The go-to material of so many designers and organisations embarking on creative challenge, DuPont™ Corian® brings a wealth of talent, versatility and ingenuity to any project. Accordingly, Corian® has featured prominently at the London Design Festival for many years, especially when a dynamic design also involves direct public interaction, thus demanding both robust performance and striking beauty.
This combination of elegance and durability also means that certain installations offer the sustainable bonus of a long and reusable life, reprising their role either at the London Design Festival or as permanent features in other locations. This year sees both brand new projects in Corian® by emerging talent and the return of key pieces designed to make the Victoria and Albert Museum hub welcoming and informative for the vast number of Festival visitors.
Shapescape by Kangan Arora at the London Design Fair (housing Tent and Superbrands)
Shapescape by Kangan Arora at the London Design Fair (housing Tent and Superbrands); rendering courtesy of Kangan Arora
Kangan Arora has created the 25 metre facade and show signage for the London Design Fair (Tent, Superbrands and International pavilions at the Truman Brewery) as a ‘shapescape’ comprising various materials and surfaces, including multiple elements in Corian® to greet the 25,000 design aficionados who visit the show over four days. Kangan chose Corian® in Everest, Warm Grey, White Cap, Strawberry Ice, Grand Brown and Deep Nocturne colours and fully exploited the material’s formability to create a range of intriguing shapes and patterns. Several of the pieces used were off-cuts of Corian® from the fabrication process of commercial projects.
Kangan says, "With Shapescape, the brief was to create a striking decorative installation, by bringing together a range of materials that are used in the design industry – a mixture both of more traditional and commonplace materials, to those at the forefront of product and surface innovation. I’m particularly excited to be working with Corian®, which has a great history of innovation and versatility in design contexts. In curating the installation, I was especially drawn to the Corian® colours with a variable texture and finely grained ‘speckle’ appearance – they elevate a simple square, circle or shape of material into a piece with an inherent beauty and singularity. This really is the object of Shapescape, celebrating individual materiality while creating a striking assemblage of colour, shape and pattern."
100% Design Modular Bar by Studio Glowacka, Olympia
Studio Glowacka have come up with a clever concept for the main bar at 100% Design, in the form of a modular system that can be re-used by show organisers Media 10 for this and other events. Maximising the natural advantages of the hexagon, both aesthetic and practical, they have created 5 separate modules based around an aluminum frame with a birch ply skirt, concealed fixings and countertop elements made from Corian® in Juniper (one of the new Earth Heritage colours.)
Corian® is frequently used for bar tops in busy hospitality environments, as it offers not only sleek looks, but also good hygiene, non-porosity, stain resistance and easy maintenance. Furthermore, should any damage occur, it can be easily repaired and restored to full beauty.
100% Design Modular Bar by Studio Glowacka. 5 separate modules based around an aluminum frame with a birch ply skirt, concealed fixings and countertop elements made from Corian® in Juniper (one of the new Earth Heritage colours.).
Pop-up Shop by Loris&Livia for the London Design Festival at the V&A
Corian® has enjoyed a long and creative relationship with the Victoria and Albert Museum and is featured permanently as plinths in the Architecture Galleries, table tops in the Café and further installations and facilities. The advanced surface also forms the LDF temporary design store. Created in partnership with the V&A, the stand-alone display is located within the museum’s permanent shop and sells a specially created collection of souvenirs celebrating the capital. These include a clock made from Corian® by Pentagram with London postcodes instead of numbers.
‘Isle’ is designed by Loris&Livia, the London-based, Swiss-born design duo, who have maximised the material to bring a distinctive form to the display. An intriguingly shaped, multi-level unit with integrated lighting, the display system is seamlessly wrapped in Corian® in the Mint Ice colour.
ISLE by LORIS&LIVIA, a pop-up shop for the London Design Festival in the V&A made from DuPont™ Corian® in Mint Ice.
Loris says "Our ambition was to create a sculptural display in Corian® without compromising on functionality and mobility. Inspired by Art Deco and Constructivism we worked on a composition of functional volumes to form a self-contained landscape where the products for sale can be arranged freely. Shoppers are invited to walk around the display and discover the collection gradually. We chose Mint Ice, a distinctive colour of Corian® that is soft and luminous at the same time, and the material conveys something ethereal and tactile that is unique. The clean lines contrast nicely with the museum’s elaborate architecture."
Max Fraser, consultant to the London Design Festival and commissioner of the shop, says: "It was a great pleasure to extend our relationship with DuPont™ Corian®. We were delighted to commission the talent of design studio Loris&Livia to explore and push this special material to create a re-usable shop at the V&A with its own distinctive look and functionality." (LED Light Sheet kindly supplied by Applelec www.applelec.co.uk)
Louvre LDF Information Desk by Giles Miller Studio at the V&A
The eye-catching curved LDF information desk is made from sections of ultra-versatile Corian®, which has been machined into a specially designed finish created by Giles Miller Studio, renowned for a fascination with the manipulation of light and reflection in surfaces.
The Louvres Desk design by Giles Miller Studio for the London Design Festival at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The desk is made from DuPont™ Corian® in the Deep Nocturne colour manufactured with innovative DeepColour™ Technology. Photo Jamie Smith for DuPont, all rights reserved.
Taking classic louvre slats as inspiration, Giles Miller Studio generated panels with various levels of directional reflection inlaid into the surface. The panels interplay with the light depending on their orientation and the effect is beautifully fulfilled in this dazzling display of geometric reflection. The depth of texture in the design is enhanced by the choice of Deep Nocturne – a profoundly dark and rich shade of black created with DeepColour™ Technology by DuPont which enables deeper, more intense and more durable hues, with easier fabrication and improved resistance to wear.
About DuPont™ Corian® (www.corian.co.uk) – First created as a high performance material for kitchen and bathroom worktops, DuPont™ Corian® is now – thanks to its unique combination of functionality, versatility and beauty – a leading global brand in surfacing materials for interior design and architecture. Over the years, DuPont has established DuPont™ Corian® solid surface as an exceptional design tool for every application one can imagine. Kitchens, bathrooms, lighting, furnishing, facades, radiators, home automation, touch control surfaces: today, DuPont™ Corian® can be found almost everywhere in Commercial, Residential and Public Space applications.
To know more, and stay in touch with DuPont™ Corian®
www.corian.co.uk / www.endlessevolution.corian.com / Facebook.com/CorianDesign
Twitter.com/CorianDesign / Youtube.com/CorianDesign / Pinterest.com/CorianDesign
T: 0800 962 116 E:sales@corian.co.uk