Cover Feature
www.thedesignermagazine.com
21
MEET THE PANEL
• Ben Marshall, Studio Manager of the Material Lab, London (Chairing the debate) • Benjamin Hubert, award-winning Industrial Designer • Lavinia Engleman, Representative for the SBID • Howard Fuller, Chairman of the SBID Sustainability Panel • Rory Macpherson, Co-founder of Play Interior Design • Colin Owen, Designer Director for CCT Interiors • Paul Barratt, Commercial Sales Director for Karndean Design Flooring
BARRATT: Recession has taught us all about value. End users are now taking time to understand the value of the materials that they are having installed in their business premises, questioning the value of their investment and what they will get in return. Many companies are staying in their current premises for longer than originally anticipated, so they are keen to refurbish with better quality materials that will see them through their extended stay.
FULLER: I agree that although cost has become one of the important considerations in interior design, end users are more aware of value and we are therefore seeing a fine balance of better quality material for a competitive price. Manufacturers have started selling value as well as design appeal which is definitely a frame of mind that will follow us out of the recession.
HUBERT: The recession marked the end of the real avant garde statement style design.
Companies no longer want to spend money for the sake of being showy. For me, design needs to be primarily functional, which adds that all important value to a product or interior scheme.
MARSHALL: HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY TO CLIENTS? IS IT SOMETHING THAT THEY UNDERSTAND AND ASK FOR? MACPHERSON: Customers are much more clued up these days and will have researched potential products and materials themselves online or in magazines before they even speak to their designer. Customers do understand sustainability in its broadest sense and more often than not they will want to incorporate this into their design.
HUBERT: But how much do they truly understand sustainability? In my experience, companies care more about looking ‘green’ without really thinking about the true sustainability of the materials they are using.
Above: Paul Barratt of Karndean
Below: Ben Marshall from the Material Lab (left) and Colin Owen of CCT Interiors
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