Clerkenwell Design Week launches new installation series: ‘Design Interventions’ and expanded CDW Awards
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CDW is pleased to announce it will be returning to London’s EC1 on the 19 – 21 May 2026. 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 (pictured above), 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 (pictured above) will take pride of place. This series of half crescent benches crafted from natural stone bricks is designed by architectural practice StudioFolk.
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 19th 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 Clerkenwell programme curated by PR and Brand Consultant Katie Richardson, which will include discussions with leading and emerging designers on topical subjects. Dulux, this year’s sponsor for Conversations at Clerkenwell, is launching a student-focused competition to design the backdrop of the talks stage using a palette of on-trend colours.
Roche Bobois, DEDON and MAGIS Spa are among the many leading international brands exhibiting at the Church of Design, and CONFLUENCE (pictured above), a monumental origami-inspired installation by Fung+Bedford, will be suspended from the ceiling of the 900-year-old Grade I listed medieval church.
The House of Detention returns as the host of Light, showcasing a selection of exciting local and global lighting brands. Visitors will be greeted at the entrance with Loom Light, a 3D-printed light sculpture drawing on the optical language of Op Art, designed by MIMStudios, AI Build and SEAM Design. [d]arc thoughts, an enlightening series of talks curated by [d]arc media, also returns.
“We’re thrilled to be back in Clerkenwell this May with our new Design Interventions initiative which acts as a creative platform for the incredible talent and imagination of the participating architects and designers,” says Marlon Cera-Marle, Design Division Director at Media 10, the organiser of the annual design festival. “These thought-provoking installations are set to bring a new interactive dimension to the show. We’re looking forward to another successful year welcoming tens of thousands of people from the UK and abroad to EC1 to discover the latest that global design has to offer.”
You can read the full press release here.
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