Clerkenwell Design Week 2025: Inside Most Iconic Spaces

Clerkenwell Design Week has always championed the rich tapestry of design. But in 2025, the festival levelled up. With two stunning new venues — The Church of Design and The Charterhouse — joining the architectural icon Old Sessions House, Clerkenwell offered more than just a platform for new collections. These three standout spaces became immersive showcases where craft, concept, and history collided, reframing the future of interiors through atmospheres you could feel.

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The Church of Design: Craft, Sacredness, and Intimacy

Housed within a 900-year-old, Grade I-listed medieval church, this new venue set the tone for a festival rooted in tactility and reverence. Sixteen brands exhibited here, but two stood out for their commitment to meaningful making.

Dogan London, bespoke furniture makers with an eye for timeless detailing, felt perfectly at home beneath the vaulted ceilings — their handcrafted pieces speaking fluently in the language of legacy.

Meanwhile, MAIE introduced a new era of bespoke furniture rooted in conscious craftsmanship. Sitting at the intersection of gifted makers and mindful materials, MAIE reimagines custom furniture as a creative journey — personal, collaborative, and designed to elevate any space, whether residential or commercial. From cork to clay, each piece blends timeless aesthetics with tactile detail, proving that sustainability and luxury can coexist beautifully.

The Charterhouse

A living piece of London history became the setting for one of Clerkenwell’s most transportive experiences. Throughout its atmospheric grounds, The Charterhouse played host to a curated showcase of leading bathroom brands, transforming its storied architecture into a destination for wellness-inspired design.

Among them, House of Rohl partnered with luxury hospitality experts GA Design to create a purpose-built stand: a sanctuary inspired by the rituals of the Japanese onsen. More than a product showcase, this was a sensory journey. A timber-framed structure softened by cascading greenery, reeded glass, and natural stone blurred the line between indoors and out. The space didn’t just display bathroom fittings — it redefined bathing as an immersive ritual, deeply rooted in wellness, reflection, and connection to nature.

In a festival full of buzz, this serene courtyard moment stood apart — a masterclass in how spatial design can evoke emotion, slow time, and elevate the everyday.

Old Sessions House: Italian Icons and Dreamlike Beds

Finally, Old Sessions House — a striking Grade II-listed building — provided a dramatic backdrop for brand activations.

The brand Bolzan is taking centre stage. The Italian furniture atelier launched its new Woven Dreams headboard collection, with collaborations from India Mahdavi and Martino Gamper. Crafted from eco-friendly materials, the collection recast the headboard as a narrative device, drawing a line between intimacy, comfort, and experimentation. 

City Installation: Alex Chinneck’s “A Week at the Knees”

Towering — or rather crouching — in Charterhouse Square, artist Alex Chinneck’s freestanding sculpture was a feat of imagination and engineering. A Georgian-style facade, complete with warped brickwork, drooping windows felt both whimsical and rebellious. Made from 7,000 brick slips glued to a steel skeleton, the piece was a joyful invitation to question permanence, weight, and even gravity. It was also a reminder of what design festivals do best: provoke wonder.

The photography is by Charles Emerson.

This year, Clerkenwell Design Week had something of the spirit of Milan Design Week — vibrant, youthful, and creatively charged. Bold colour, tactile materials, and a renewed emotional current flowed through its streets and venues.

Immersive, story-driven spaces brought a sense of intimacy back to design, placing craftsmanship, sustainability, and atmosphere centre stage.

In 2025, Clerkenwell wasn’t just a place to see design — it was a place to feel it.