In less than a week, on Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th February, over 150 exhibitors will be showcasing 1000’s of interior and exterior surfaces when Surface Design Show 2016 returns to London’s Business Design Centre. Professionals can register for free to attend via the show website, ensuring they are the first to discover the newest and most exciting surfaces on display.
Amongst the many new products being launched there is a flexible lighting system from Concreate (106), Glide a tile with the aesthetic and touch of glass from Grestec Tiles (200) and Tokyo from Heliot & Co (IC/3) which is a triangular tile that uses its angular formations to create texture and geometric patterns. New for 2016 there is also an area dedicated to the best stone available on the UK market called the Stone Gallery.
For more than 10 years the show has become the destination for industry people to see touch and explore the latest materials, gain new insights and discover ‘skin’ trends. Future Thinking is Surface Design Show’s annual look at the future of materials, highlighting colours, topics and surface trends for 2016/17. New for 2016 will be Surface Spotlight Live curated by Sally Angharad, a leading colour and trend consultant. Surface Spotlight Live will be a tactile display of surfaces for the Retail Design sector (sponsored by Concord) and Health + Wellbeing sector (media partner Healthcare Design & Management Magazine), capturing the key material directions and developments and presenting product samples for visitors to interact with and learn more about.
Sally also explains the trends on display at the show that she think will make an impact in 2017
“Texture is key, I will be looking for surfaces that address all the senses and encourage touch and feel as we look for more engagement with our surroundings. Colour continues to be very important. Sophisticated bright colour palettes are emerging in new material collections and I am also looking forward to seeing the exhibitors offering customers the potential to specify a bespoke colour”.
Incorporated within Surface Design Show, Light School has established itself as the UK’s main event for architectural lighting. Light School is presented by Light Collective and supported by the Institution of Lighting Professionals. Light School aims to further educate architects and designers about the relationship between light and surfaces.
Not only will there be thousands of new surfaces to discover but there will also be over forty presentations on three different stages designed to educate and inspire. The three seminar areas are the Main Stage, the CPD Hub and the School Room. The Main Stage is the home of headline acts with topics that appeal right across the design world. Kicking off the show at 6pm on Tuesday 9th February will be the Live Debate hosted by New London Architecture. The ever popular PechaKucha Evening will inspire on Wednesday 10th February at 6pm while other talks will be hosted by Houzz and BIID to name but a few. FIS, Vutox and Scotscape are just some of the industry experts giving seminars on The CPD Hub, sponsored by BCFA and BIID, which is a forum for professional development where visitors can gain CPD points. The School Room, sponsored by iGuzzini with mondo arc as the media partner is part of the Light School. Here, some of the UK’s leading lighting experts including Sally Storey and David Atkinson will provide a diverse programme of lighting seminars.
Taking place on the Main Stage on Thursday 11 February at 1pm will be the long awaited Surface Design Awards presentation where the 2016 winners will be announced. The Keynote Address will be given by Ab Rogers, Creative Director of Ab Rogers Design. The Surface Design Awards recognise examples of progressive design and the use of innovative surfaces in projects both in the UK and internationally.
Professionals can attend for free by registering via the website www.surfacedesignshow.co.uk