of London Design Advocate and an advisory board member for the DisOrdinary Architecture Project – helping to rethink how disability can transform design in the built environment. But with a humility that I am quickly learning is characteristic of Verghese, she deflects the suggestion. “I’ve never thought about it like that,” she says. “There were honestly times when I wondered where my career was going, because I couldn’t see a straight line, but now I tell students that the best careers are a mix of the opportunities you seek out and those that you have to leave room for, because they come at you out of the blue.”
One such opportunity was the role she spent a decade in before joining Open City – as Head of Public Engagement at the AA, for whom she developed a public programme to collectively question how to design a more inclusive society. “I never expected that opportunity; it was a dream job,” she says. “To have complete freedom to organise a programme of events that enabled people who couldn't afford to study at the AA to come in and experience architecture was incredible.” There might not be a straight line running through Verghese’s career, but there is a ‘red thread’ – a guiding principle that makes
sense of all her choices, sought out or otherwise. “I've always been interested in who architecture is for, who has a right to the city and who gets to make decisions about public spaces,” she says. “Throughout all the things I've done, what stitches them together is working with people to enable their voices to shape the city.”
One way she is doing that at Open City is by dropping the word ‘architecture’ altogether. “The minute you swap that word out, it fundamentally transforms who gets to play a role in shaping the city and determining what it can be,” she says. "It is a very inaccessible word. What's amazing about Open City is that, because we talk about cities and not architecture, it breaks down some of the barriers that limit people from being part of that conversation.” She believes that people underestimate the charity’s flagship Open House Festival, which offers unprecedented public access to London’s buildings every September. “A festival or a tour can seem like a nice-tohave, but a festival is an amazing way to test ideas out,” she argues. “How do we take something temporary and open it up? How does that experiment become permanent? How does that help us create better and more resilient cities?”
“[Architecture] is a very inaccessible word.”
“Throughout all the things I've done, what stitches them together is working with people to enable their voices to shape the city.”
Above: Design District Building C1, Architecture00. Photography by Taran Wilku
Right:
The Garden of Privatised Delights: 2021 British Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Manijeh Verghese & Madeleine Kessler. Photography by Jim Stephenson
As well as the festival, Open City offers a year-round programme of events including ‘city-making workshops’ at primary and special needs schools, as well as Accelerate – the award-winning mentoring programme for young people traditionally excluded from architecture – plus events, podcasts, tours and publications that aim to democratise public knowledge about cities. It is part of a network of more than 60 other Open House Festivals around the world. As we finish our coffees, architecture students start milling about us with clipboards and a photographer’s assistant dresses cockerpoos as ghosts. There is a real sense that, in this part of the city, in this moment, the city is for everybody.
But in contrast, this year’s Open House Festival started on the same day that more than 110,000 people reportedly took part in nationalist street protests, which
Verghese had to traverse to reach events in the programme. “I felt alone and scared on public transport, which I never have in London,” she says. “London is a city with such an amazing mix of cultures that you feel at home no matter where you're from – and to see that being challenged by people coming in from elsewhere was really worrying.” Thankfully, the contrast on arriving at each destination could not have been more stark. “One of the places I visited was Fabian Watkinson’s one-bedroomed flat, which he has been opening up since 2001,” she says. “He thought he'd do it for two years and all these years later, he’s still running multiple tours of his home and the estate every day – and he’s become such an expert on modernist social housing that he's written a book about it. In every space I visited, I was reminded of the amazing community of people and sense of solidarity that things like the Festival draw to the surface.”
“A festival is an amazing way to test ideas out.”
Reflecting on her first year in the job and the first Open House Festival under her stewardship, she is characteristically keen to tell me how much she has learnt and give credit to her team, but when pressed, she shares bold plans. “How do we create cities that are collectively shaped at a time when we're questioning democracy and whether our voice even matters?” she asks. “What I find really inspiring about Open City is the very real sense that cities are powered by people. We need to find new channels to express ourselves, to shape the projects that happen, to think about future resilience when it comes to the climate crisis and equitable societies. That's our next challenge.” It’s a mammoth challenge, perhaps insurmountable, but if anybody is up to the task, it’s Manijeh Verghese.
Left:
The Garden of Privatised Delights: 2021 British
Below:
Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture
Biennale, curated by Manijeh Verghese & Madeleine Kessler.
Photography by Cristiano Corte
Nubia Way at the Open House Festival, photography by Mario Washington
Right: Open City Tour of the Thames, June 2023, photography by Chris Chroma
Designing for Difference Shawn Adams
Why big architecture firms need to champion small studios
Shawn Adams is an architect, writer and lecturer. He is also cofounder of the sociallyminded design practice POoR Collective.
poorcollective.com
The architecture and design industry thrives on fresh ideas and young minds. Yet the playing field is often tilted toward large, well-established firms with the experience, visibility and resources to secure the most profitable projects. Architecture competitions illustrate this clearly: same names on the shortlist, same practices winning the big commissions. However, if the design industry is to truly diversify, large firms must take deliberate steps to nurture the growth and visibility of smaller, underrepresented studios.
The large firms hold the keys to financial resources, high-profile commissions and networks that emerging practices often lack. Meanwhile, small studios face barriers to entry, limited exposure and the constant challenge of proving credibility to risk-averse clients. When established firms work with smaller practices, they help level the playing field. Joint bids give emerging studios valuable experience and recognition, while larger companies benefit from the nimbleness and fresh perspectives that spark innovation.
One practical way to foster this balance is through shared project delivery. Assigning a modest building in a sprawling masterplan or a discrete design package to a young practice can provide meaningful experience. Backing that assignment with technical support and guidance ensures that delivery is never a barrier. Now that’s how you turn opportunity into growth.
Mentorship is equally critical. Not the performative kind, but genuine knowledge-sharing. Large practices can pass on hard-won lessons about navigating procurement politics, winning public funding and building a sustainable business. Insights on business development, project management and the political realities of public investment can determine whether a young practice thrives or folds. Furthermore, structured partnerships with emerging studios can dramatically accelerate the professional development and visibility of emerging firms.
These partnerships benefit everyone. Small studios often bring unconventional approaches, deep community ties and a willingness to experiment. Their ideas can challenge complacency and inspire experienced professionals to rethink cookie-
cutter solutions. Also, their agility allows them to pivot quickly and introduce concepts that might be overlooked in a big corporate organisation.
When large firms bring these smaller players onto their bids, they infuse projects with new energy. The result is design work that feels fresh, exciting and responsive to today’s challenges. But this commitment must go beyond token gestures. Offering small studios a seat at the table should be a sustained element of a firm’s business model, not a one-off initiative.
Collaboration between big and small practices is not a charity. By supporting emerging studios, larger firms help ensure that architecture remains dynamic, inclusive and relevant. The industry will stay fresh only when it reflects the richness of the communities it serves and embraces the creativity of all its designers, regardless of size.
Ultimately, the responsibility lies with established firms to dismantle hierarchical barriers and support emerging companies. By forging true partnerships with these practices, large firms help ensure that architecture remains forward-looking, diverse and continually refreshed.
Words: Natasha Levy
Photography: Ed
Reeve
Architecture practice dMFK reimagines its own basement as Downstairs at dMFK – a bold, adaptable space for work and play.
Beneath the surface
Downstairs at dMFK
Image on previous page: In-house materials library
Left: Central communal table
Above right: individual work zones with focused task lighting
Below right: Dressed open shelving
The ceaseless hum and dynamism of London street life means it can be easy to forget what’s happening below ground – yet beyond a myriad of pipes and the city’s sprawling tube network, a world of wonderfully designed subterranean spaces exists out of plain sight. This now includes the basement of architecture practice dMFK’s headquarters on Charlotte Street, 'Downstairs at dMFK'; just renovated to provide an additional 2000 sq ft of flexible workspace.
Julian de Metz, co-founder of dMFK, had wanted use of the basement since the practice moved into the building’s ground floor in 2022, but securing approval from the landlord proved trickier than expected. “We negotiated for years and they finally buckled and gave in,” he enthuses. “The idea was basically to do everything that we
couldn't do upstairs – from being able to have a fantastic material library on show, to inviting in different suppliers that we work with to show off their products.”
The space was structurally competent and didn’t require any major changes to its layout, but was exceptionally dark –the site’s previous occupants, Channel 4, had used it as a recording studio. dMFK therefore set out to infuse the basement with the same warm, inviting work atmosphere that they had already established on the floor above. “A lot of professional environments can feel a bit harsh, but upstairs we’d had the experience of being comfortable and having furniture that perhaps wouldn't be used in an office; more suited to hospitality or the home,” explains de Metz, “so we really wanted to continue that tone.”
“The lines are getting ever more blurred between work and hospitality.”
Access to the basement is granted via a stairwell that extends down from the office’s entrance at street level. The practice has been able to make the interior feel convincingly bright. As well as fitting track lighting across the ceiling and placing task lamps at workstations, the basement’s front wall has been replaced with an expansive glazed panel that allows sunlight to flood through from above.
A ‘materials lab’ has been constructed at the rear of the room, complete with oak veneer cabinetry for storing samples and pegboard panelling where staff can piece together colour and texture palettes for projects. The lab contains materials already familiar to dMFK, of course, but the practice additionally wants it to serve as a space where suppliers can present their latest innovations. Some have already been incorporated throughout
Downstairs at dMFK
the basement: the chunky counter that sits at the centre of the lab, for example, is made from a different style of terrazzo developed by Avantgarde Tiling. Though terrazzo is traditionally described as marble or granite chips set within concrete, this version features fragments of flint set within a binder made out of tin cans. The room’s ceiling has also been sprayed with a new kind of soundabsorbent coating by Oscar Acoustics, composed of recycled newspapers; while the resin floor, with its subtle grey swirls, is the work of Sphere8.
Just in front of the lab are four slenderframed desks set up with computers. Teams that work here will be rotated every two weeks, ensuring that the same set of people isn’t always sequestered away from staff upstairs. Zoom chats or phone calls can be taken at the edge of the plan where there are a series
of booths finished with fluted acoustic lining. Three private meeting rooms have also been established at the very back of the basement and there’s a corner seating area for more relaxed catch-ups. It's currently dressed with a vibrant daybed and lounge chair, but furniture retailer twentytwentyone will refresh these pieces every quarter. “We're just trying to provide as many different versions of a workplace as possible, because I may like one thing, but others may prefer something else,” adds de Metz. “It's offering lots of different opportunities to feel comfortable, not imposing one thing on everyone.”
The basement additionally accommodates a lengthy ash wood table crafted by Finnish brand Nikari. It can be extended to host dinners or education workshops and, like the desks, be easily collapsed and stowed away so that the practice can
Left:
Daybed and lounge chair by twentytwentyone
Centre:
Private meeting room with glazed wall
Right:
Central outdoor courtyard
throw parties (the space’s sound system, which was sourced from Royal Festival Hall, will come in handy for that too). de Metz says he could also imagine the counter in the materials lab doubling-up as a bar for serving drinks. “It’s more than an office, it’s somewhere that has a real flexibility about it,” he says. “The lines are getting ever more blurred between work and hospitality, and I think our most enjoyable engagements with our clients tends to be in that middle ground.”
As one returns to the ground floor of the dMFK office and the bustle of Central London swings back into view, the basement most certainly feels like a hidden retreat. “I like being near the street and watching the world go by, but it’s lovely and private down there,” agrees de Metz. “The contrast is really nice – I almost have to remind myself to come back up.”
Flooring
Sphere8
Ege Carpets
Furniture
twentytwentyone
Surfaces
Avantgarde Tiling
Forbo
Lighting
Lightforms twentytwentyone
Other
Oscar Acoustics
Spiritland
The Collective Studio Supernatural Kvadrat
Zen Joinery
Dolphin Bathrooms
No tartan
The Hoxton Edinburgh is a cliché-free take on the city and the first UK opening for the brand outside London.
Words: Harry McKinley
Photography: Courtesy of Ennismore
Behind a rank of smiling reception staff at The Hoxton Edinburgh are shelves of teasing merch. There’s a battered Mars Bar tee and a cap with ‘nae bother’ stitched across the crown. They won’t appeal to the sartorial appetites of everyone, but they do say something about the property: that it knows where it is and that is has a sense of humour.
The Hoxton brand has always prided itself on its approachability and lack of pretension, typically occupying space in creative or up-and-coming neighbourhoods. The Edinburgh opening marks the fifth of the group in the UK, but the first outside of London – its ethos a neat fit for a city steeped in culture and with such a strong sense of character; the urban equivalent of that friend who shows up in a velvet jacket and muddy boots, quoting Walter Scott one minute and swearing at a seagull the next.
Comprised of 11 stitched together Georgian townhouses, across two sides of a street, the property isn’t in the typical tourist pocket – the ‘other’ side of the city centre, to the east, where the Old and New Towns converge. Steps from Haymarket railway station in the west, in a more residential district, it’s still remarkably central, but away from the heaving throngs of visitors and busking pipers.
With 214 keys, the hotel is hardly a boutique, but stretched across the townhouses at street level, the public spaces feel snug in scale – the reception feeding through to an all-day lobby lounge and cocktail bar. But where the merch is delivered with a nudge and a wink, here – as with the interiors broadly – any Scottish clichés are sidestepped.
“We avoided obvious touches, like an overuse of tartan.”
“The spaces are grand and refined but always feel inviting thanks to playful details and a homey atmosphere,” explains Charlie North, Global VP of Design for AIME Studios, Ennismore’s in-house design arm. “We avoided obvious touches, like an overuse of tartan. Our nods to heritage are more subtle and true to the Hox spirit: artwork by local Scottish artists, a Highlands-inspired mural [by Verity Woolley] and carpeting that references Scotland’s national flower, the thistle; a more thoughtful celebration of Edinburgh and beyond.”
There’s an eclecticism to the design – an inviting mix of tactile materials (wood, ceramics and caressable fabrics) and a bold orchestra of patterns. Tables and quiet corner nooks secreted behind
Image on previous page: Bedroom in the Biggy Up suite
Left: Seating booths at Patatino restaurant
Above right: Library shelving in The Apartment
Below right: Tiled fireplace in the lobby lounge
walls are fit for coworking, while deep, embracing armchairs and sofas cluster around the bar and open fire – filling up as the day progresses with cocktail and whisky toting guests. An adjacent cinema room plays classic films; a black and white Cary Grant dancing between the glass panels of the door on the evening we visit.
In the guestrooms, North describes ‘leaning in’ to the character of the original architecture, with its idiosyncrasies and lack of uniformity.
“No two rooms are the same,” he notes.
“Some have high ceilings with tall Georgian windows, others are cosier with a darker colour palette, intricate mouldings, cornices and even decorative skylights; so each space feels distinct.”
“No two rooms are the same; so each space feels distinct.”
Below: Communal table at the ‘Get Together’ events space
Right:
nook and tiled fireplace in the
Left: Stacked beds in the Snug Bunk room
Seating
lobby lounge
The Hoxton Edinburgh Case Study
Despite the stately inheritance bequeathed by the building however, the rooms are not a period piece – playfully modern more than reverential, the volume set at a polite level. The palette is a mix of jewel tones –“raspberry-red headboards, rich teal walls and lustrous amber upholstery, all set off by brass finishes,” describes North – with a subtle use of shape and silhouette to create interest. “Headboards range from clean arches to more flamboyant fluted shapes with a neo-classical twist, along with whimsical touches like pineapple coat hooks and fringe-skirted armchairs that nod to the heritage of the building. Hox regulars will spot the signature two-tone wall paint in the rooms, a design detail carried across locations and paired with a dado rail in Edinburgh for an added decorative touch.”
Where the lounge and guestrooms are a gentle ode to Auld Reekie, or Scotland writ large, The Hoxton Edinburgh’s standalone restaurant, Patatino, is an enthusiastically characterful departure – grabbing guests by the neck and thrusting them into a wild, dazzling cartoon of seaside Italy. With its blush pink walls, floral-tiled tables and foliage-clad trellising, it isn’t a faithful, sepia-tinged postcard of the Amalfi Coast, but instead an evocative, transporting sketch; a heightened reality and all the better for it. The ceramic tables were handmade and imported from Deruta, Umbria – a region famed for fine maiolica ceramics; the gloriously mismatching plates that line the walls, similarly hand painted and transported from Italy. Brash stripes, dainty prints and coloured checks theatrically careen into each other. On an autumn weekend, the restaurant is full
and the volume loud. It’s notably one of the city’s buzziest recent openings and its tight menu of Italian classics displays the same panache as the interiors.
Edinburgh has, in recent years, become something of a hotel boom town, awash with shiny new properties, each vying for attention with grander spaces or everfancier tartan trims. The Hoxton doesn’t bother with any of that. Instead, it has slipped into the city on its own terms –quietly of the place but, through design and culture, promoting the kind of easy warmth and neighbourhood charm we expect from the brand.
For any body and every body
Stockport’s SpaceInvaderdesigned Stockroom is a space for all.
Words: Ellie Foster Photography:
Image on previous page: Wall murals in the central library space
Below:
Branded building blocks at entrance
“S
tockport is the new Berlin” goes the bold statement from the equally bold Manchester-based DJ, Luke Una. Tote bags emblazoned ‘Stockport isn’t shit’ are seen clamped under arms in and around the town’s historic precinct.
According to its local authority, Stockport is one of the most economically polarised boroughs in England, representing some of the least and most most deprived areas. Its image is mixed. Lately, however, Stopfordians have railed against some of the more negative ideas of their beloved hometown – which has, in recent years, become something of a cultural hotspot, offering more in the way of entertainment than a trundle down to the Hat Museum or doughnuts around The Plaza.
Hip listening bars, independent traders and activations by way of ‘Stock Parties’ have begun to distinguish Stockport’s high streets, making use of previously unloved spaces and enticing much-needed engagement from locals and daytrippers alike. Tucked within the space-age structure of Merseyway Shopping Centre, Stockroom is the latest addition to the fold.
Intent on modernising public services (and challenging sceptics), Stockport Council first approached SpaceInvader in 2020 to consider a graphic installation for the public throughway, Adlington Walk, where AEW Architects was onboarded to replan the surrounding services. Snowballing into a bid for the Future High Street Fund – a government urban regeneration grant – the design team was awarded £14.5 million to transform the Walk’s adjoining retail units into an accessible public library and cultural hub, which would serve to bridge the wealth gap in the divided town.
Upon entry, vinyl stickers reading ‘For Anybody and Everybody’ smatter Stockroom’s frontage and walls, siphoning pedestrians from all walks of life off the street and into a playfully stickered open space. Illuminated lightboxes and murals by local design duo, Mike Sian Studio, energise to create a dynamic brand identity, confronting age-old stereotypes of community centres being dimly lit function rooms, lacking in personality. Instead, a splashy use of pink, green and
Stockroom Case Study
yellow is offset by a graphic smiling face – Stockroom’s merry mascot overseeing effective design for connection.
Beneath the central staircase, custom engineered by AEW, Mercado at Stockroom dishes out South American-inspired bites and hot drinks, where reading enclaves and exhibition spaces exist intuitively on the wider floorplate. Book-filled ply units, and seating clusters – low-slung and arranged for communion – define zones but remain unfixed to move with Stockroom’s diverse events programme.
Making a space that was easily convertible was a key aspect of the design, SpaceInvader’s Studio Operations Director and Lead Designer Sarah Dabbs explains. From Qi Gong and photographic societies to theatre productions and Brutalist Banquets, it was important that the lower level bent and stretched to a
variety of events and clubs, with castormounted, lightweight FF&E allowing for effortless reconfiguration.
To democratise the design, and encourage dwell-time, Stockroom’s interiors had to be enmeshed in Stockport itself. “Simply recreating Stockroom somewhere else would be to misunderstand the real reason it’s such a success,” Dabbs muses. “It is not because it contains a list of guaranteed ingredients, but rather because its ingredients are designed to be ever evolving in response to Stockport’s specific needs.” Nodding to the industriousness of Stockport red brick, rust-coloured soldier tiles defend the café counter where, adjacent, giant metallic letters spelling ‘Cool Like You’ pay tribute to the 2018 studio album by native indie rockers, Blossoms.
Enclosed on three sides, the children’s library occupies a space opposite the café and centres around a climbable treehouse structure, designed by Easy Peel Studios. For messy play, recycled plastic surfaces are by Plastic Shed – a Community Benefit Society providing opportunities for residents to collect plastic waste, which is then turned into colourful, easy-to-clean tabletops.
Off to the side, a storytime section is a quieter spot dedicated to reading, characterised by two caped ‘cuddle chairs’ – wide enough to fit a child and caregiver – and a peg board which allows children to dream up their own narratives through word- and picture-based wooden tablets. Tiny geometric elephants form a protective circle under a sound-deadening halo of preserved moss.
Acoustics were a major consideration throughout, given the multifunctionality of the space and residual noise from an upper-level car park. Ducting and steel I-beams, exposed to relieve a restricted ceiling height, have been sprayed with a mushed-up paper concoction by Acosorb to ensure audio comfort – blueish grey at ground level; a peach fuzz on the second floor.
“Stockport is the new Berlin.”
Left: Colourful murals and staircase to children’s library Centre: Coworking desks and computer monitors
Right: Children’s reading nook with curved sofas and murals
A serene-feeling work and study territory upstairs houses more traditional library amenities, including banks of computers, upholstered private pods and shared desk space. Branching off, an archive of Stockport-centric documentation is viewable by appointment only, and a hireable events space spills out onto the precinct’s concrete verandas. During the planning phase, SpaceInvader liaised with the council to decide what administration Stockroom could offer and which would remain in the Grade IIlisted town hall. Dabbs comments, “Some of the early conversations were ‘could you register the birth of a child and sign up for the library at the same time? Get IT help? Or could you look for a new job?’.” The good news: Stockroom visitors can do all the above, that’s before getting their hands dirty at a gardening club or attending a Women in Creativity talk. A rich heritage, changing attitudes,
arts, culture and music: there are many similarities that could be drawn between today’s Stockport and the German capital. Though a bit of a stretch to claim the northern town as the ‘new Berlin’, thanks to Stockroom, some savvy inclusive design and the coming together of people under one roof, its days of being badmouthed may be numbered.
Below left: Arcade games and vintage photo booth
Below right: Vibrant prints and branded artwork
RAK-DES
The award-winning RAK-Des collection is inspired by Bauhaus design principles and features minimalist sanitary fixtures, including countertop and freestanding washbasins with clean, sleek lines. Now available in a range of matt colours – Black, Grey, Cappuccino, Greige, and White.
Under one roof
Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park is a lifestyle ecosystem.
Words:
Harry McKinley
Photography: Adam Firman
Case Study
Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park straddles a stretch of Grand Union Canal, about five minute’s stroll from the local tube station. Though Notting Hill and the perennially popular Portobello Market are within vague walking distance, it isn’t the London of tourists. There are few queue-provoking landmarks or Instagram-worthy vignettes on the doorstep. It is the London of Londoners – mostly residential, with early seeds of gentrification sprouting. More specifically, the type of gentrification that speaks to creatives: swish coworking hubs, design-led dining and pop-up shops spotlighting independent brands. Mason & Fifth is arguably leading the charge, bringing each of those elements together in one tidy new development – alongside 332 private studios.
Though it isn’t easily pigeonholed – not quite an aparthotel, not quite pure residential – the concept is simple in practice, and something already tried and tested at Mason & Fifth’s two other locations in Bermondsey and Primrose Hill. Billed as a ‘fully flexible’ stay, it offers serviced apartments designed for long stays, but bookable for short. Residents get access to a suite of amenities – lounges and workspaces, a gym and swimming pool –while a larger coworking hub (Meadow), restaurant (Canal), and lobby bar fall under the same tent but are open to the public. It is something of a lifestyle ecosystem with, as the saying goes, everything you need and nothing you don’t.
The development is relatively grand in scale and the largest of Mason & Fifth’s budding portfolio – a former brownfield site previously home to the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association HQ. Formed of a family of buildings, wrapped around an urban courtyard, AHMM led on architecture, ‘stitching’ the new project into the existing urban landscape. As the firm’s director, Hazel Joseph explains, “We responded to the area's historical architecture and local vernacular through façade proportions, Crittall windows and a varied material palette that reflects the faience found on the nearby industrial and heritage buildings. And at the heart of the development a new pocket park has been created, designed to benefit the local community, with activation at ground level and a tiered public area that can be used for performances and leisure activities.”
Image on previous page: Tiled central bar, photography
James Retief
Above: Building exterior on Grad Union Canal, photography Rob Parrish
“Our aim was also to capture the contrasting landscapes of the Westway's industrial concrete canopy”
Inside, Mason & Fifth’s own design team collaborated with Tigg + Coll on the shared spaces and studios. For its early concept designs Tigg + Coll drew on the ‘textures’ of the surrounding neighbourhoods, seeking to distil their character and culture down into evocative finishes and colours – dark green gloss ceramic tiles; patterned cushions, rugs and upholstery; terracotta, wood and hessian, to incorporate a sense of nature.
“Our aim was also to capture the contrasting landscapes of the Westway’s industrial concrete canopy and the fluidity of the Grand Union Canal, and to create a design dialogue that bridges this context and communities,” says Rachel Coll, Tigg + Coll’s founding director.
“The design celebrates these themes, emphasising movement and reflection throughout, layered with vibrancy and warmth. This is seen in the soft fabric canopy over the reception area, which undulates and leads you through and into the entrance spaces, as well as the gloss ceramic tiled and marble surfaces.”
“The curved walls similarly mimic the movement of the canal and counter the linear form of the architecture,” continues Mason & Fifth’s Design Director, Claire McPoland. “Textiles by studio Caralarga and punch-needle pieces by Alice Liptrot are on display in the main space too, which together with indoor greenery add some depth.” Reclaimed ceramic vases around the space are sourced from Urban Primitives in East London and the custom rugs are all by Totzke, in a series of bespoke colourways for Westbourne Park. In all, the interiors feature pieces from over 30 independent local brands and creatives.
If these shared spaces are a story of softness and topography, then Canal is a razor-sharp embodiment of industry – concrete columns standing stridently alongside a dramatic zinc-clad bar, with a limestone bar top sourced and manufactured by Marble Collective. Hand-chisselled furniture is by Or This’ Jason Posnot, whose workshop is just 10
Left: Bedroom in private studio, photography Adam Firman
Centre: Lounge space, photography Adam Firman
Right: Yoga room, photography Adam Firman
minutes away. Designed by A-nrd, the restaurant – accessible from the lobby and studio levels, as well as via its own entrance – looks out to the canal, by night light dancing across the water.
“The central island bar really acts as the anchor,” says A-nrd co-founder, Alessio Nardi. “From there, we introduced bespoke elements, including the chiselled timber banquettes and dining tables. They carry a crafted quality that sets the tone of the restaurant. The open kitchen, then, with its suspended hammered-glass canopy is another focal point, designed by us to
soften the boundary between chef and guest. Lighting also plays a big role, from sculptural washi pendants to Foscarini wall lights, creating layered atmospheres that shift throughout the day.”
A-nrd also helmed the design of Meadow, the coworking space which combines the usual hot desking with more private leasable rooms; the Notting Hill Carnival team already amongst its tenants.
“Here we wanted to reflect both the architectural context and the client’s emphasis on community and wellbeing,” continues the other half of A-nrd’s founding duo, Lukas Persakovas. “Using generous glazing, warm finishes and planting, we brought in light and a sense of calm, contrasting the energy of the city outside. But ultimately, Mason & Fifth’s vision is about more than just providing a place to stay or work – it’s about fostering a sense of community. With Meadow, we wanted to translate that into an interior that feels layered and flexible. It was designed to complement Canal, but with a distinct identity, so together the two projects form part of a bigger ecosystem.”
Left: 10th floor guest lounge, photography
Adam Firman
Right: Canal restaurant by A-nrd Studio, photography
Adam Firman
MADISON
Mo’vers and shakers
In London, M Moser’s latest living lab is a net-zero, people-centric prototype.
Words:
Chloé Petersen Snell
Photography: Chris Wharton
Often, those who are truly committed to making a meaningful difference start by turning inwards. Across 13 global studios M Moser Associates has acted as its own guinea pig, testing and bringing new ideas to life with a rigorous selfexperimentation that operates under a strict principle: if they wouldn't use it or find it impactful themselves, they won't put it out into the world.
The latest workspace has opened in London – building upon the work of its international cousins and driving its own concepts of workplace innovation and sustainability rooted in human
behaviour. Designed to blend highly functioning workplace with hospitality, these spaces test “how design shapes focus, collaboration and experience”, led by a team of internal change champions, or Mo’vers, that shape the strategy, smart tech and sustainability that is embedded throughout the space.
More than an office, the studio is a prototype – an ever-evolving and adaptive tool that has already increased attendance by 20%, says Mariana Anelli, senior associate. The results speak for themselves: 82% of employees feel more productive, 81% feel welcomed and 90% find collaboration
“I’ve learned to weave specialist expertise into the design process.”
more effective. The team tests everything – workspace typologies, custom ceilings, furniture, technology systems, BMS integrations, flooring, acoustics, even art – gathering real-time feedback to refine performance and, importantly, inform client projects.
“I’ve learned to weave specialist expertise into the design process,” says Anelli. “By offering modular access to elements like lighting or acoustics without a full consulting scope, we can explore targeted interventions at the right moment. The flexibility is really valuable in fast-paced design and build programmes, where decisions need to evolve over time. I think this helps our clients see the impact of specialist thinking without overcomplicating the process. It gives them the confidence to make better-informed decisions.”
Entering the space, a hospitality-focused zone welcomes visitors and offers a relaxed, multi-purpose space for staff. Ultimately, the living lab is designed to explore how spaces shape behaviour and different work styles and as such the design prioritises choice and adaptibility. The buzzy and collaborative welcome space leads to a “distraction-free zone” for focused work, with semi-enclosing curtain and signage outlining a strict ‘no conversation’ rule that has proven very popular with the team.
“Although it is made of furniture and curtains and not completely enclosed, we weren’t sure if it was going to work for our team,” Anelli explains. “But so far, it has been a great addition, and I feel more confident that we can propose small, flexible spaces to our clients to take small steps and trial ideas that they think will benefit their teams.”
The London space also offers a compelling blueprint for environmental sustainability; proving that high-impact approaches can be implemented without necessarily pursuing formal certifications – a refreshingly deliberate choice given its size, the team notes. Instead, the approach was holistic, focusing on significantly cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste and setting a new benchmark for future workplaces, including reusing materials and furniture from the previous studio and selecting the durable and low-carbon for anything new
Image on previous page: Office lounge with acoustic curtains
Left: Communal sofas and on-screen building data
Centre: Central meeting room
Right: Coworking area with flexible furniture and modular screens
– allowing the space to adapt and endure across its 10 year lease. Ingeniously, workshop waste was repurposed into new furniture for their on-site material library – itself a testament to sustainable design, with its cork flooring alone sequestering over six tonnes of carbon.
“We’ve made some intentional choices around reuse in our space,” Anelli details. “Bolon runs throughout the space, currently having almost 70% recycled content and bio-sourced PVC. And where we didn’t need a finish, we left the floor as is. These are simple, deliberate choices that add up.”
Smart tech is deeply embedded throughout the office – impacting everything from energy efficiency sensors tracking temperature, humidity, air quality and noise levels, as well as occupancy and a big focus on lighting. Responsive, circadian lighting from Canadian manufacturer Fluxwerx adapts to outdoor weather in real time to ensure better energy consumption and support focus – the space filled with
bright daylight-like lighting on the cloudy day of our visit. Natural light is utilised as much as possible too; desking sits on the perimeter of the space, next to the floor-to-ceiling windows with incredible views of the Thames. And in the material library, a space for experimentation and client egagement, colour-tunable lighting is available for precise material evaluation. A centralised dashboard provides real-time performance, from meeting room scheduling to temperature control, enabling continuous refinement and offering a peek into the maps and performance of the studio’s 12 other global living labs.
“Each system is set up as an experiment, with equal value placed on what works and what doesn’t,” says Anelli. “The aim is to test the core idea that data and technology can improve workplace design and operation. This includes optimising comfort, reducing costs, increasing productivity and improving sustainability. Shared technology platforms like interactive dashboards and user-facing controls help create consistency and
Above left: Communal lounge with acoustic ceiling
Right: Central working space with glazed frontage
“The aim is to test the core idea that data and technology can improve workplace design and operation.”
M Moser Living Lab, London Case Study
visibility across regions, so learnings and insights can travel easily between locations. This allows M Moser to build on successes and avoid repeating mistakes wherever the lab is located.”
Even artwork revolves every six months, keeping things fresh and providing talking points for clients and staff – including graphics inspired by London's wind and rain that open up interactions amongst the team. “We wanted the space to celebrate our people,” Anelli concludes. “Our team and the way they use the studio is our biggest asset. Making the most of the views and choosing to be here is the real proof of success. A full studio is a good thing. If someone has to find an alternative spot to work, that means the space is doing precisely what we hoped.”
Looking ahead, a detailed carbon and performance review awaits the office after its inaugural year – highlighting M Moser’s dedication to continuous improvement and boundary pushing design.
Furniture
Interstuhl, Bisley, Vitra, Taiga Concept, Framery, Robin Day, Naghtone, La Cividina, NORR11, Frovi, Rawside, Lintex, Taiga booths, Ondarreta, Rohde Grahl, Nowy Styl, Frövi, Brunner, Carl Hansen, La Cividina, Pedrali, Ahrend, Techo, Allermuir, Senator, Haiken, Framery, Flokk, HAG, Orangebox, Workagile, Boss Design, & Tradition, Icons of Denmark, Alea
In our increasingly online world, we are hyper aware of what is happening across the globe – following influencers from Brazil or Hong Kong, as well as Hackney. Trends are globalised and increasingly homogenised. So does locally inspired design still have a place? Do we actually need it more than ever to create a sense of being connected to the here and now?
Over recent years, most hotel brands focus on locally inspired design, part of the trend of ‘white label’ and unbranded hotels with their own unique identity. And everyone is looking out for that unique little one off independent that really captures the spirit of a location. Brand guidelines have become less prescriptive and more open to individuality, with reference to designing for locality a key design marker. Rosewood even trademarked ‘A Sense of Place’, such is the importance of this notion to the brand. The balance between making the brand still recognisable and giving individual identity is a fine one, giving the design team a distinct challenge.
Brands also have a very clear understanding of their target customer based on research and their loyalty programmes, so the guest profile is very much part of the concept storyline. Youthful and fun for a Puro and a more grownup interpretation for a Park Hyatt for example. Locally resonant design means different things to different tribes, so understanding the guest is an important starting point if we try and make a project relevant.
Designing for a place without falling back into cliché requires thought and subtlety. For a hotel we mostly design for visitors rather than locals, but of course a key part of the brief now is making sure that locals utilise the public areas too. Hotels are cognisant that just selling rooms is no longer enough – in particular if local character is desired. What creates this more than actual locals using the space as their own? So platitudes don’t cut it anymore, nor obvious references, so as designers we try to find the underlying themes that are not loud, but speak more eloquently about the place.
Extensive research into the location of the site, the city or landscape, the history, the people and any curiosities linked to the place are the starting point for our studio. A tapestry unfolds over time to give some clues as to the personality of the locale, from which we extract design ideas that interpret and emphasise these. The real test is running this past our clients, usually locally based or certainly experienced in the locality, to see if they agree – or laugh at our naivety.
What we are looking for in our research are the little hooks that make our design ideas truly relevant and meaningful for the location. And sometimes the fact we are not from a place and don’t have the day-to-day intimacy allows us to discover or interpret things through a different lens. In a world that is getting more focused on inward looking attitudes, fostering cultural understanding with subtlety is ever more important. And designing to represent a place with true understanding does exactly that.
Tina Norden is a principal and co-owner at Conran and Partners.
Campers & Dens: Community
Transform corridors, corners and nooks into places with connection. Community adds layers of privacy and purpose where people naturally gather – finding possibilities in the peripheries.
Designing for people-centred workplaces
Words: Justine Fox
What has colour got to do with sustainability?
Why considering colour as a practical tool can dramatically change the impact places and spaces have us on and the planet.
Against continuing geopolitical instability and climate emergency, our cities have become more divided and divisive. We’re under immense pressure, from the level of government to the individual – economically, environmentally and socially. But could radical thinking and collaborative action with nature bring opportunities to improve and protect our urban landscape for future generations?
It's this inkling, a visceral reaction to the intense development of East London, that refocused my practice from commercial colour trend forecasting to exploring the use of colour beyond aesthetics to generate social value and drive positive change in the built environment.
If we remember the fundamentals of what colour is – a sensation in our minds caused by the reflection of energy from a surface – we begin to understand it as an important tool to help address issues we face today like urban heat retention, energy conservation, biodiversity loss and social health.
Reframing colour as an active agent moves the design priority from ‘what should it look like?’ to ‘how can we plan with qualities like light reflectance values (LRV) to champion equitable environments?’. Brighter doesn’t always mean uplifting. We partnered with a client recently where the HR team began to suffer migraines after moving to a
Colour Positive Impact
new extension of the office. Increased height and natural daylight flow with architecturally pleasing white walls created glare that couldn’t be managed by adjustments in lighting temperature and screening to the skylights or computer monitors.
It's a balance to design with LRV, absorbing enough light to counter human discomfort without causing new challenges. Darker paint colours tend to need more coats for that smooth, luxurious finish, meaning not only additional budget in labour and product, but also the environmental cost of that extra paint and, potentially, energy for more lighting in a task focused space.
This layered functionality of colour is being explored more by practitioners across disciplines. In conversation with Hannah Vincent and Frankie
Smith-Morris of Planit, we discussed their integrated landscape design for Milton Keynes’ Project Square, which complements Yinka Ilori’s vivid artwork Walk with Your Dreams. Their palette of greens and nuanced earth tones intuitively guides visitors through the space, framing and celebrating Ilori’s colourful intervention. Planting itself offers a spectrum of LRVs, a natural play of light and shade that adds the visual depth we love. What resonated mostly
Justine Fox
Image on previous page: Walk With Your Dreams, credit Chris Henley
SUSTAINABLITY & WELLNESS - IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOOSING THE RIGHT MATERIAL
Designing inspiring workplaces requires more than aesthetics — it demands innovation, sustainability, and well-being at its core. At Granorte, we bring nature indoors with corkbased acoustic solutions that elevate living spaces while reducing the impact on the environment.
The featured installation at M Moser’s awardwinning London Living Lab is a prime example of how Granorte cork flooring and wall coverings harmoniously integrate into high-performance office interiors. Our agglomerated cork panels not only add organic texture and visual warmth, but also deliver outstanding acoustic performance — creating calm, productive spaces that support modern hybrid work styles.
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Sustainably harvested and naturally renewable, cork embodies circularity. Every panel is a testament to Granorte’s commitment to carbon-positive materials that respect both people and the planet.
From feature walls and flooring to full acoustic treatments, we offer designers freedom to create biophilic, healthy spaces without compromise.
Whether you’re designing the next-gen workplace, a boutique hospitality experience, or a serene home interior — Granorte cork delivers.
Colour
“Colour strategy is not about short-term effect but about longevity.”
for me, was Planit’s 200-year planning ethos. It aligns with the idea that colour strategy is not about short-term effect but about longevity – here, allowing nature to evolve their seasonal colour matrix into a harmonised, enduring design.
Their use of colour aims to restore biodiversity in this space – good for the planet and human health. We know that different species are attracted to different hues, often seeing the ultraviolet messaging we miss, and now research from the John Innes Centre seems to suggest that some flowering plant species are adapting their colours from red to yellow in an evolutionary bid to attract new pollinators like the bumble bee.
Previous, left & below: Skåne University Hospital Campus
Right: Walk With Your Dreams, credit Chris Henley
Advanced coatings like the newly launched ‘sunscreen’ from Akzo Nobel China use layered technologies to passively cool buildings, lowering temperatures by up to 10%, but at an ‘analogue’ level, simple considerations in colour when we’re designing our public spaces can help to reduce or increase surface temperature. Choosing colours with a lower Solar Reflectance Index like black will retain more heat while higher colours feel cooler – reds will counter-intuitively retain slightly less than blues and greens.
And how we can use this functionality of colour to balance surfaces with a human approach comes through in The Skåne University Hospital Campus, Malmo designed by White Arkitekter. Speaking with Paula Block Philipsen about this new project, we discussed the importance
of colour use here to integrate the site into the city, to make it accessible and welcoming – a reflection of life and of wellness to reduce stress. There is a soft warmth in the material of the façade and civic spaces at the street level that feels reassuring and familiar, growing in lighter mixes of ceramic, slate and aluminium as it reaches the sky – softly reflective of the surrounding landscape. This vertical easing of colour chromaticity continues inside and early feedback from stage one is that patients are sleeping better.
This piece scratches the surface of exploring the functionality of colour to create a more positive impact on our places but whatever we do with these properties, we need to deliver in the most holistically sustainable way.
Words: Nicola Capper
Stepping out of the shadows
Why Norway could be the future focus of Scandi design.
“Norwegian design has never had greater international impact,” says Chair of the Board, Marianne Otterdeahl Møller during her opening address at this year’s Designers’ Saturday. “More than half of all furniture, textiles and design objects produced here are now exported, and why we believe that our industry is an important one to watch.”
With over 6,000 visitors in Oslo to take part in the city-wide biennial, it would seem international markets are doing just that. But, after taking a back seat to their nearest Nordic neighbours for the best part of a century, what’s changed? And, more importantly, what are the Norwegians doing differently?
“Norway has a rich design culture but compared to Denmark and Sweden there has perhaps been more freedom for designers to define their own paths,” Amy Hunting of Norwegian-born but Londonbased design studio Hunting & Narud explains. “Swedish design has long been tied to democratic values and industrial production, while Denmark carries the legacy of the 1960s classics that still set a benchmark today. Norway is not bound by those traditions in the same way, which allows for a more open and exploratory approach.”
A similar sentiment is also shared by Ksenia Stanishevski, CEO and Founder of high-quality carpet and rug makers
Volver Studio. “Norwegian design is more personal and soulful. Shaped by a smaller industry with less heritage to lean on, we have greater freedom to be bold and experimental here. Collaboration and community are also a unique strength of Norway. Here we lift each other up rather than compete.”
With a new generation of talented thinkers, makers and brands now building on these principles it certainly feels like Norway is finally emerging as a distinctive design nation in its own right. And, through their innovative voices and pioneering practices, they are challenging not only the interiors industry but also some of the country’s oldest manufacturers as well.
“In recent years the boundary between office, home and hotel has narrowed, and recognising this evolution is something
Fora Form has been doing since 1929,” says Heidi Niss, their CEO as she welcomes guests to their showroom. As one of Scandinavia's largest furniture makers, and also one that still produces its products in the region, instead of seeing workplaces as just a cost for housing employees, Fora Form believes they should be a hub of connection, creativity and community.
In fact, it’s with Fora Form that Hunting & Narud have recently partnered with on their Bast table system, a furniture collection, which, say the designers, “opens up unprecedented possibilities”.
“Norwegian design largely avoids decoration for its own sake, but with Bast we wanted to introduce a richness to the workplace, both in terms of materials and colour, making these environments
Image on previous page: Designer's Saturday, Oslo
Above left: Fora Form ODD plus
Above right: Fora Form BUD
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“Norwegian design largely avoids decoration for its own sake.”
less sterile and more human,” Hunting says. Adding, “Highly customisable and designed to change over time, Bast consists of just three parts; a tabletop, a specially designed floating recycled aluminium bracket and four chunky legs which can be assembled or taken apart with a simple Allen key.”
Manufactured goods that are easy to transport, repair or replace is not seen as an added extra when you buy a product that is ‘Made in Norway’, even when operating at the largest scales, longevity and circularity is factored in from their very inception.
“Preserving cultural heritage in a way that creates value for the future is at the heart of what we do,” comments Stine Birkeland, Marketing Manager at Hadeland Glasswerk. A leader in
Norwegian glass making since 1762, and Norway’s oldest continuously operating industrial company, Hadeland Glasswerk is renowned for its bespoke capabilities, sustainable production methods and market-leading quality.
And why, when one of the most symbolic buildings in Oslo, the Høyblokka located in the Government Quarter, was being rehabilitated following a terrorist attack in 2011, 120 lamps, including those in the historic Council of State meeting room could be recreated once more.
Birkeland continues, “Our archives, combined with the skills of today’s glassblowers, have made it possible to reproduce the Høyblokka lamps exactly as they were in 1958. Now adapted to modern LED standards, but unchanged in design, it is deeply meaningful to see them shine again.”
By exploring the ongoing dialogue between tradition and progress, Norwegian design celebrates what’s gone before while simultaneously making meaningful change happen. Practical, imaginative and inherently responsible, it reminds us that wherever people meet, how a space feels, functions and flows is about way more than just looks; it’s about how it shapes us. Afterall, people shape society and that society shapes people.
Left: King Suite, Radisson Blue, image by Filippa Tredal
Below: Ambadassen, image by Einar Aslaksen
Above: Hadeland Glasswork
Right: The Thief
Living in the moment
There’s always a whiff of romanticism in the air when it comes to the future of work. We take all the elements we’d like to see and whisk them into a palatable meringue. If that’s even actually possible. Meringue is awful, after all.
Few say the future of work is going to be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” as Thomas Hobbes famously described life in our ‘state of nature’ in 1651. Even when, like Hobbes, they’re having a bad day.
Back in 2020, whisk in hand, The Economist stated: “The future of work is humancentric, flexible – based on technology, trust, safety, health, wellbeing and experience. Offices will be repurposed to convey culture and enable connections.”
Lovely. I found the quote in some old notes, but it’s still something we’d all still agree with. Before realising it’s a rather misty-eyed festival of contradictions.
Let’s look at the two characteristics identified for the workplace. Offices have always enabled connections, essentially by bringing people
physically together under the same roof. An essential precondition. Even in the days of corridors that wouldn’t have been out of place in The Shining, with private offices racked along each side, their size determined by your seniority. In which I have worked. Naturally we’ve opened them out a bit since and added some informal and social settings to make them a tad less sinister.
Do our offices, then, convey culture? They certainly showcase an organisation petrified in the moment they were created, however much they are adapted thereafter. But culture is a slippery fish. I was always rather taken by the argument of geographer Don Mitchell, who offered that culture doesn’t exist as a thing, only as the idea of a thing formed at a point in time. We behave, however, as though there’s such a thing as culture. Which means that someone’s deciding what culture is, and how it gets represented.
Is that us, deciding what culture is? Mitchell clearly had the powerful in mind rather than the workplace designer.
Yet it’s a tricky thought, that in attempting to reflect, enhance and empower a culture with the environments we create, we might be doing so for something that doesn’t exist other than as an idea, a story someone is telling.
Our paradox therefore becomes: we want to create a workplace that conveys the organisation’s culture, which doesn’t exist and might change at any time. Yet from this enigma we can pull a fascinating and optimistic thread. The workplace provides the opportunity for an expression of a positive, optimistic culture that can survive the re-telling of stories; that by being petrified in the moment, it can serve to enable and protect trust, safety, health, wellbeing and experience, whatever else is happening around and within.
Goethe once described architecture as ‘frozen music’. Perhaps the workplace is, therefore, a ‘frozen story’. Which means it’s all the more important that we ensure we are telling the right story. One that will inspire. That we want to last.
Neil Usher is the VP of Places at software company Sage.
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In this Mix Roundtable with Autex Acoustic, we ask if tech and data can offset existing damage and inform better decisions, or whether we’re just designing better band-aids?
Recent strides in green data are ushering in a new era for sustainable design. EPDs and material passports are providing transparency and easy-to-use tools promise to simplify and democratise (often painfully) complex sustainability analysis – making it more accessible and integrated than ever before. So yes, data can justify decisions, sway clients and track emissions – but are the improvements we're making enough to solve the big, long-term problems of climate change? We gathered at Autex Acoustic’s London showroom to ask what turned out to be a very human question: how can technology and data help us make smarter, more permanent choices?
Democratising data
For IA’s Robert Atkinson, usability of sustainability tools has been a significant breakthrough in terms of green data and analysis in the past few years. “Previously, measuring and achieving sustainability standards required specialist consultants, like LEED or WELL experts,” he said. “Now, clients want the sustainability components themselves, not necessarily the specialised knowledge. Software makes it easier for regular users to source, manage and specify sustainable materials – and quantify their credentials. This means designers don't need a specialist background. Anybody who's been a sustainability leader knows that the training of staff
Chloé Petersen Snell Deputy Editor Mix Interiors
Duncan Morris Head of Sustainability Area
Marcus Pethica Associate Barr Gazetas
Ami Nigam Head of Technology Benoy
In partnership with
has been the most difficult thing – but the fact that the technology is so user friendly has made that integration so much easier.”
“From a manufacturing perspective, it’s made my job a lot easier, because the increasing demand for sustainability data has significantly improved accountability,” added Abi Jackson, Autex Acoustics. “Suppliers can no longer simply make claims, they now need data to back them up.”
The table agreed that the ability for more people to easily understand and utilise sustainability data is crucial – for example, easily tracking embodied carbon in materials at early stages allows for informed material swaps, and projecting building output helps refine designs.
“This enables individuals without specific sustainability credentials to contribute,” said Perkins&Will’s Hannah Dorman. “It moves beyond simply ‘ticking boxes’ towards tangible, measurable insights that can be given to clients. For us, the biggest thing with data is the sell. We've known for a long time what's good and what's not, and data helps us internally – but giving that data to a client or someone else and explaining ‘this is why we're doing it’ really helps them understand.”
“Suppliers can no longer simply make claims, they now need data to back them up.”
“Quantification is the most significant thing,” said Atkinson, “because even though there's something of a qualitative aspect, it’s still considered more of a premium kind of approach, whereas if we're wanting to embed this into everything that we do, we need to be able to quantify everything. Even the least noble kind of materials can reach those criteria, provided we're actually including them in the quantification of the overall carbon usage.”
Abi Jackson A&D Consultant Autex Acoustics
Hannah Dorman Associate Perkins&Will
Harry Sumner Sustainable Design Lead Bennetts Associates
Robert Atkinson Senior Associate IA Interior Architects
“We’re using data to bring design to life, but in a really positive way.”
Data to design to operation
“A huge advantage is that many early innovations in sustainability, especially reporting, are now built,” Atkinson continued. “We've seen this with clients using our benchmarking platform. One prominent client, for instance, has categorised their regular projects by type, geography and size to quantify a carbon budget for each. This means when we're calculating, we can have two simultaneous budgets: the traditional project build budget and a carbon usage budget. Working within these carbon constraints is informing our design approach much more, helping us make the right material and finish selections,
and define operational parameters to stay within that carbon budget.”
“We're currently focused on trying to find way to align cost and carbon opportunities,” agreed Bennett’s Harry Sumner, “so that decisions become easy and make financial and common sense. Historically, sustainability has often been seen as a premium for clients and cost can become an issue. We’re trying to align data with first principles like leanness, simplification and less materials turning to technological solutions.”
“As a really data-driven company, we’re using data to bring design to life, but in a really positive way,” added Jackson. “We use tools like LCA carbon tracking
and greenhouse gas tracking to monitor operational and embodied emissions. This data helps us set and achieve reduction goals and drives innovation, such as our Spin Fix system – designed to move away from adhesives. Our data showed the need to invest in a large pelletiser to recycle old products into pellets, which are then injection-moulded into components that screw onto panels, allowing them to pop on and off the wall.”
“I think there’s a gap between design performance and actual building performance,” said Area’s Morris. “Despite better modelling, designs are often woefully out when compared to how a building actually performs. I’m excited by tools like NABERS to try and close that gap
“Regulation has limits; human nature and education are key to ensuring everyone is on the same page.”
– holding businesses to account for how spaces run. An incredible passive house design won't work if a window is left open and a radiator on all year round. It requires a continual green thread throughout –design, build, operation – otherwise
it's not going to work. Regulation has limits; human nature and education are key to ensuring everyone is on the same page.”
Carbon-smart retrofitting and reuse
Considering the embedded carbon in existing structures, how can green data inform retrofitting and adaptive reuse strategies? Barr Gazetas’ Marcus Pethica outlined the studio’s approach: creating a hierarchy of interventions to deliver value and performance across a two-fold process – which is adaptable and bespoke due to the complexity of the hertiage buildings they work with.
“We have the opportunity to do far, far more, but we're not fully exploring it.”
“At feasibility stage, our option studies are now led by data and carbon metrics – defining the extent of demolition and strip-out, retention and opportunity. Green data is now the gateway in establishing the direction and strategy of a project from the outset, looking at both embodied and operational carbon. It’s also great to see supportive local policy emerge, promoting retrofitfirst, re-use and low-carbon design –which we think is really progressive. We have to justify decision-making from day one, backed by data. And then, much more granular, but specification of major components like recycled steel or CLT extension,
all the way down to furniture and fabric are considered for the data which is available and sits behind the look and feel. Decision-making here is based on circularity, takeback schemes and repurposing. We continually model and analyse ‘trade-offs’ between operational and embodied carbon (for example, installing new windows versus refurbishing existing). At both levels, this typically manifests itself in the form of a ‘point of decision’ Sustainability Matrix. We try to make this a ‘one-pager’ when presenting to clients – simple and clearly communicated, and then acting as the backbone of the project.”
Bridging the ambition gap
Naturally, breaking down barriers to information sharing is crucial for widespread sustainability in design and manufacturing. “I’ve seen at least 10 carbon calculators in the last year, all utilising the same underlying technology and data,” said Benoy’s Ami Nigam. “This means that 10 tech teams have duplicated a lot of effort in replicating carbon calculations. I think that's the challenge – a lot of people are thinking about the same things but in siloed environments.
In my opinion, this speaks of a cultural challenge we have around sharing, not just data, but also know-how.”
“There's a singular lack of ambition right now,” added Atkinson. “We have the opportunity to do far, far more, but we're not fully exploring it. The industry is changing rapidly, and we're deceiving ourselves if we think current methods will remain the same. We're heading into the Wild West – we should embrace this technology and ride it to see its full potential, regardless of immediate commercial outcomes.”
What is the radical future of the workplace?
In this Mix Roundtable with CMD we explore the bold ideas shaping tomorrow’s office, ask if the triedand-tested is still fit for purpose in a new era of work, and chart the role design will play in bringing brave concepts to life.
Words and moderated by: Harry McKinley
What is the workplace, today?
The first question confronting the table was deceptively simple: what, in 2025, do we mean when we say ‘the workplace’? The answers revealed just how far the traditional office has drifted from its onceassumed role as the fixed centre of professional life.
For Cheré Falconer, Quarterback Real Estate, the office is less about desks and deadlines and more about the invisible lessons that come from being physically present with colleagues. “When I started doing architecture, I learnt a lot just being in the office and hearing conversations; you learn by osmosis, by being around people,” she recalled.
HOK’s Tim Hatton shared a similar concern. “The way we’re going, we’re going to end up with a bit of a
knowledge gap,” he cautioned. “The amount of information that you learn unconsciously – the conversations that you hear when going through your career, how to deal with a client, how to deal with a difficult situation –you don’t get that at home.”
Yet, as ID:SR’s Danielle Marshall pointed out, being in the office does not automatically guarantee collaboration. “Even when people are in the office these days, there’s an issue with headphones,” she said. “It still creates a situation where people, especially younger people, are working in isolation instead of having that collaborative feeling. It goes to show that we still need spaces for focus too.”
Bee Eldridge, Perkins&Will, took the conversation to its most provocative point. “Is the traditional office dead? Probably,” she said, “if what we mean is everyone sitting at a fixed desk from 9am until 5pm.”
Rachael Winsor Director tp bennett
Danielle Marshall Associate Partner ID:SR
Tim Hatton Senior Interior Designer HOK
Nicole Allegri Interior Designer HLW
Harry McKinley Managing Editor Mix Interiors
Co-founder and Creative Lead
Inez
Low Senior Interior Designer Hawkins/Brown
But if the office in its ‘old’ form is fading, does that mean it has no future? Rachael Winsor, tp bennett, pushed back against the notion of redundancy. “We do still need workplaces,” she insisted. “It’s not just the mum who needs to escape the children for a bit of quiet and a bit of focus, but also imagine flat sharing with six other people and having to come around a table. It’s that space for individual working. And then there’s also the contact; face to face. So there’s still a need, but previously it was very focused on set desks all in a row; quite neat, but certainly not pushing the boundaries as to what could be achieved.”
Together, the table painted a picture of an institution in flux, but the consensus was clear: the office, as once imagined, may be disappearing, yet the workplace as a concept – a shared destination, shaped by culture, necessity and human connection – remains indispensable.
If the office is no longer defined by desks and timesheets, then what should its role be? Increasingly, the conversation turned to whether the workplace should evolve from a site of productivity to one of experience.
“In the office these days, there’s an issue with headphones.”
Hatton suggested that even the term ‘productivity’ needs to be re-examined. “Is it about how long you’ve worked; how long you’ve sat
at a computer?” he mused. “I used to come up with designs, with materials sprawled across the floor at home. Nobody really does that work at their desk. It might be where you process information, but I don’t think that’s where ideas are generated.”
For Falconer the shift is already happening. “When you’re looking at design, everyone wants a space that feels like a members’ club or boutique hotel,” she said. “They don’t want something that feels like a traditional office. But I think you can be productive wherever, so it’s about results, rather than ‘I’ve seen you there seven days a week’.”
ID:SR’s Danielle Marshall added that the appeal of the office often lies in what can’t be accessed elsewhere. “If someone doesn’t have a traditional desk, how can they be more nimble in the office or transition more easily between spaces?” she asked. “Can we plug
Bee
Cheré Falconer
Quarterback Real Estate
Jon Holding Managing Director CMD
“No one was really bothered about having a desk, but now they have library spaces and other facilities that make the office really useful.”
and play? People are coming in because they actually want a tech setup. They want the two or three screens.”
The evolution, then, is not about discarding productivity, but broadening its meaning. The workplace is no longer simply a machine for efficiency; it is becoming a platform for culture, creativity and access to amenity.
What
does bold thinking mean in practice?
Bold thinking in workplace design is not always about radical architecture, sometimes it is about reframing priorities.
Falconer described one striking example. “I saw an example of a workplace recently – they had 300 staff members, a tech company, and they reduced their fixed desks down to 70 seats, and the rest of it was all social spaces or booths; that kind of thing,” she explained. “No one was really bothered about having a desk, but now they have library spaces and other facilities that make the office really useful.”
Nicole Allegri, HLW, raised a note of caution. “What worries me, as we move forward, is that if we make everything flexible, are we doing any one thing properly?” she asked, suggesting that the appetite for endless adaptability shouldn’t come at the cost of doing less things well.
Technology, several agreed, will be crucial. “Technology can play a massive role in making spaces successfully adaptable and fit for
purpose,” said CMD’s Jon Holding. “But it needs to work; it needs to be seamless. If it’s frustrating, if it doesn’t work, people lose trust.”
Inez Low, Hawkins/Brown, added that design can guide behaviour as much as it accommodates it.
“Sometimes not having a plug point somewhere creates a space that forces people to move after a time,” she said. “We had a client who mentioned that it’s important to monitor bookings on pods, otherwise some people would just isolate themselves in there all day.”
Allegri returned to the promise of subtlety. “The more invisible tech will also be part of how we evolve or revolutionise the office: booking systems, occupancy monitoring and so on.” Bold design, in this sense, is not about spectacle but about quietly enabling better ways of working.
“We often talk about collaborative spaces, but sometimes it’s the quiet spaces that have been neglected.”
Are
we
creating places and spaces with people in mind?
If bold ideas drive innovation, then empathy must guide it. The roundtable shifted focus to the most fundamental question: are workplaces being created with people in mind?
Eldridge, stressed the importance of culture. “We talk about designing in culture, but actually we shouldn’t forget that it depends on the culture of the business itself,” she said. “We can talk about good principles, but it’s also important to understand what works for that business. There isn't just one pathway.”
Low illustrated how this can take shape. “We always look at a neighbourhood model or activitybased working,” she explained, “meaning that if we have three floors of offices, the middle floor would be where the pantries are –where the social areas are – and then we force people to move up; so then you create that spontaneous interaction.”
Hatton stressed how spatial sequencing can influence comfort. “When this goes back to the planning, spatial sequencing –
literally just the sequencing of spaces – is really crucial,” he said. “You don’t need to create anything that’s crazy new or gimmicky. For those that are neurodiverse, and it doesn’t really matter which end of that scale you sit on, whether you are hypersensitive or hypo-sensitive, you’re just much more sensitive to your environment. So there’s no need to create crazy rooms with sensory walls, it's just understanding what spaces are required. And this goes back to speaking to the people and asking them what they want, then understanding what that sequence of space is. So, if you do have those social hubs, then what's that buffer zone that stops that noise breaking out between that social space and the spaces where people want quiet, for example?”
“There’s no need to create crazy rooms with sensory walls, it's just understanding what spaces are required.”
For Holding, the quiet end of the spectrum is too often overlooked. “We often talk about collaborative spaces, but sometimes it’s the quiet spaces that have been neglected,” he said.
Winsor reframed the conversation in terms of wellbeing. “We need to break the idea that designing for wellbeing is a luxury,” she argued. “It’s good for the company. Better spaces mean less sick days.”
Eldridge reinforced this point.
“There’s definitely a view from some clients when it comes to designing in wellness of: well, what’s it going to cost me?” she said. “When the question should be: what will it cost me if I don’t?”
The most innovative workplaces, the group concluded, are not those that chase novelty but those that listen, empathise and design with people’s real needs – whether for connection, privacy, or wellbeing.
What is the future and what does it mean for designers as agents of change?
The conversation concluded by turning the lens on the role of designers themselves. If the workplace is to continue evolving, what responsibility falls on the professionals shaping it?
For Holding, the answer was clear. “Designers definitely have the ability to drive change,” he said. “I see this in sustainability, for example, where there’s a constant push to make decisions that are better
for people and planet. And that challenges companies like ours, CMD, to develop for this too. People think of technology as something that will date, but everything we do is easy to reconfigure and adapt, to help designers and end users make better choices.”
Allegri emphasised the guiding role designers play. “It’s not just about change, as designers we have experience – we’re there to feed into the process,” she explained. “A client might think they know what they want, but we can guide them down a path that we know will work for them because we’ve done it elsewhere, or have examples to show of what works,
even if it’s not what they thought they’d want. That’s the role of a designer.”
Taken together, these perspectives point to a profession that is no longer simply reactive but proactive. Designers are not just executing a client’s vision; they are shaping it, challenging it and expanding it.
The radical future of the workplace, then, is not just a matter of technology or policy. It is a question of imagination and leadership. And as the table made clear, it is designers – armed with both creativity and conviction –who are uniquely positioned to bring that future to life.
30 under
On 25 September, at Kronospan’s state-of-theart Clerkenwell showroom, we celebrated the UK and the island of Ireland’s next gen talent – 30 bright, young things shaping the commercial design landscape of tomorrow.
Imaan Daureeawoo
AECOM
Interior Designer
Imaan Daureeawoo is a key player to a major government framework, committed to integrating eco-friendly solutions within rigorous requirements. Passionate about history, architecture and nature, she excels at client engagement and achieving project goals through multidisciplinary collaboration, whilst also being a voice for AECOM’s Ethnic Diversity Network.
For me, the future of design is rooted in sustainability, innovation and creativity. It’s about envisioning spaces that are not only visually compelling but also respond meaningfully to the user and the environment.
Jack Walker
AFK Studios
Architect
Jack Walker joined AFK Studios in 2018 before continuing his studies at Cardiff University. Returning as a full-time team member, he contributed to landmark projects including 55 Bishopsgate and the Biscuit Factory regeneration in Bermondsey, playing a pivotal role in both design and delivery.
For me the future of design is… in reconnection with our sense of community and designing spaces for collaboration. By designing spaces which generate interaction and shared experience, we allow communities to build, thrive and connect.
Lucy Muir
Area
Project Designer
Evolving from a junior role to project designer, Lucy Muir leads with creativity, clarity and a strong grasp of both client needs and intent. An advocate for sustainability, she has pioneered a role bridging the Design and Sustainability teams, researching innovative materials and processes.
For me the future of design is… about ensuring sustainability is at the heart of every project as standard to promote a more circular approach to design and put an emphasis on reuse.
Kuzagen Valaydon
AtkinsRéalis
Interior Designer
Kuzagen Valaydon is an interior designer, with experience leading projects across workplace, hospitality and aviation. A strong advocate for digital innovation, Valaydon has advanced the use of AI and VR within design, inspiring teams to embrace future leaning solutions.
For me the future of design is… being driven by transformative technologies that are reshaping how we design. Sustainability, wellness and personalisation continue to be essential pillars – guiding meaningful, responsible and forward-thinking design.
Jasmine McKenzie
Barr Gazetas
Architect
Jasmine McKenzie is praised for her creative insight and technical rigour at Barr Gazetas. Excelling in concept design, she curates innovative material palettes and compelling presentations, while her meticulous attention to detail ensures excellence throughout project delivery. McKenzie has contributed to award-winning schemes and collaborated with international practices such as Studio Stockholm and A+I.
For me the future of design is… beautifully intentional and responsive to the present climate and ethical challenges we are currently facing.
Luke Starkey
BDP
Interior Designer
Luke Starkey is a motivated designer with a passion for creating healthy and uplifting environments. Appointed BDP North Inclusive Design Champion for Head Space, Starkey has become an advocate for neurodiversity in design, bringing a multidisciplinary perspective to his work at BDP Manchester.
For me the future of design is… about redefining spaces to be genuinely inclusive. We should develop spaces that unite people, value diversity and foster a greater sense of belonging.
Lucia Mills
DLSM Studio
Interior Designer
Lucia Mills is an interior designer whose creativity, vision and dedication have made a significant impact at DLSM Studio. Mills’ portfolio includes high profile projects such as Gaucho Tower Bridge and a luxury concept for the InterContinental Doha Beach & Spa Resort.
For me the future of design is… about continually rethinking how we define and shape space to meet the needs of a constantly changing world. The future lies in creating adaptable, thoughtful environments that respond to these changes.
Poppy Collins
Foster + Partners
Interior Designer
Poppy Collins is a dynamic designer whose creativity, technical expertise and leadership are driving innovation within the interiors industry. Starting out at Tom Dixon Studio, Collins pioneered the integration of AI tools such as Midjourney, streamlining workflows and shaping future-facing approaches. Collins has now started a new role at Fosters + Partners.
For me the future of design is… rooted in circular sustainability, with AI playing a powerful role in developing smarter, dataled decisions, from material selection to spatial efficiency.
Allison Au
Gensler
Architect
In 2023, Allison Au was promoted to Associate at Gensler Birmingham, reflecting both her skill and leadership potential. Au has led on several complex retail projects and workplace interiors for consumer brands, whilst being committed to mentoring future architects, engaging with universities and BCO NextGen.
For me the future of design is… about creating experiences that move people emotionally, socially and culturally. By embracing immersive design and the influence of digital and social culture, we can reimagine commercial interiors.
Megan Allen
HLM Architects
Interior Designer
Megan Allen is a pioneering designer at HLM Architects, recognised for combining functionality with artistic expression. Allen played a pivotal role in the flagship SEN sixth form school Ysgol Lyn Derw, where her biophilic design approach created calming, nature-inspired interiors that enhance student wellbeing and learning.
For me the future of design is… centred on connection, spaces that are designed for people’s well-being to support and inspire their everyday through the integration of natural materials, biophilic elements and thoughtful layouts.
Sarah Astill
Jolie Studio
Interior Designer
A creative and dedicated designer at Jolie Studio, Sarah Astill is admired for bringing style, substance and clarity to projects from concept through to FF&E. Astill’s recent work includes the AJOUR workspace in Hamburg, Victoria Riverside and a series of upcoming hotel projects, all shaped by her calm confidence and human-centred approach.
For me the future of design is… about creating spaces that respond to human emotion and experience. When we design environments where people thrive, we naturally foster sustainability and longevity because spaces built around wellbeing remain relevant, meaningful and timeless.
Eleanor Penny
Layrd Design
Head
of Workplace Design
Eleanor Penny is Head of Workplace Design at Layrd Design, with expertise spanning labs, workplace and hospitality. Penny combines aesthetics with functionality, cost-effectiveness and environmental responsibility. Following her autism diagnosis in 2024, Eleanor has become an advocate for neurodiversity, championing design that works for all.
For me the future of design is… when inclusive, healthy and sustainable design is no longer a trend or a box ticking exercise. It’s a future in which these considerations are simply the norm.
Hannah Carson
M Moser Associates
Strategist
An invaluable member of the strategy team at M Moser Associates, Hannah Carson brings clarity, curiosity and energy to every collaboration. Formerly a designer, Carson’s analytical rigour, combined with her design background, ensures meaningful outcomes and confident project delivery.
For me the future of design is… about continuing to develop our understanding of human behaviour. For workplace designers, that means being better equipped to respond to the nuanced ways people work and interact to create environments that encourage positive cultures.
Helen Mackenzie
MLA
Interior Designer
At MLA Glasgow, Helen Mackenzie is an interior designer, recognised for her attention to detail, technical skill and strong design eye. Contributing to one of Scotland’s largest fit-out projects for Lloyds Banking Group, she has been instrumental from briefing through to delivery, her personable nature forging lasting client relationships.
For me the future of design is… about creating interior environments that coexist harmoniously with the natural world, minimising ecological impact to enhance biodiversity and respond intuitively to natural systems.
Ellie Mumford
Modus
Senior Creative Designer
Joining Maris as a Junior Designer in 2021, Ellie Mumford was promoted to Senior Designer and then Design Director within three years – an achievement that reflects her skill and determination. Delivering over 300,000 sq ft of workplace at Maris, Mumford has since taken a new position at Modus.
For me the future of design is… about moving beyond practicality. In an age defined by technology, design can’t stop at being useful – it must create spaces that feel alive and inspiring.
Danielle La Porte Oktra Designer
Danielle La Porte is an Interior Designer at Oktra, recognised for her creativity, client-focused approach and ability to lead projects from the initial stages through to completion. With a degree in Interior Architecture and Design and research in neurodiverse design, La Porte combines creative vision with commercial knowhow, consistently delivering exceptional spaces.
For me the future of design is… all about people. It’s about creating offices that feel supportive and inspiring, not just functional.
Tia Brooks
Peldon Rose
Project Designer
Tia Brooks is a dynamic designer who has swiftly risen from graduate to project designer within Peldon Rose’s Landlord team. Brooks has already led projects on heritage schemes where her sensitive yet forward thinking approach balanced conservation with modern functionality. For me the future of design is… fluid and ever evolving, shaped by the people who inhabit and interact with spaces. Interior design shouldn’t be a fixed outcome but a flexible framework which adapts.
Georgie Lever
Penketh Group
Interior Designer
Georgie Lever joined Penketh Group in 2022, bringing a wealth of freelance design experience and a fresh perspective to workplace interiors. Specialising in hospitality-inspired office spaces, she combines functionality with aesthetics, underpinned by a detail-orientated approach. Lever stays at the forefront of the latest innovations, integrating sustainable solutions into every project.
For me the future of design is… about creating spaces that don’t just look good, but feel good – spaces that awaken emotions, spark curiosity and shift energy.
James Porritt
Perkins&Will
Intermediate Interior Designer
As an Intermediate Designer at Perkins&Will, James Porritt is known for his grounded confidence, thoughtful presence and bringing determination to every collaboration. Outside of his role, he is committed to mentoring emerging designers, generously sharing knowledge and encouragement to support their growth.
For me the future of design is… listening first, and creating second because what feels small to us might be a breakthrough for the client. The magic happens when empathy meets imagination.
Blair Boyle
Savills Workplace & Design
Associate Interior Designer
Blair Boyle is an accomplished interior designer at Savills, contributing to benchmarking projects and app development. His recent transformation for Smiths News HQ showcased his ability to deliver workplaces primed for both wellbeing and usability. Boyle drives Savill’s CPD programme and champions diversity through Social Mobility and LGBTQ+ networks.
For me the future of design is… empathetic, inclusive, and humane. It’s a tool for creating spaces that earn their place by offering comfort, opportunity and a sense of belonging.
Georgia Bond
spacelab_
Senior Interior Designer
Georgia Bond is a pioneering designer at spacelab_, promoted to Senior Designer in recognition of her creativity, technical expertise and spirit of collaboration. Renowned as a Revit wizard and furniture specialist, Bond inspires colleagues through her skill and teamwork, while having an active role in the spacelab_’s marketing and People Team.
For me the future of design is… ensuring we create spaces that inspire, connect and adapt. The physical form should be influenced by how we improve user experience.
Briony Knowles
Squire & Partners
Interior
Designer
Briony Knowles is an adaptable designer whose creativity and precision has benefitted several of Squire & Partners' international projects, including private villas and residential developments in the Bahamas and Tokyo. Knowles is a natural collaborator who streamlines processes, mentors colleagues and fosters a supportive studio culture.
For me the future of design is… about weaving innovation into everyday life. It’s where new tools meet old instincts – a longing for home, for shared stories and for spaces that feel deeply ours.
Lucia Barlow
Studio Moren
Interior Designer
Lucia Barlow is an ambitious interior designer with the ability to navigate complex briefs with both care and consideration. Barlow has recently played an instrumental role in two of Studio Moren’s UK hotel projects, balancing concept design through to technical delivery.
For me the future of design is… about evolving with a rapidly changing world and moving beyond traditional solutions. AI will shape the way we use materials, develop products and approach creativity through tools we’ve yet to fully imagine.
Aisling Geoghegan
The Bon Collective Interior Designer
A year into her position at The Bon Collective, Aisling Geoghegan has demonstrated talent and maturity well beyond her experience. Highly versatile, Geoghegan is skilled across a wide range of design software, readily teaching herself new tools and sharing knowledge with colleagues. Her initiative, team input and creative flair mark her a force within the design field.
For me the future of design is… rapidly evolving. However, there will always be an appreciation for craft and human perspective.
Jessica Flagg
Thirdway
Interior Designer
Jessica Flagg is an innovative and dedicated interior designer at Thirdway who delivers tailored solutions that reflect cultural values and commercial identities. Alongside her design vision, Flagg’s buildability knowledge ensures effective execution, instilling confidence in on-site teams.
For me the future of design is… finding the balance between technology and the human experience. In a world surrounded by technology, it’s fundamental that we use it to empower and enhance our creativity in design – not replace it.
Samantha Maharaj
tp bennett
Interior Designer
Since joining tp bennett, Samantha Maharaj has evidenced a client-focused approach, translating intricate briefs into purposeful design visions, delivered with both confidence and precision. Being an active member in tp bennett’s Race and Ethnicity group and an Outward Bound ambassador, she champions inclusivity and future design leadership.
For me the future of design is… anything but predictable. Design is a human-centric process which will be shaped by major global events like climate change, migration, social movements and rapid technological change.
Jade Peacock
TSK Group Ltd
Junior Interior Designer
From the moment she joined TSK Group Ltd, Jade Peacock has played an instrumental role in the phased refurbishment projects and continues to contribute to notable large-scale CAT B schemes. Credited for her observation, Jade brings a refined understanding of materiality and finishes, infusing her work with a distinctive residential and hospitalityinspired style.
For me the future of design is… in creating functional, supportive spaces that go beyond first impressions, becoming sculptural environments that mould to the lives of users.
Almu Tesorero
Two
Technical Designer
Almu Tesorero is an accomplished designer with a deep understanding of how structures come together, enabling her to resolve complex challenges with clarity. Since joining Two, Teserero’s recent work on Work.Life at Clerkenwell Green demonstrated her ability to lead, coordinating mechanics and electrics, and deliver buildable solutions for a challenging site.
For me the future of design is… where technical precision doesn’t hold creativity back. It’s about designing with intention, questioning outdated norms and creating smarter systems.
Ciara McClelland
Whitepaper
Senior Designer
At Whitepaper, Ciara McClelleland is a Senior Designer whose progression reflects her design eye, dedication and consistent delivery at the highest level. Thanks to her positive energy and leadership skills, McClelland works efficiently with architects, clients and consultants while managing several complex projects simultaneously.
For me the future of design is… about finding the balance between pushing innovation forward and holding onto the creativity and individuality that keep the human experience alive.
Chloe BarlowHuurdeman
Whittam Cox Architects
Mid-Weight Interior Designer
Nominated by Whittam Cox Architects, Chloe Barlow-Huurdeman is an interior designer characterised by her energy, curiosity and care. Adaptable across sectors including hospitality, workplace and Private Bedroom Student Accommodation (PBSA), she consistently combines unbridled creativity with an air of precision.
For me the future of design is… about a commitment to a circular and kinder world. It’s about rethinking materiality and project lifecycles to reduce environmental impact, proving that successful spaces can be created without compromising our planet.
Hotel Experience returns to the Greek capital for its second edition, combining experiential design, culture and business strategy for hospitality design enthusiasts the world over.
Athens: 18–19 October
Hotel Experience 2025
A change of location
With 2024’s inaugural event taking place at the Athens Observatory, this year’s event will unfold at the equally impressive industrial museum and cultural centre, Technopolis, located a stone’s throw away from the ancient Acropolis.
Organised by events and consultation agency Design Ambassador, alongside publishing house Aris Marinakis Architectural Editions, the forum at Technopolis will gather pioneering voices to discuss the hotel sector’s most pressing topics – ranging from heritage masterplans to branded icons – with the aim of positioning Athens at the centre of global conversation.
Key themes
Renewed for 2025, Hotel Experience will draw on the cinematic themes of last year’s event, where pavilions were transformed into hotel vignettes from the sets of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000). Similarly, Technopolis will also be home a series of scenographic environments that transport visitors on a visual journey through hotel environments taken from popular culture.
Other major threads include a tangible shift in the behaviour of the modern traveller, with guest speakers and visitors being invited to contemplate how many of us are opting for meaningful, unique experiences over hyper-commercialised
spaces and tourism packages. Hotel operators, architects, developers and brands meet to exchange ideas on these unfolding developments, platforming new voices and exploring how luxury and heritage concepts can be translated into living, contemporary time capsules.
Mix Interiors x
Hotel Experience: leading the conversation
Moderated by Mix Interiors Managing Editor Harry McKinley, this year, we host four invigorating discussions with some of the industry’s key leaders.
Feeding the future
Afroditi Krassa: founder, Afroditi. In conversation with Harry McKinley, Mix Interiors
From the reinvention of Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill to the creation of Itsu and the early concept development of Dishoom, designer Afroditi Krassa has helped shape some of the most influential hospitality experiences of the past two decades. In this sharp and timely conversation, she joins moderator Harry McKinley, managing editor at Mix Interiors, to unpack how modern hotel concepts must move beyond superficial style to deliver spaces with cultural substance and narrative depth. Drawing on her global work across F&B and hospitality, Krassa brings provocative insights into what truly resonates with guests and how Greece must abandon templates and rediscover its own voice. This discussion dives into the space where design meets identity, experience and strategic reinvention.
Post luxury in the land of gods: What comes after infinity pools?
Afroditi Krassa: founder, Afroditi. Constantina Tsoutsikou: founder, Studio Lost. Despina Kalapoda: Snr. Director Design Strategies EMEA, Marriott International. In conversation with Harry McKinley, Mix Interiors
As global hospitality pivots from excess to essence, this panel brings together design leaders shaping the new language of luxury, to explore the shift from aesthetics to ethics, and from styling to storytelling. With work spanning international resorts and Greek destinations, the panellists will unpack what ‘post-luxury’ means in practice and where design is grounded in purpose, place and radical hospitality. What can Greece offer the future of experience-first hospitality? And who is ready to lead it?
International lessons for heritage and growth
Flaviano Capriotti: founder, Flaviano Capriotti Architetti. Hamish Brown: partner, 1508 London. In conversation with Harry McKinley, Mix Interiors
How can design both respect the past and create space for the future? This panel brings together Hamish Brown, partner at 1508 London, and architect Flaviano Capriotti to explore the challenges and opportunities of working with heritage in a contemporary hospitality context. Drawing on landmark projects across Europe and beyond, they will discuss strategies for preserving historic identity while introducing dynamic, forward-looking ideas. The conversation will highlight the importance of cultural sensitivity, adaptive reuse and design innovation in creating hotels that honour their setting yet deliver relevance and growth in today’s competitive market.
Designing the spirit of a place: the making of Four Seasons Mykonos
Melita Skamnaki and Wilhelm Finger: co-founders, Double Decker. Rachel Johnson: managing principal, Wimberly. Ryan Grande: general manager, Four Seasons Mykonos. Shawn Sullivan: partner, Rockwell Group. In conversation with Harry McKinley, Mix Interiors
Set against the luminous backdrop of the Aegean, the upcoming Four Seasons Mykonos is more than a luxury resort – it’s a modern homage to the timeless soul of the island.
In this panel, the visionary teams from Rockwell Group, WATG, Double Decker and Four Seasons come together to share the creative journey behind this extraordinary project. From honouring local architecture to weaving cultural touchpoints into the guest experience, this session will explore how deep cultural reverence, thoughtful design and global hospitality standards converge to shape a property that embodies the spirit of a place.
This year’s talks programme and events are designed to address the timeliest subjects facing the industry. For more information visit hotelexperience.gr.
Words: Charlotte Slinger
Please wait: Can we rediscover the potential of transitional spaces?
From doctors’ surgeries and airport terminals to jury pools and dentists’ receptions, regular pockets of our everyday lives are spent in largely non-descript public spaces and waiting rooms. These empty, almost liminal spaces are often lacking in any real sense of design, both literally (containing minimal furnishings or devoid of colour) and in terms of narrative, feeling like something of an afterthought and conveying little to no meaning. But in saying nothing at all, are these rooms actually speaking volumes about our approach to civic design? And how can we reclaim the untapped potential of these oft-neglected spaces?
This spring, Oscar-winning Italian director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino shared this desire to reimagine the archetypal waiting room with his tentpole installation at Salone del Mobile. One of this year’s special guests at Milan Design Week 2025, Sorrentino presented La dolce attesa, an Italian phrase translating
to ‘the sweet wait’. Creating a bold cinematic space in collaboration with set specialist Margherita Palli, this series of connected interior environments offered the director’s commentary on the act of waiting as a ‘void to be filled or an opportunity to be seized’. Moody, monochromatic spaces were sparsely furnished, with a low glow emitting from a shifting, hypnotic light installation at the centre and connecting doors labelled ‘Cardiologia’ alluding to the wait for serious news relating to one’s heart.
Speaking to the installation during a talk at the Drafting Futures Arena, Sorrentino explained his rationale: “In La dolce attesa we talk about waiting for a medical response – the kind of waiting that becomes suspended time. We remain suspended: still, tense, nervous and anguished. The waiting room, as it has been conceived until now, only serves to amplify that anguish: between white walls, uncomfortable chairs, monitors flashing
up numbers and grumpy employees, you end up obsessively focusing on your smartphone. Perhaps, then, we should rethink waiting…Our waiting room aspires to be something else. It doesn’t force you to sit still, but lets you go.”
However, this impulse to imbue a civic space with more use and meaning is not just an abstract concept inspiring stylised installations in Milan; in fact, it was just brought to life at preventative medicine company Zoī’s new health centre in the heart of Paris. Hidden behind a discreet black door, just steps from the city’s Place Vendôme, a ‘quiet revolution in healthcare’ is afoot – with the historic courtyard of luxury retail brands now also home to a futuristic, minimalist space aiming to redefine what a medical facility can be. Entering an open competition to design Zoī Vendome, the winning concept by Mexico-based studio Sala Hars replaces clinical anonymity with immersive, human-centred
design – despite the young, emerging studio having no prior experience in the healthcare sector. In place of sterile corridors and cold, impersonal waiting rooms, the labyrinthine 20,000 sq ft facility features sculptural wooden hallways, curved transitional spaces, vibrant tiled treatment rooms and Japanese style onsens (warm baths) carved from volcanic stone – with medical equipment completely concealed and revealed only when needed. There are no neglected liminal spaces here: intentional and purposeful, Sala Hars’ design leaves nothing to chance, offering a contemporary take on Baroque style by playing with a sense of scale, drama and the interplay of light and shadow.
Not just limited to healthcare environments, the importance of considered, human-centric design extends to public realm spaces, too. In a think piece dissecting the current state of civic design, architect Jan Kattein – whose
Image on previous page: Zoī Vendome, courtesy of Sala Hars
Above left: La dolce atessa at Salone del Mobile 2025 photography, Alessandro Russotti
Above right: Sky Onsen baths at Zoī Vendome, courtesy of Sala Hars
eponymous practice reinvigorates public realm and community spaces throughout London – echoes Sorrentino’s message of giving users more freedom, rather than restrictions. “Design of public space today is obsessed with eradicating the unknown and being assertive about the future. This way of working has led to the blight of town centres worldwide during the last century,” Kattein argues. “A rigid approach to public space design can stifle civic society, undermining all spontaneity. It profoundly effects the shape and form of our cities, smothering all acts of improvisation, impulse and impromptu creativity. If the pandemic has taught us one thing, then it is that the future is a lot less certain than we previously thought.”
Investing in thoughtfully designed transitional spaces, then, has the potential to encourage more positive, spontaneous connections. We need only look to the stronger sense of community and slower pace of urban life
“Transitional spaces has the potential to encourage more positive, spontaneous connections.”
in walkable European cities (with their love of café culture) compared to many cities in America, where impromptu gatherings and third spaces in general are often less commonplace. Kattein’s practice demonstrated the value in this
when opening the Dialogue Express in Stratford, transforming a disused train carriage in Carpenters Estate (a 1970s social housing development) into a London café, promoting the use of British Sign Language between staff and customers with hearing loss. Their think piece continues: “As a designer, the greatest civic act that we can entertain is to embrace uncertainty. For designing truly civic space means to give agency to others and space to accommodate the unexpected – appreciating the malleable qualities of urban spaces preserves opportunity to discover the unknown.”
Be it a waiting room or a community centre, perhaps the problem with many public spaces is therefore not their lack of direction – rather, that this lack of direction is perceived as a negative, and not as a potential tool for creativity, social connection and the key to reactivating our neglected civic spaces.
Words: Charlotte Slinger
Photography: Courtesy of Impact Acoustic
Breaking the mould
Building on a reputation of innovation and precision engineering, Swiss brand Impact Acoustic is forging a new path for sustainable fabrication – while making waves as an industry rebel.
Home to some of the most prestigious engineering institutions in the world, over the decades Switzerland has become synonymous with meticulous manufacturing and an entrepreneurial spirit – with its various exports (from watches to pharmaceuticals) defined by a strict attention to detail and the highest of quality control. This entrepreneurial drive and eye for precision are just some of the values that inspired co-founders Sven Erni and Jeffrey Ibañez to launch their Swiss-based manufacturing brand, Impact Acoustic. But first and foremost, the duo is fuelled by the climate crisis –their work both demonstrating the power of a circular economy and offering a blueprint for other brands to follow suit.
“For me, the inspiration was very clearly in 2008, with the launch of Net Effect by Interface,” recalls Erni, referencing the first truly sustainable carpet yarn that entered the market, made from repurposed fishing nets. “At that time, I was working for an interior design company in Kuala Lumpur, and we always had carpets that would be replaced with a cheaper version. I was so happy – finally, there was a product where the story became part of the design concept, and no one ever dared to replace the carpet. That was really what I wanted to do when I launched my first company, ECHOJAZZ, in 2015.” At ECHOJAZZ, Erni created an acoustic solution called the Chatpod, while Ibañez was working “on the other side of the bridge” in the world of international design and lamenting the industry’s limited progress in sustainable innovation.
Impact Acoustic The Making of...
With Ibañez already the brains behind ECHOJAZZ’s designs, the choice was made to start afresh and launch Impact Acoustic in 2019, with the goal of creating a new business that would drive positive change in the industry – the duo debuting their signature ARCHISONIC® Cotton (an acoustic felt made with recycled PET plastic bottles) that same year. For the co-founders, then, sustainability is a truly personal motivator and more than mere brand messaging: “I'm deeply worried about where society is going right now and I don't think we're going to make it,” admits Erni. “The planet will survive, nature will recuperate, but society might not. So, while we’re failing, I didn't want to create a business that makes us fail even faster. I want us to push the boundaries for society to really think differently, to take opportunities and not block innovation.”
As well as product innovation, the brand aims to set itself apart from its peers through storytelling and a consistent level of service. “Since the beginning, we have given all our products personality, so we don't really have to sell them. They speak for
Impact Acoustic at NeoCon (left) and Milan Design Week (right).
“We have this saying in our company: if you believe, you achieve; if you doubt, you’re out.”
themselves already,” explains Ibañez. They are also positioning the brand as something of a rebellious voice in the industry, railing against corporate greenwashing, refusing to work with the five biggest polluters of plastic bottles (Coca-Cola, Suntory, Danone, PepsiCo and Nestlé) and recently encouraging their head of research to speak up during a US event championing corn bioplastics – a material Erni argues is actually far from sustainable, due to its water, land and pesticide usage.
The duo recalls entering the UK market with a somewhat “un-British” sense of self-confidence, getting creative with ways to fill their first launch event despite having no architecture and design contacts in the country. “We have this saying in our company: if you believe, you achieve. The second part is: if you doubt, you’re out,” says Erni. “What it really means is if you don’t trust yourself, you won’t do a good job.” This belief in both their manufacturing capability and their environmental mission is how Erni believes their ‘Swiss-ness’ influences the company, particularly when it comes to bespoke design consultations – which made up 72% of last year’s turnover. When approached for these custom designs, they strive to provide images of a working prototype within 48 hours. “No one cuts PET felt in a higher precision than we do –we actually know our CNC machine better than the machine manufacturer,” states Erni. “When we develop new products, we have a matrix so that it cannot produce more than 20% wastage of the raw material, and other nitty gritty things to try to optimise absolutely everything.”
Far from keeping this expertise to themselves, Erni and Ibañez are also firm believers in the power of knowledge sharing. “We try to popularise different ways of producing materials and dealing with plastic [so that] other companies can also do the same,” says Ibañez. “We’re often asked, ‘why would you share it, because others can copy you?’ But we’re proud if we’re getting copied, that’s the idea – let’s make sustainability great again. We’re already doing the next thing, anyway!” This pursuit of genuine, meaningful collaboration extends across the company as a whole: when asked what they are most proud of in their journey so far, the founders look to those around them. “Our best asset is really our employees – when they're happy and comfortable, they're productive, and when they're productive, they're more innovative. It's a chain reaction,” smiles Ibañez. One notable achievement they do mention, however, is securing a partnership with Amazon just eight months into business – pitching a suite of
products at a design exhibition in Madrid, the brand now creates furnishings and surfaces for Amazon’s international offices.
Despite the brand’s rapid growth, the co-founders are still directly involved in the design process, including the choice of their creative collaborators. Previously joining forces with fellow Swiss studio atelier oï to create the Oloïd acoustic pendant, the brand’s latest partnership is with Danish industrial designer Cecilie Manz, who brought her signature minimalist touch to its newly launched Tofu Tile collection. Also reflecting Erni and Ibañez’s desire to foster more meaningful connections across the industry is the company’s Alpine Summit: wishing to stand out from London’s glut of design showrooms, the summit invites a handful of architecture and design standouts to a curated four-day trip in the Swiss alps, creating an opportunity for this “little community of innovators” to cross-pollinate ideas and even leave as friends. Keeping a keen eye on the next
generation and their pioneering ideas, Sven also personally entertains local A&D students, providing them with practical advice on how to turn these new concepts into viable businesses.
As for what’s next for Impact Acoustic, this September marks the opening of its new prototyping and research laboratory in Zurich, where designers, architects and students alike are invited to test their latest theories and bring their designs to life. As well as a lab hosting its CNC machine and 3D printers, the new hub – called the House of Interiors – is also home to carpenters, painters and upholsterers for a fully immersive, endto-end experience. Its global network of production facilities is additionally receiving another link in the chain, thanks to a newly opened factory in San Diego – helping the brand continue its “local but global” mission of bringing Swiss manufacturing and radical sustainability to the rest of the world.
Thomas Lykke
Material Matters
Co-founded in 2003 by Thomas Lykke, OEO Studio is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary studio that works across architecture and interiors, and product and brand design. Credited with redefining contemporary Scandinavian style, the studio’s signature approach infuses Danish heritage with an Asian aesthetic; the studio and its Tokyo project office known for developing strong narratives and for creating environments and experiences deeply rooted in history, location and culture.
oeo.dk
Natural Material Studio
Matek is a wonderful new and innovative material made out of upcycled waste from electronics and industrial production in a combination with by-products from the coffee industry. Kinetically heated and turned into a malleable mass that can be pressed and shaped, Matek is a stellar example of a Greentech material that shares the values of natural materials as wood, suede and stone. Not just an idea but a scalable material for use.
MycoWorks
MycoWorks takes lab grown mycelium to a whole new level. The quality, and look and feel, are amazing. A highly relevant material that elevates its purpose by creating future potential for a new materiality.
We have worked with Natural Material Studio on several occasions and we adore the tactile and vivid expression of the Plasma textiles; controlled yet uncontrolled, allowing the material to express its own nature.
UpGlass from Astep
Recently we came across a new product by light company Astep. They made a new product with Italian-born designer Luca Nichetto. Together they created a series of lights made from waste glass from Murano, mixed with a binder of a gypsum clay like material. The result is extraordinary. Like a new material with its own vernacular; tactile, alluring and beautiful, not only in looks but in narrative too.
Matek
The New Raw produces sustainable furniture for indoor and outdoor spaces using robotic 3D-printing and discarded plastic, blending digital precision with traditional craftsmanship to create tactile, organic forms.
The New Raw
Founded in Rotterdam in 2016 by Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki, the duo’s design philosophy was to create FF&E solutions with local on-demand robotic production, using a single material source to ensure durability, full recyclability and zero waste. Collaborating with local recyclers, The New Raw minimises waste and emissions while continuously exploring new dye pigments, textures and finishes for upcoming collections.
Revealed for the first time at 3daysof design, The New Raw presented its latest furniture collection for outdoor use, showcasing the studio’s focus on sustainable production and design innovation. The new collection featured four key pieces: Bench X is a swinging bench for two, encouraging movement, conversation and connection; The Pot Plus series consists of two organically shaped benches – Curved and Triangle –each designed with an integrated planter;
Knotty is a tactile, stackable stool which features a digitally knitted surface, allowing rainwater and air to seep through; finally, Ermis chair – named after the Greek messenger god – takes inspiration from the lightness and motion of his winged sandals.
Made in-house and part of a closedloop system that rethinks the way materials are used and repurposed, each product is heavy-duty, long-lasting and 100% circular, while the production process embraces natural irregularities, highlighting the beauty of raw materials. Committed to innovation in both product development and commissioned projects, The New Raw’s FF&E exists at the intersection of sustainable craft and technological advance, resulting in a harmony of contrasts – rigid yet fluid, strict yet soaring.
thenewraw.org
Image: Michele Margot
The law of unintended consequences
finastra.com
The law of unintended consequences is creating a few challenges for workplace managers since the general adoption of hybrid working. Putting aside the continuing discussion over exactly how many desks are the right amount for average and peak occupancies, and whether we should even be building meeting rooms anymore; the real issue is how do we ensure we meet the minimum requirements for fire wardens and first aiders when we don’t know how many people will be in on a given day, let alone if any of them are trained fire wardens / first aiders?
Life was simpler in this regard, when work was a Monday to Friday affair. People were keen to volunteer to be trained as first aiders or fire wardens (a nice addition to a CV) and workplace managers could be sure that there would usually be enough of both attending the office. But now we all work flexibly, workplace managers can never be sure of having sufficient cover. To add insult to injury, fewer
people are volunteering now, as they worry it will mean they get mandated to be in the office more. This leaves the workplace somewhat exposed. More so, if you manage a large, multi-floor building as you cannot guarantee cover on every single floor. If a fire alarm goes off you cannot send anyone up to ensure the floor is empty. Out is the only permissible direction when the bells go off.
After weeks of teasing at this problem, we realised the only option on the quiet days of Monday and Friday, was to close most of the floors in the building. By forcing the few attendees to sit on the same floor as the workplace team and not scatter throughout the building, we could ensure that we were legally covered. The busy three middle days we could cover; particularly as we had significantly increased the number of wardens and first aiders with a promise of no mandates and the use of outright bribery.
This created a couple of surprising upsides. Firstly, those people who did come in found a space that felt a little buzzier and more pleasant to be in. After a couple of weeks, regulars started to recognise each other and made connections that otherwise would not have happened. Secondly, we were able to make significant savings on utilities and cleaning which went some way to assuage the disquiet of the leadership about the wisdom of only using the space for 60% of the working week.
I am sure that when Saturday was added to the weekend in the early 20th Century, a number of bosses sadly shook their heads at the lackadaisical working man. But if you face the fact that no-one wants to trek into the office on a Monday or Friday if they don’t have to, then we need to ask why we burn resources keeping it open on the off chance a crowd turn up. I suspect that we will start bowing to the inevitable soon and create a three-day week. But only for the office.
Mike Walley is global head of workplace at Finastra.
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For the past 25 years at Mix Interiors, no two covers have been alike. Each issue, we hand over the reins to a different designer and manufacturer to collaborate on a unique piece of artwork – bringing their distinct style and expertise to life.
dMFK x Sphere8
The designer
Founded by three friends from architecture school, over 25 years dMFK has grown into a multi-award-winning practice of 60+ architects and interior designers. Known for creating characterful buildings to live, work and gather in, each of dMFK’s projects begins as a conversation, pinpointing the architectural need and ensuring that interior design and architecture work in harmony. By considering everything from the foundations to the perfect door handle, dMFK creates cohesive, human-centric spaces that make moving through the day feel natural, important and spectacular.
dmfk.co.uk
The concept The manufacturer
Since 2009, resin flooring expert Sphere8 has specialised in both the supply and installation of hand-applied wall and floor finishes. Operating throughout the UK and internationally, the flooring contractor crafts resin, polished concrete and terrazzo surfaces, using natural, environmentally friendly biopolymer resins. The brand also offers a unique colour-match service for maximum design freedom, complementing its already broad selection of in-house shades. Inspiring this issue’s cover is EnduroSphere, a blended, plant-based resin with 100% recycled polymer ‘chips’ providing a tough yet elastic surface. Durable, comfortable underfoot and suitable for wet areas, EnduroSphere is available in any colour combination and can also be honed to create a micro-terrazzo effect.
sphere8.com
For this cover concept, dMFK explored the moment when material becomes movement, celebrating the process of making as much as the final result. Drawing from Sphere8’s hand-applied resin, the design references the layered marbling and liquid flows that shape each seamless surface. The composition aims to feel both fluid and resolved, reflecting the dual qualities of precision and patience that define the craft. Inspired by the transformative nature of resin – from pour to polish – the cover balances motion and stillness, suggesting the before and after of creation. The Mix logo appears as if rising from the surface itself, inviting the viewer to notice it slowly, like a pattern emerging as the resin settles.
