Powerhouse: The Tramshed sets new Benchmark

London – A former electricity power station in Shoreditch has been transformed into The Tramshed for the London Design Festival.

The large industrial facility houses the latest collections from 25 international design brands, including Autoban, Studio Ilse, Kvadrat, Innermost and Matthew Hilton.

On the ground floor Them There, a gathering of companies from East London, display their latest designs. VW+BS Architects is showing its small tripod stool range, while industrial designer Samuel Wilkinson is presenting his Plumen 001 lightbulb design.

A narrow staircase leads to one of the venue’s highlights, ‘Made by Benchmark’, a temporary workshop for British manufacturer Benchmark. A team of woodwork and metalwork craftsmen are producing limited-edition pieces especially for the event, and giving one item to a lucky visitor each day.

‘We’re here to make products on-site so people can get a sense of where they come from,’ Steven Owen of Benchmark tells LS:N Global. Look out for our forthcoming LS:N Global Trend Briefing where ‘live’ production is a key theme.

In addition, The Tramshed Live programme of talks on 22–24 September features presentations from Ilse Crawford, Patricia Urquiola and Ben Wilson. The overall theme is ‘New Directions of Design’.

LS:N Global will report on key exhibitions and shows from the London Design Festival throughout the week.