Warehouse Home magazine is a media partner at The Surface Design Show this year and in anticipation of next week’s event we’d like to share five of the standout designs that are already on our radar.
The Surface Design Show takes place each year at London’s Business Design Centre in Islington and from 05th-07th February 2019, and provides a platform for architects, designers and specifiers to explore the best in interior and exterior surface materials, lighting design, development and innovation.
Over 150 exhibitors from 10 different countries will be showcasing thousands of materials and surfaces. During the event there will also be 39 presentations on three different stages with 52 speakers covering an exceptional range of topics.
On the opening night (Tuesday) there will be a live debate hosted by RIBA and New London Architecture (NLA), whilst Wednesday night is PechaKucha Evening hosted by Chris Dyson of Chris Dyson Architects with a team of leading architects and designers. On the 7th February, the 2019 Surface Design Awards winners will be announced in a ceremony chaired by design correspondent Aidan Walker.
What really stood out to us was the New Talent area which is premiering at the Surface Design Show this year. Curated by internationally acclaimed speaker and forward-thinking Chief Creative Director at Trendease International, Jennifer Castoldi, the New Talent area welcomes 16 up-and-coming designers in the surface and materials sector who have been in the industry for five years or less. Those chosen have been handpicked by Jennifer.
Here are five standout designs that we think show great potential for use in industrial conversions, warehouse homes or loft living.
Vacarda Design (STAND: 544 NT9)
Tanya Vacarda is a surface designer from Belfast who creates pliable plaster textured surfaces that can be used as a wallcovering, upholstery or even in apparel. The material has all the tactile, visual, aesthetic and wearability properties of a solid plaster/concrete finish, but it is also very light, being about 1mm thick, and flexible.
The designs have a strong organic feel to them due to the free hand application technique which creates a lot of texture but with a soft finish.
This pliable plaster finish is the perfect solution for industrial conversions, whether used as a wallcovering, upholstery or any other surface.
Enis Akiev (STAND: 544 NT8)
Enis Akiev is a material designer who graduated from Köln International School of Design in 2018. Her work focuses on recycling waste materials for architectural applications. At the show she will be showing her Plastic Stone Tiles that are made from post-consumer plastic waste. The majority of plastic waste ends up in the sea and makes its way onto our beaches where it becomes part of stone sediments forming a new kind of stone named plastiglomerate.
Akiev researched rock forming processes and developed a method to give lightweight packaging waste a natural-looking rock-like structure. The resulting material is used to make tiles for interior use.
In the same vein that many industrial conversions use reclaimed materials, we can see this material, which has itself been reclaimed, working extremely well in a warehouse home.
PHEE (STAND: 544 NT7)
PHEE is an award-winning Greek company that uses waste products to create new materials. The resource that PHEE is currently harnessing is the dead leaves of the sea plant Posidonia Oceanica. This is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth and the leaves are annually washed up in abundance on the Mediterranean shores and disposed of as waste.
However, after three years of Research & Development, PHEE’s team has brought those leaves back to life, being the first company worldwide to fully utilize them as a primary raw material and transforming them from a socioeconomic burden into an innovative sustainable material.
PHEE’s highly aesthetic cellulose-based composite material can be made into a board which can be used to make many value-added products such as accessories and furniture and has various interior design applications.
Yasmin Kiris (STAND: 544 NT6)
Yasmin Kiris is a recent surface design graduate. She is based in London and specialises in sculpture, colour and material research. Her work on show is an exploration of interactive textured surfaces that are created using Jesmonite and plaster.
Both Jesmonite and plaster are often used in industrial style interiors so this combination of materials certainly wouldn’t be out of place in a warehouse conversion.
Orla Lawn (STAND: 544 NT2)
Orla Lawn is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art’s Masters in Mixed Media Textile Design. She has a background in Architecture and a First Class Honours Degree in Textile Design from Central Saint Martins. Her surfaces combine traditional craft techniques with modern engineered materials.
On show next week is Spelk, a collection of plywood panelling transformed through handcrafted finishing. Inspired by the luxurious marble veneers of early 20th century interiors, Lawn has developed a technique that has elevated a common economical building material to an elegant surface material.
Spelk is soft and smooth to the touch whilst having a rough, splintered appearance, which creates a contradictory sensory experience. The raw, unfinished look of this material gives it a distinctly industrial feel making it the perfect addition to a warehouse home.
To see these designs and the countless others on show, get tickets for The Surface Design Show here.
