Designjunction relocates for 2015
Designjunction has announced that this year’s flagship show will be held at two new central London locations: The College and Victoria House.
The College – formerly Central Saint Martins – will house Designjunction 2015’s trade-focused design brands, while across the road, Victoria House will present the show’s largest-ever offering of premium retail design brands.
The show, part of the annual London Design Festival, will host more than 180 design brands, 35 design-led pop-up shops, the largest ever edition of Lightjunction, a seminar programme, and interactive flash factories.
Designjunction is known for taking on challenging industrial spaces as venues, and Managing Director and founder Deborah Spencer says: “This exciting move is the next step in our nomadic evolution as we continue to challenge ourselves and our exhibitors in raw, character-filled buildings.” She continues: “Following our hugely successful three-year association with the Sorting Office, the time is right for us to raise the bar again.”
The College has been largely disused since the world-renowned design school moved to Kings Cross in 2011, and will present a new challenge for Designjunction’s team. The College stands at the heart of London’s design scene with an extensive list of alumni, including Sir Terence Conran, James Dyson, Stella McCartney, Rodney Fitch CBE, Michael Marriot, and designjunction’s own Creative Director Michael Sodeau.
Cutting-edge design will create a contrast to The College’s classrooms, where some of the world’s leading designers learned their craft. Hand-blown pendants will light up ceilings, delicate ceramics will decorate the rough work benches and iconic furniture will sit in the very rooms they were once studied. Designjunction 2015 will revive the historic building, which will play host to a line up that includes Modus, Mitab, Orsjo, Channels, James Burleigh, TON, Objekten, Dare Studio, and String.
As Designjunction 2015’s official retail destination, Victoria House will feature more than 35 retail outlets, which will set up shops across the entire space to provide design-savvy visitors with a unique shopping experience. The space will include pop up shops from Outline Editions, Punkt, Native Union, HAM, Retro Maps, and Artful Projects. “The move signifies a turning point in our retail offering, as we now have the space to add more shops than would be possible at the Sorting Office,” says Spencer. “Because Designjunction launched at Victoria House the venue already forms part of our history.”
