Design Week Awards 2016

As the Design Week Awards 2016 approach, we take a look at some of the designs shortlisted in the award categories this year. The awards span furniture to branding, workspace and hospitality (for which we're delighted to be shortlisted) to packaging, interactive and exhibition design.

Here are a few of the shortlisted designs that caught our eye. Take a look at the full shortlist here.

Editorial design: Elephant magazine Issue 25 by Atlas for Frame Publishers

Furniture Design: Planks Collection by Max Lamb for Benchmark

Packaging design: Boxes in boxes by Studio Sutherl&

Exhibition design: World Architecture Festival Exhibition London by Populous Activate

Hackaball by Made by Many

Retail design: TRYANO by hmkm for Chalhoub Group

Product design (Consumer): UNIT9 Hummingbird Bike

Plus, take a look at work from Rising Newcomer Jonathan Gomez

Good Luck to everyone shortlisted for the awards!

Luxury Briefing features Studiofibre

Theresa Harold interviews Fiona Livingston, co-founder of Studiofibre, for an article featured in the 20th anniversary issue of Luxury Briefing.

Studiofibre shortlisted for the 2016 Design Week Awards.

We are delighted to announce that our work for the Farfetch HQ in London is 1 of 8 projects shortlisted in the Hospitality & Workspace category for the 2016 Design Week Awards. The winners will be announced in mid June.

‘FF1’ A new customised desking solution

Studiofibre launch their first desking system, in collaboration with Frezza UK.

The FF1 desking system is our response to demand for an elegant yet robust solution for 21st Century technology and working styles, and easily able to be customised for diverse work space environments.

Originally developed for fashion brand Farfetch, the desking system is now available by special order in a variety of finishes.

“We specialise in bringing brands to life in bricks and mortar and don’t do ‘off the shelf’ design projects. Everything we do is ‘on-brand’ for each and every client and we furnish our interior design schemes with a highly edited mix of pieces we have created ourselves, alongside others that we have carefully curated. When we cannot find exactly what we are looking for, we make it. Farfetch is a pioneering brand known for being a step ahead and being the first to do things.  

We wanted to create a desking system for them that was a ‘first', and to design a unique aesthetic for their industrial spaces, working-style and cutting-edge brand image. We approached Frezza UK, who share our deep passion for design, functionality and quality, to provide a customised framework and we added our own hand-crafted desktop – and the FF1 was born.”

Fiona Livingston – Co-Founder – Studiofibre

LAYOUT: the system moves away from the typical bench desking system found in so many workplaces, to create something more individual and personal. The design comes in a table format, with each table seating 2 people opposite each other.

The desks can be laid out in communal table modules, which fosters a collaborative working environment, whilst a degree of privacy is created with floating monitor arms, which allow the computer screens to provide a natural barrier between the desks.

FRAMEWORK: Frezza UK created a custom framework for the system from industrial-style raw steel – not usually found in office desking options. Their Italian partners’ heritage, certification, and multitude of awards bear testimony to the quality of the product.

DESKTOP: we have designed and crafted our own bespoke desktop to complement the framework of the desk. Hi- grade plywood is polished and chamfered for an elegant line before being overlaid with a soft vinyl by ‘Forbo’ giving the desktop a luxurious tactile quality that is similar to that of blotting paper. This gives the desk a very Studiofibre edge - a highly contemporary nod to the blotting paper that used to be found on traditional mahogany partner desks.
The Forbo vinyl is available in a range of rich colour options. The desktops are all hand-crafted in the UK, before being expertly fitted to the frames.

TECHNOLOGY: The desktops have been designed to meet the needs of a 21st Century workforce. Desk top plug-ins provide convenient access to power for charging mobile technology and customised cable management ensures that a clean look is maintained.

ORDERING: The FF1 desking system is available by special order, with your choice of colour of Forbo desktop overlay. Prices available upon request and depend upon the order size. Minimum order of 50 units. To place an order or make an enquiry, please contact Fiona Livingston on 01442 876335

Crafting ‘on-brand’ physical spaces for digital brands

Many digital brands are enjoying exponential growth rates. Start-ups can fast out-grow their initial workspaces and find they need to translate their brand into inspirational multi-use spaces where the boundaries between work and lifestyle, and retail areas and workspaces are becoming increasingly blurred.

Young digital brands that may have initially concentrated an producing an exceptional online presence, reach a stage of development where they require a physical environment that does their brand justice and unites their global spaces.

Net-a-Porter | Studiofibre bring the luxury brand to life across global workspaces

As pioneers in their fields, the natural next step is to commission a bespoke space that brings every fibre of their unique brand identity to life in bricks and mortar, through their design-language and bespoke furniture, fittings and finishes - spaces that reflect the unique elements of their brand identity.

Translating a 2d digital brand into a 3d physical space starts with a vast amount of research. This sort of ‘blank canvas’ work can be daunting, as there are often no existing design-codes to draw on. A deep understanding of the brand is vital, as is strong chemistry with the client. At Studiofibre, we immerse ourselves fully in the client’s business in order to ensure that our overall design scheme, and every bespoke detail amplifies their unique identity.

The skill lies in defining the key elements that make the brand ‘tick’ and developing a design language that brings that ‘personality’ to life. As designer-makers, we create and craft bespoke furniture for every project which allows us to truly personalize a space down to the last detail. We don’t offer an ‘off-the-peg’ solution or ‘house-style’.

The fast growth rates of today’s digital-brand success stories mean that spaces also have to be flexible, and able to continually evolve. For example, a 21st Century HQ not only needs to represent the brand, but has to help the businesses nurture its workforce, attract the best industry talent in this fiercely competitive sector, and ideally also act as a PR story and stakeholder perception tool.

Essentially every space has to deliver on multiple levels. As designer-makers with projects for Net-a-Porter, Farfetch and notonthehighstreet.com under our belt, we have a wealth of experience of bringing digital businesses to life via beautifully branded spaces.

For further information, please contact Fiona Livingston fiona@studiofibre.com

How your workspace design could be working harder for your business

You’ve established a great brand and your business is growing. Your team is expanding and naturally you want to hire the very best talent the industry has to offer. This means headhunting rather than advertising.

So how do you lure the people you want away from their existing jobs? 

How do you persuade them to take a leap of faith and join your team?
And once you’ve got them, how do you retain them?

There are clearly many factors at play in this process, but given that we all spend the majority of our waking hours at work, the environment we spend our time in is an increasingly important factor. 

Offices should be so much more than a place of work for your team.

For example, our client Natalie Massenet, the entrepreneur and founder of the phenomenally successful Net-A-Porter Group, has always maintained that the design of global Net-A-Porter offices have played a key factor in the success of the business.

In the nine years since we formed Studiofibre, we have designed creative concepts for and transformed the workspaces of many high-end household name brands including The Net-A-Porter Group, Farfetch, The White Company, Agent Provocateur, Dunhill, Bicester Village, The British Fashion Council and Not on The High Street. 

In our experience, the right workspace has a positive effect on businesses on multiple levels.

Staff Retention

A high staff turnover rate is a headache. Recruitment is a costly and time consuming process, and losing great people can have a negative impact on your business. Well-designed spaces that flow well, are comfortable and inspiring and have plenty of break out areas can have an extremely positive effect on the workforce.

Growth Rates

As you continue to grow, you’ll want to avoid costly office moves until they are absolutely necessary. Cleverly designed spaces can allow for significant growth within your existing buildings. Taking inspiration from studio or set designs opens up a wealth of cost-effective flexible options.

Industry Talent

You want to attract the cream of the crop, and lure the best people to join your team. Your offices should play a key part in this process, providing an attractive place for people to work that it helps them make what may be a tricky decision to leave a job they are already in and take the risk of moving on to join your business much easier.  

Telling Your Story

Your workspace should be a PR story in its own right. You’ll want to maximise positive press coverage, and you could take your brand beyond your traditional industry titles / sectors of the media and into the design press, the soft-business pages and generate more noise in your own trade press.

Bringing Your Brand to Life

A well-designed office should bring your brand to life in bricks and mortar. Every fibre of your brand can be translated via not only the design of the interiors, but also in bespoke furniture and via carefully curated props and art.

Inspiring Your Team

When your brand is brought to life throughout the space, your team will be living and breathing your brand, drawing inspiration from it on a daily basis. A sense of occasion is key. Every space should have a positive impact on the people using and visiting the space, and be memorable for all the right reasons.

If you have plans to grow, then your workspace environment has a key role to play in creating success.  To explore what may be right for your brand and your business, please do get in touch.  

Studiofibre creates global design language for pioneering fashion brand Farfetch

Studiofibre are proud to launch a series of international, branded spaces for Farfetch, the online destination for consumers to shop from the world’s best boutiques.

We've created a design language to bring the Farfetch brand to life across its workspaces - a new global HQ in London and offices in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Our team have designed and crafted a range of bespoke furniture and delivered over 50,000 square feet of branded interiors which seamlessly integrate working, entertainment and private client shopping spaces.

This latest global design project continues our experience of bringing 2d digital brands to life within 3d bricks and mortar spaces, and complimenting the interiors schemes with bespoke on-brand furniture.

More details to follow soon.

Gallery style entrance hall featuring ‘omnichannel’ live AV wall 

Studio lounge with bespoke Studiofibre double sided sofas