Surface Design Show 2024 Preview
The Surface Design Show returns for its 2024 edition, exploring ‘Mindful Living’.
Words By Emily Martin
When 6 – 8 February
Where Business Design Centre, London
Visit www.surfacedesignshow.com
THE SURFACE DESIGN SHOW once again returns to kick off a new year of design events, with Islington’s Business Design Centre playing host to the very best in material innovation. This year’s event is set to be another smash which includes a brand-new theme of ‘Mindful Living’, the return of new and familiar elements such as the New Talent showcase, the Stone Knowledge Hub, the show’s expert speaker programme and of course the Surface Design Awards. Read to see what FX discovered ahead of this year’s event.
New for 2024: Surface Design Show has partnered with East London-based charity Furnishing Futures, which creates beautifully designed and fully furnished healing homes for women and children who have escaped domestic abuse and been given empty social housing. The charity partners with the interiors industry to provide a sustainable solution to waste, enabling the charity to repurpose good quality ex-display, returns, props or donated furnishings to create beautiful homes for women. As part of the partnership, UK-based street artist Olivier Roubieu will creating three live murals during the show which will be auctioned with the proceeds going to Furnishing Futures.
2024 Theme: The theme for the 2024 edition is ‘Mindful Living’ and explores the balance between design intuition and analytical thinking to achieve meaningful experiences. The theme will address what role materials and their properties will play in the multi-sensory space; how the virtual and real worlds continue to merge and what technological advancements and investments in new design approaches mean for the built environment.
Surface Spotlight Live: This year’s theme will feature prominently as part of Surface Spotlight Live, the material showcase curated by design and trend expert Sally Angharad. Located at the heart of the show it will once again shine a light on cutting-edge surfaces, finishes and processes that embrace the future and harness the vital role materials play in design across all dimensions.
Open Night Debate: Hosted by Louis Wustemann, the ever-popular Opening Night Debate will also focus on the Mindful Living theme. This can be found on the Main Stage where over the rest of the two and a half days, a range of debates, panels, trend forecasts and insights into the latest material innovations will take place.
Legends Live: Returning once again is Legends Live; a series of fireside chats with experienced industry professionals, with Alys Bryan paying host.
New Talent: From well-known names to those just starting out in the industry, Surface Design Show has it all. The New Talent area, curated once again by Jennifer Castoldi, chief creative director at Trendease, will be a mustvisit section of the show with the very best in emerging creatives displaying an inspiring range of biomaterials, natural materials, textiles, furniture and wallpaper.
Stone Knowledge Hub: The Stone Knowledge Hub is also returning to the 2024 Surface Design Show, and is promised to be bigger and better than ever. It’s the go-to place for architects and designers looking to find inspiration and information for their natural stone projects, the Stone Knowledge Hub is host to some of the leading names with the UK natural stone sector.
Surface Design Awards: The Surface Design Awards are a much-anticipated part of the show, receiving global recognition. The Awards celebrate and promote excellence in material innovation and the 2024 edition are judged by an expert panel, co-chaired by Charlotte McCarthy, head of interiors at Heatherwick Studio and Nimi Attanayake, director and co-founder of NimTim Architects. The judging panel is made up of architects and interior designers and include Carly Sweeney, the director of Universal Design Studio; Chris Laing, an architectural designer, activist, consultant, founder of Signstrokes and Deaf Architecture Front; and Gurmeet Sian, architect and founder of Office Sian. Working together, the judges will determine the 2024 award winners in eight categories: Commercial Building, Housing, Landscape + Public Realm, Light + Surface, Public Building, Temporary Structure, Architectural Photography and, new for 2024, Product of the Year Award. The finalists have now been announced with winners revealed at the Surface Design Show 2024 at a celebratory breakfast on 8 February.
Kivos Ceramic
Kivos Ceramic has a collection of tiles that ‘symbolise the evolution of pristine ceramic tiles’, which target the luxury segment with unrivalled technical, artistic and organisational standard. The Surface Design Show is a platform for the company to highlight its products to the UK and European markets. www.kivosceramic.com
BerryAlloc
BerryAlloc will be showcasing its unique portfolio of flooring products suitable for commercial use at the Surface Design Show. Offering a wide array of interior solutions for residential and commercial purposes, including laminate, vinyl planks and tiles, parquet, high pressure floors and wall panels. www.berryalloc.com
Ecohardwood
Image Credit: M2rt Lillesiim
Ecohardwood which will be showcasing the beauty and sustainability of real oak. With precision-engineered wood flooring, stairs, walls cladding, and oak doors, Ecohardwood is renowned for its quality and eco-consciousness, offering a rich palette of options to their UK customers. www.ecohardwood.co.uk
Frescolori
Image Credit: Frescolori
Formed from lime-marble plaster in a wide variety of colours and a broad range of tactile surfaces, FRESCOLORI’s products create clarity and aesthetics in architecture and increase people’s sense of health and well-being by leveraging the dual tools of sustainablity and ecology. www.frescolori.de
Walls of Eden
Image Credit: Manpreet Singh Photography
Walls of Eden is where art and nature collide: transforming an environment into a sanctuary that nurtures the human spirit. With a deep-rooted appreciation for the healing power of nature, Wall of Eden’s artisan 3D wall tiles integrate real moss and plants with eco-friendly materials to create captivating and transformative spaces. www.walls-of-eden.com
Nowshin Prenon
As a textile designer, Nowshin’s work focuses on telling a story through the use of material and processes, investigating both digital explorations and expressive winding techniques which are influenced by cultural heritage. www.nowshinprenon.co.uk
Tile of Spain
Image Credit: Jose Hevia
Tile of Spain returns to the Surface Design Show in 2024 with a striking display showcasing the latest designs from a variety of member brands among 120 tile manufacturers. Renowned worldwide for an inspiring blend of aesthetic and technical innovation, Spanish tiles draw on a rich heritage of skill and creativity, while remaining at the cutting edge of design and sustainability. For 22 years the organisation has sponsored the prestigious Tile of Spain architecture and interior design awards. e and expertise at Light Talks. www.tileofspain.com
Smile Plastics
Smile Plastics is a material design and manufacturing house that creates 100 per cent recycled and 100 per cent recyclable decorative panels. The company will be showcasing its material explorations and meeting face-toface with peers, clients and prospective customers to better showcase and display all the virtues of its environmentally friendly and sustainable material. www.smile-plastics.com
Rosy Napper
Rosy Napper has a passion for connecting with like-minded people within the industry, working to develop sustainable materials and sharing solutions. As part of the New Talent section of the Surface Design Show, Napper will showcase a product she developed from discarded ceramic and waste ash that has been diverted from landfill, dubbed ‘ReCinder’. www.arts.ac.uk
Rehau
Last year’s edition of Surface Design Show showed that it is a perfect place to present furniture surfaces and to meet people from the world of design. This time REHAU will showcase a new surface colour for use in interiors, including its new collection ‘Passion for Colour’ that was launched in May 2023. With a passion for innovation, reliability and ‘Made in Germany’ quality standards, REHAU has been established as one of the world’s leading providers of furniture and kitchen components. www.rehau.com
