THE JOURNAL
WHAT A HOUSE
The design buzz of the summer was all about WOW!house – a magnificent showhouse that brought together some incredible creative talent and demonstrated a thriving, diverse industry in full force. Charlotte Abrahams explains how this ambitious project took shape
what extraordinary achievements can be made when our talented industry comes together.” It ended two years later with a glittering gala party in which the great and creative of the design world celebrated the making of the UK’s first ever showhouse, a 400 square metre, 17 room immersive design experience fittingly named the WOW!house. Purpose-built showhouses are well established in the
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US, but Britain has been slow on the uptake. Packed full of showrooms and already the beating heart of the London design scene, the Design Centre was the obvious setting for the country’s first. “It felt natural,” German says, “that WOW!house, as the ultimate home,
t began with a lockdown flight of fancy. Isolated at home, the Design Centre’s CEO Claire German dreamed of doing something different; of creating something that would, she says, “show the world
should be located in the ultimate home of design and decoration.” And so the foundations were laid. World-class
designers, selected by a steering committee made up of high-profile industry representatives including the CEO of de Le Cuona, Bernie de Le Cuona, ceramic artist/ gallerist/tableware designer Peter Ting, furniture, decorative arts and fabric aficionado, Miles de Lange and Deborah Pocock, CEO of the craftsmanship charity The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), were given carte blanche to interpret a room. A simple concept, but one with the most ambitious of intentions – to pioneer a sense of wonder, to amaze and to inspire. The moment the doors opened on 1 June 2022, it the designers had far exceeded that
was clear that intention. Freed from the restrictions of a client’s brief,
OPPOSITE: The entrance to WOW!house. The combination of ancient forms and cutting-edge craft, Mamou-Mani’s facade draws the view upwards into the light-filled space of the Design Avenue. Made from sustainable materials, it will be reused for subsequent exhibitions. ABOVE: Freddy van Zevenbergen’s Dining Room included a servery, a lobby and a dining room, with lines of sight connecting all three
WOW!
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