Beneath the surface of the Surface Design Show 2019

Hamish Kilburn
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With less than one month before the Surface Design Show 2019, Hotel Designs identifies what to look out for at this year’s event… 

From February 5 – 7, Surface Design Show 2019 will take place at London’s Business Design Centre to provide a platform for architects, designers and specifiers to explore the best in interior and exterior surface materials, lighting design, development and innovation.

For more than ten years Surface Design Show has been the place where industry professionals immerse themselves in the latest materials for the built environment, gain new insights and network with like-minded designers, architects and suppliers. More than 150 exhibitors will showcase an exciting range of products including natural stone, acoustics, recycled materials, living walls and architectural lighting.

Exhibitors returning to the Show include ColourGrain Surfaces,  Soundspace and Pixalux UK, whilst amongst those making their debut are Artistic License, Ober Surfaces, Trocellen and Greenlam.

Surface Design Show 2019 also features some 40 talks from over 50 industry professionals, all designed to engage and inspire.

Extreme close up of 3-d surface which looks like a flower

Image credit: Anne Kyyro Quinn

The Opening Night Debate returns from 6.30pm on the first day of the Show, Tuesday February 5. Organised in association with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and New London Architecture (NLA) it will discuss whether factory-made housing can provide Londoners with better places to live. The panel will be chaired by Peter Murray of NLA, with Ben Derbyshire of HTA Design and RIBA President, Carl Vann of Pollard Thomas Edwards and Hazel Rounding of shedkm debating the topic ‘Factory-made Housing: is this the solution to building better homes long term?’. The debate is sponsored by Bruceshaw.

Also returning for 2019 is the ever popular PechaKucha Evening, hosted by Chris Dyson of Chris Dyson Architects on February 6 from 6.30pm, sponsored by Parkside. Speakers include Nigel Ostime of Hawkins Brown; Soraya Khan of Theis and Khan Architects; Alex Scott-Whitby of ScottWhitbyStudio; Stuart Piercy of Piercy and Co; Simon Fraser of Hopkins Architects; Alison Brooks of Alison Brooks Architects; Lucia Berasaluce of Haptic Architects and Ben Cousins of Cousins & Cousins Architects. Presenters will discuss ‘Identities and Boundaries: site specific responses to modern architecture’ in an exciting and inspiring format using 20 images, each discussed for 20 seconds. Sponsored by Parkside.

Stone Gallery, which is officially supported by Stone Federation GB whose Stone Knowledge Hub forms a focal point for the event, will also be returning to Surface Design Show 2019. Stone Gallery, which is also supported by media partner Tomorrow’s Tile & Stone, is an industry-leading event for architects and designers to meet and specify natural stone. The Stone Hub stage will host a series of presentations curated by Arup.

Now in its fifth year, Light School is the home of architectural lighting, allows architects and designers to touch, compare and learn about innovative lighting and technology products. The Light School arena, Light Talks, will return once again supported by the Institution of Lighting Professionals and LED Linear.

Since 2013 the show has hosted the Surface Design Awards, now recognised as one of the most respected events in the design calendar. The awards distinguish the best and most interesting exterior and interior surfaces for different sectors of design. The 2019 awards received entries from across Europe, the USA, Australia, China, Korea and India. The shortlist consists of an impressive 43 projects across seven categories. A multi-category Finalist is the Morpheus Hotel by Zaha Hadid Architects and Isometrix Lighting Design. The hotel, which is in China, was praised by all judges, with James Soane commenting: “I can’t help but admire the mastery, it is extraordinary, I am drawn to it.” The awards presentation at #SDS19 will take place on the morning of Thursday February 7.

Free registration to #SDS19 is available via this link.

Hamish Kilburn / 14.01.2019

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