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Welcome to our January issue, which includes, as is customary around this time of year, a roundup of what’s been going on in our world in the past 12 months. We run through the furniture industry’s performance and break it down by company, by country and region. The author of the report upon which the stats are based, John Sacks, gives us his exclusive analysis. OnOffice’s designer Morwenna Smith, meanwhile, has really brought the figures to life with some stunning infographics.
Our special Power List sets out our selection of 50 movers and shakers within the world of workplace – from influential architects and designers to those who are having a significant impact client-side, plus academics and those from other organisations from the property and built environment sectors. This list is not based on bottom line but something money often can’t buy: influence. What these people think, where they are investing, the products they are directly or indirectly involved in specifying will shape the office landscape in 2017 and beyond. The Power List will be an annual thing too: we thought it was about time we put our own stamp on the industry we’ve been writing about for over a decade now.
Elsewhere in the magazine this month, Samantha Tse reports from across the Atlantic at New Lab, where a former naval shipbuilders has been turned into New York’s hippest workspace. On the other side of the US, Rapt Studio has worked on the Utah HQ for genealogy firm Ancestry, giving a family feel with a semi-domestic influence to much of the space.
Education-wise, we bring you a brace of projects this month. At Architype’s Highgate Junior School, a simple palette of brick, stone timber and glass forms the basis of the interior, with some interesting animal motifs. The Arts University Bournemouth studios and workshops, by Design Engine Architects, feature shocking pink rooflights to add a little point of rebellion to this higher education establishment.
Grant Gibson gets to road test some pretty fancy headphones for us this month, perhaps a bit too much of a stretch for a secret Santa gift at getting on for £100 a pair but a beautiful design nonetheless. And Peter Murray ponders whether we should have listened to Bob Hoskins after all when it comes the speed with which the Docklands area has been developed. Finally, an old friend of OnOffice, Louisa Pacifico, now CEO of Craft Central, gives us her trio of bugbears for the Shredder, which includes the word of the moment “hygge”. What did we do in wintertime before this overused Scandi phrase came into existence? Anyway, as the nights draw in and a new year begins, here’s to a prosperous 2017.
INSIDE THE ISSUE
OnGoing
From the editor As the year begins we take stock of the best of 2016
News The Design Museum opens in its new Kensington home
Grant Gibson on… Sol Republic’s Shadow wireless earphones
On London The Long Good Friday called it right, says Peter Murray
On topic Peter Bosson, one of CBS’ original founders, has his say
Products Brands showcase their latest launches, all in one place
The Shredder Louisa Pacifico from Craft Central isn’t feeling the hygge
OnSite
Gene genius Rapt Studio’s Utah HQ for family history firm Ancestry
New York launch Macro Sea’s New Lab in Brooklyn’s old shipyard
OnTop
Blank canvas Design Engine’s studios for Arts University Bournemouth
Bright kids Architype’s light and airy Highgate Junior School
OnStage
The Power List OnOffice’s review of the movers and shakers of 2016
State of the industry Crunching the figures of European manufacturing
On co-working Clare Dowdy pays a visit to London’s Makerversity
The Sophist Neil Usher and Mark Conway square up over open plan
OnOff
Interieur review All the best from Belgium’s biennial interiors show
Light and shades König + Neurath explores the effect of colours on the mind
