designjunction raises the bar at the Sorting Office

The London Design Festival (LDF) has returned for its 11th year, and brings with it more than 300 events spread across the city.  Here, in London’s familiar and iconic West End, designjunction returns for its third year, and once again presents old favourites such as Modus, Innermost and Channels. This year, however, it also brings a healthy mix of exciting new brands to peruse while wandering through the quirky Sorting Office in New Oxford Street.

Showcasing innovative designs and offering new, alternative takes on everyday objects and utilities, the setting of the show is a lofty, open-spaced cavern filled to the brim with imagination and a sense of community that sends a sensation of thrilling discovery through the building.

The Real Food Festival thrives on the ground floor, selling street food and selected choices from Southbank market, cooked before your eyes. Running low on energy while wandering around the expansive selection of brands on show is an impossibility.

Mid-century Modern returns for another year with a fresh selection of exciting designs: a dedicated mix of vintage pieces and modern collectables, with plentiful demonstrations from a rich variety of brands in the flash-factory area to show the creative process behind their final product.

Cutting through a photographic gallery depicting creative pioneers throughout London, a refreshing glass of fine wine is on offer thanks to ProChile on reaching the first floor – and there’s even more to see up here! Amid the multitude of inventive designs and contrasting styles scattered under the high-ceilings, Sharon Marson once again presents her astonishing cascading light-fixtures, and more familiar brands fill the level with the best of their new collections.

Classic designs and edgy modernism clash for space, and there’s something for everyone. Camden Town Brewery provides a welcome beer on the top floor in the maze of diverse creations, and Jamie Oliver offers culinary delicacies in a pop-up restaurant designed in tandem with Modus, who launch ten new collections with designers never seen before at this show.

Seminars run throughout the festival, which are free to attend, sparking debate and discussion on design and architecture with an inspiring backdrop of realised passion.

This year, designjunction most definitely lives up to the expectations it promised last year – and raises the bar even higher for the show of 2014! With novel collections and original brands, some familiar and some with an eye on in the future, designjunction most definitely delivers some of the best designs and products it’s possible to imagine – and some so unique and well-crafted they have to be seen to be believed.

Verdict: ★★★★★

Francesca Laidlaw

designjunction is at the Sorting Office until 22^nd September 2013, for further information visit here.