KI House Pop-Up Returns to Clerkenwell Design Week 2022
KI, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of workplace and education furniture, will revive its highly successful ‘KI House’ concept during Clerkenwell Design Week 2022. The unmissable pop-up showroom at the landmark Paxton Locher House on Clerkenwell Green was one of the most popular sites at its debut in 2019, attracting thousands of visitors over three days.
To mark the return of the festival after 3 years, this stunning home will be transformed to convey the theme of ‘renew, reinvent, revitalise’ – blooming in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. KI’s latest seating, tables, storage & agile workspace products will be displayed in striking finishes and enhanced with a bold floral installation by McQueens Flowers to emphasise the theme. The space will also host a variety of activities including seminars and workshops in partnership with Vectorworks, InnerSpace, The Myers-Briggs Company, SpaceZero, Dark Sugars Chocolates and more. Open from 10:00 until 20:00 each day, there will be fantastic hospitality once again served by KI’s own team. Food and beverages are available all day, with a Greenwich Gin ‘Happy Hour’ between 16:00-18:00. KI House will also be the launch site for the ‘Clerkenwell Dinosaur Hunt’.
The venue:
Situated right in the heart of Clerkenwell, Paxton Locher House was built in the mid-1990s and is a popular destination during ‘Open House London’. The ingenious architecture of this house embodies KI’s ethos of finding innovative solutions to unique design challenges for its clients. Secluded behind buildings facing the Green, this split-level home presented a design challenge – enclosed by its neighbours, the site had no opportunity for windows. Instead, the architects created a space flooded with natural light by adding skylights and a large retractable glass ceiling over the central atrium. This transforms into a beautiful open internal courtyard in fine weather – the perfect setting for KI’s programme of events within the space. Daily tours will be hosted by the owner for those wishing to learn more about the house.
The visual identity artwork:
KI has commissioned young UK-based artist Baraka Carberry (Bokiba) to create a visual identity for KI House at #CDW2022 to reflect the theme of ‘renew, reinvent, revitalise’, embodied in explosions of florals and colour that also draw on the McQueens Flowers installation. Baraka is a multidisciplinary artist, who loves working digitally. Her work connects back to her background in textiles, featuring bright, vibrant palettes emphasised by playful shapes and grounded in the natural world via floral representations. Baraka comments: “Colour plays an important element in my creative language and fulfils my desire to connect with wide colourful and diverse audiences. I like to create fun colourful designs and illustrations that show an appreciation for diversity ultimately inspiring U to stay being uniquely U.”
Jonathan M Hindle, KI’s Group Managing Director – EMEA, comments:
“We look forward to welcoming returning and new visitors once again to this landmark location after 3 years. It’s a fantastic opportunity to see our latest product innovations, meet our team and learn more about how we are helping schools, universities and offices renew, reinvent & revitalise their spaces to be more flexible, agile, and human-centric.”
About KI KI’s furniture helps the world’s leading organisations create happy, healthy, high performing working and learning environments for their people. Bringing together good design, advanced engineering and sustainable resources, KI’s products are durable, flexible and offer excellent value. Founded in 1941, KI (Krueger International, Inc.), has grown to become one of the world's largest, most respected furniture manufacturing groups. KI’s EMEA headquarters and showroom in Central London is supported by an established network of manufacturing facilities and distribution partners across the UK, Europe and the Middle East.