If you missed this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week 2024 – fear not, we’ve pulled together our top five special moments and takeaways from an eventful three days of talks, workshops and tours. Milliken’s Berry Street Showroom was a celebration of colour, pattern and floral abundance as we welcomed hundreds of people through the doors to experience the launch of Milliken’s latest carpet tile and plank collections. With colourful insights and inspirational pattern, the packed programme was designed to stimulate all the senses.
1. A FRESH TAKE ON BIOPHILIC COLOURS IS UNVEILED
Already known for its ground-breaking approach to colour, Milliken raised the bar once again with the launch of a new evolution in colour for one of its most popular carpet tile collections – Tracing Landscapes. As we see workplaces transform to become softer and more flexible, this beautiful new palette connects references from nature, offering more relaxed tones that include warm neutrals, natural pastels of peach and mint alongside earthy browns and soothing greens.
Marking the launch, colour designer, forecaster and CMF consultant, Laura Perryman delivered an inspiring workshop entitled Why colour matters and how to use it to create better experiences. Highlighting the collection’s colour groups and their sensory qualities, Laura explained the trends that have influenced this latest development from Milliken. Describing the way colour impacts our health and wellbeing, she explained how the calming effect of some colours can even lower the heart rate!
Recognising the increase in “blended spaces”, designed to encourage people back to the office, Laura illustrated how office styling, colours and layouts are shifting closer to our experience of working from home. Engaging with the audience, she explored future workspace environments, inviting participants to build CMF palettes that support the changing needs of the OCE (Office of Climate Education) environment.
(For more colour insights from Laura, read our blog A CONVERSATION ON COLOUR WITH LAURA PERRYMAN)
2. THE SECRETS OF COLOUR ARE UNLOCKED
Anna Starmer, the Founder and Creative Director of Luminary, joined Laura Perryman for a further treat for the audience with a conversation about ‘Unlocking The Secrets of Colour.’
The colour experts discussed how they work, how they forecast and how colour impacts the senses. Anna observed:
“In an era of massive disruption and change is when there is the strongest need for creativity and inspiration. In our global crisis there is the strongest need for ideas.”
Laura pointed out how colour choices are often made at the end of the planning process, and how it would be more benefitical for this to be at the beginning of the process. Both colour experts agreed that they are actively moving away from the idea of “seasonal” colours due to its incompatability with sustainability objectives.
Find out what inspired Milliken's new Tracing Landscapes colour palette in our blog HOW THE CHANGING WORKPLACE INSPIRED A FRESH COLOUR PALETTE about the throughts of Milliken’s Norwegian partner PG’s on the new colours in our blog A VIEW ON COLOUR: TRACING LANDSCAPES 2024
Photography: Alexandria Hall
3. A CELEBRATION OF ALL THINGS FLORAL
To celebrate the launch of Milliken’s brand-new carpet design collection Painted Garden, the creativity truly kicked in with a series of hands-on workshops across all three days of Milliken’s CDW showcase. For anybody visiting the RHS Chelsea Flower Show over the same week this was the perfect extension for that experience.
As a new carpet plank collection from Milliken, Painted Garden has been inspired by the joy and benefits of being outdoors and connecting with nature. The enticing colour line evokes the range of hues we see through the change of seasons. The nuanced colours and tonal contrasts in the collection are made possible as a result of Milliken’s continued investment in its patented Millitron® digital colour placement technology.
Photography: Alexandria Hall
Sharing in the floral fun, day 1 saw participants creating their own Paper Herbariums in a pressed flower workshop, while another saw them learning the ancient Japanese art of Sumi painting with Akemi from Kshu Japanese Art. There was a Paper Peoni Origami session and on the final day an incredible immersive workshop with illustrator and artist Kerry Slack painting beautiful gestural watercolour wildflowers.
Topped off with an evening featuring botanical gin mixology, the activites were the perfect way for everybody to explore their own creativity, get into their floral groove and truly sense the power of flowers.
Learn more about Milliken’s new colour blending capabilities in our related blogs PAINTED GARDEN - WHERE ART MEETS NATURE: THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE COLLECTION and HOW NEW TECHNOLOGY IS UNLOCKING FRESH POSSIBILITIES IN CARPET DESIGN
4. WELL PLANTINUM CERTIFICATION IS BROUGHT TO LIFE
In 2021, Milliken’s Clerkenwell Showroom was the first building of its kind in the UK to be awarded the International WELL Building Institute’s WELL Platinum Certification. Continuing to maintain this Standard, Milliken took the opportunity at CDW2024 to share its unique WELL Platinum journey with a well attended Showroom tour.
Experiencing Milliken’s impressive 3-story showroom from a new perspective, visitors learnt about the adaptations and new practices that have been implemented to achieve this milestone award.
RIBA CPD Accredited Tours of Milliken’s WELL Platinum Showroom can be booked with Showroom Manager Urva Soni by emailing: Urva.Soni@milliken.com.
You can also learn more about ‘HOW MILLIKEN ACHIEVED WELL PLATINUM CERTIFICATION FOR ITS LONDON SHOWROOM’ by reading our related blog.
Photography: Alexandria Hall
5. DIVING DEEPER into NEURO-INCLUSIVE DESIGN
With employee well-being now firmly an integral feature in workplace design, we took a deeper dive into the subject with HCG’s Director of Global Workplace and Change Management Sarah Bolas. In a packed lunchtime session with an audience keen to learn more, Sarah shared some valuable insights into the importance of neuro-inclusive workplaces and the nuances of designing for a neuro-divergent workforce.
Delivering Milliken’s latest RIBA accredited CPD seminar, one of the key takeaways was the signficance of offering enough variety and choice of workspaces. The talk went on to demonstrate how considered specification of floor coverings can play a valuable role in supporting neuro-inclusive work environments.
As we close off on another Clerkenwell Design Week, despite the rainy showers, Milliken has played its part in pushing Spring along into Summer with some fresh new colour inspiration and sophisticated patterning perspectives.
