CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK
SHOW TIME
Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW) returns to London’s EC1 from 19–21 May 2026, bringing a host of new features and highlights for this year’s edition.
Marking the 15th anniversary of this global design festival, a new curated series of large-scale installations will be launched called Design Interventions. Following a call-out from CDW to emerging and established designers and architects for ideas for innovative structures, the strongest submissions will be installed across Clerkenwell. These will encourage interaction and spark conversations about materials and the built environment, while activating EC1 with striking, immersive moments throughout the festival.
In addition, a major highlight this year will be the expanded CDW Awards, presented with the digital design magazine Design Milk. The CDW Awards will not only celebrate the best new products and innovations but also the disruptors, dreamers and ‘doers of design’.
DESIGN INTERVENTIONS: AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT AND CONNECT
These site-specific, interactive installations, created by the design and architecture community, will appear in the parks, streets and green spaces of Clerkenwell, as well as in the festival’s venues. Many of these pop-up structures will provide a place to sit, reflect and connect with others while exploring structural and material concepts.
One of the many Design Interventions selected for this year will be on Clerkenwell Green. The Fountain of Technicolour Beads, has been created by Hong Kong-based multi-disciplinary studio One Bite Design. This immersive terrazzo installation integrates spatial design with social awareness by focusing on Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD). And next to St James’ Church, The Crinkle-Crankle Bench will take pride of place. This series of half crescent benches crafted from natural stone bricks is designed by architectural practice StudioFolk.
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EXPANDED CDW AWARDS AND NEW VENUES
Haberdashers’ Hall, will be a new addition to CDW’s list of spectacular venues. Known as The Luxury Edit during the show, this new venue will be hosting the CDW Awards ceremony on Tuesday 19 May, presented in partnership with Design Milk. Following a strong debut last year, the awards will once again celebrate furniture, lighting, materials and interior solutions that are shaping the future of design. New categories will focus on the individuals, teams and ideas challenging conventions and celebrating the creatives driving design forward today. In addition, as well as being home to a cluster of high-end Italian design brands, The Luxury Edit will host the talks series Design Meets featuring industry bodies, leading brands and industry experts.
A ‘living’ outdoor installation, The Pulse of Becoming, will animate the space outside The Luxury Edit. This Design Intervention, created by recent graduates Musab Umair, Amruta Ramesh Pullawar and Sharath Binu John who are based in Portsmouth, explores the cyclical nature of death, rebirth and life. Chia seeds embedded in two opposing crescent shells will sprout during the festival, turning bare surfaces green.
The Museum of the Order of St John above St John’s Gate (originally built in 1504) is one of the great hidden historical treasures of London and is another new venue for the festival. The atmospheric space, steeped in history, will be the temporary home to INTERIORS FROM SPAIN, a striking platform for contemporary Spanish design produced by London-based design journal Disegno.
Material Source Studio, which showcases products and materials for architects, interior designers and property professionals, and Workplace on the Square outside The Zetter hotel, a platform for design brands catering to offices, are two new additions to CDW’s wide range of venues for 2026. Office design brands will also be exhibiting at Workplace at Goldsmiths’ at The Goldsmiths’ Centre which returns as a festival venue this year.
RETURNING VENUES, NEW INSTALLATIONS
St Bartholomew the Great once again becomes the Church of Design, this year’s venue for the coveted Conversations at
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