Down at The Dock

The LDF trail took the Design Week team out to west London last night, to Tom Dixon’s headquarters and the newly opened Moooi showroom and UK base.

As well as showcasing The Dock’s new permanent 80-seat restaurant, designed by Dixon’s interiors wing Design Research Studios, the studio celebrated the opening of its first shop, exhibiting a range of recently launched products, including additions to the Etch collection.

All at Design Week agreed that Moooi’s new UK headquarters, the aptly named White Building, would be an inspiring, if not surreal, place to work. Located inside a Georgian Town House, the HQ is filled with some of the Moooi products too large and too whacky for the average London flat, such as giant ball-shaped lights and a to scale horse lamp.

In a temporary cave-like structure in The Dock’s canalside courtyard, creative industries centre Metropolitan Works was exhibiting a selection of products from its Metamorphosis competition that was held earlier in June. More than 50 designers were invited to submit ideas to be developed by the centre as part of its New Product Development Programme. Eight concepts were chosen to be developed with NPDP including two that particularly caught the DW eye: the To-and-fro table by Nex and the Lampda range of lamps from Show and Tell Design.

If you venture down during the day, there’s more to see, including work from Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, jewellery brand Areaware and design initiative New Caribbean Design. Fine Cell Work, an initiative that teaches embroidery skills to prisoners to allow them to gain skills and income useful for when they finish their sentence, are also exhibiting a number of their textiles products at The Dock.

Brompton Bicycles are assembling and selling limited edition Tom Dixon copper-plated bikes during the festival and for those not interested in buying, you can cycle along the Grand Union Canal as part of a free trial.

A candleholder and pendant light from Dixon’s new Etch collection will also be assembled on-site during the festival, allowing visitors to watch how the items come together.

The Dock is at 344 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 and will be open as part of LDF until 26 September.