Latest Posts
Column: Hotels as Civic Buildings – Why the UK Needs to Catch-Up
For all the talk of “experience-led” hospitality, many UK hotels still operate as closed worlds. You arrive, pass through a controlled threshold, and are deposited into a sequence of internalised spaces – lobby, bar, restaurant, lift, guestroom. Everything is designed for the guest, and only the guest. The city, more often than not, is kept… Read More >
Shida Salehi on Cinematic Hospitality, Cultural Memory and Designing for Feeling
Design Insider’s Editorial Director, Alys Bryan, met Shida Salehi, Founding Principal at Customs Bureau, for an exclusive interview at The Londoner, where the pair sat down in the hotel’s private bar. Plush, atmospheric and quietly welcoming, it was the kind of room you could imagine brimming with life in the evening, although on this occasion… Read More >
Nurturing Young Talent at Skopos
Looking back on a fabulous few years, the Skopos design team have been enriched each year by the presence of an additional team member, joining them on only a temporary basis from the Arts and Humanities department at Huddersfield Uni. Hitting the ground running, each student (BA Hons Textiles) has been given the responsibilities of… Read More >
Design, Performance and the Tour de France: Inside hansgrohe’s Cycling Partnership
What does a bathroom brand have to do with one of the world’s leading professional cycling teams? Much more than simply placing a logo on a jersey! The connection is rooted in shared values: performance, precision, innovation, teamwork and recovery. In 2026, hansgrohe celebrated ten years of supporting professional cycling, reflecting a long-term commitment to… Read More >
Column: Why design studios should invest in their Material libraries.
I have a clear recollection of walking into the sample library at my first-ever design studio. A two-metre squared little room stacked with cardboard boxes filled to the brim with material samples, overflowing rails with compacted fabric hangers and little stacks of tiles lining the floor along the perimeter of the room. As an Architecture… Read More >
Exclusive Q&A: Tom Ailes on Umbrella+Friends MCR and the Future of Furniture Consultancy
As Umbrella Furniture expands its presence in the North with the opening of its Manchester office, it is also growing its collaborative approach through Umbrella+Friends – a carefully curated network of furniture brands brought together to support architects and designers with specification, product expertise and project delivery. In this exclusive Q&A, Tom Ailes, Regional Sales… Read More >
Behind the Project: Bringing The Reeds at South Lodge to Life
With more than 30 years of experience, RHA Furniture is one of the UK’s leading contract furniture specialists, delivering bespoke furniture and joinery for hospitality, leisure and commercial interiors across the UK and Europe. Working closely with designers, operators and project teams, the company specialises in translating design concepts into beautifully crafted furniture that enhances… Read More >
Collaboration, Precision and Partnership: How Abbey Glass and County Contractors Delivered Bespoke Mirror Solutions for The Hoxton Shoreditch
In commercial interiors, the success of a project is rarely defined by a single supplier or contractor. Instead, it is the result of a carefully coordinated partnership between designers, manufacturers and installers, all working towards the same vision. As hospitality interiors continue to evolve, demanding increasingly bespoke finishes and integrated design features, these collaborative relationships… Read More >