Simon Keane-Cowell News

Great oaks from little acorns grow. This is the story of how the premium workspace-solutions brand KINNARPS managed to become a global player while staying true to its roots and values.

Proudly industrial and always premium, Italian furniture and lighting brand PEDRALI put on a show to remember at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan.

When it came to the design of a new park-and-ride facility in the Netherlands, Dutch office Groosman chose to give people and place as much right of way as automobiles.

British architectural practice WilkinsonEyre’s repurposing of a trio of listed Victorian gasholders has reinscribed their status as a London architectural landmark.

Italian surface specialist INKIOSTRO BIANCO marries collaborations with talented designers with innovative production techniques, offering interior architects and other specifiers a far more expansive and individual effect than traditional wallpaper.

ARCHITECT@WORK will take place for the third time from 16 to 17 May in Copenhagen. At the exquisitely curated international trade fair, over 300 carefully selected exhibitors will present the newest and most innovative products, materials and

Let’s come together. Swiss manufacturer FRANKE's super-sleek, yet friendly, Maris line recasts the kitchen as the ideal platform for us to reconnect via the joy of cooking.

Pedrali’s new water-based, plant-derived paints mark another milestone in the Italian furniture manufacturer’s delivery of its clear and robust sustainability strategy.

One of the typological furrows successfully ploughed by Danish practice CF Møller is the design of large school schemes. Its recently completed Copenhagen International School occupies both an intriguing site – on the extension of a former quay

The 2018 edition of Light + Building in Frankfurt sees the launch of acoustics experts BUZZISPACE's new collection of acoustic lighting.

If you want a stable career, become a dentist. People will always have teeth. And if you want a reliable flow of work as an architect, you could do worse than to design dental practices. Here's a short international survey of five rather toothy new

Integrated digital technology in-store: it’s the sign of the times. ISE’s half-day Digital Signage Summit offers exclusive market intelligence and excellent networking opportunities.

One day. Over 30 of the finest minds in smart building.

Seated at the top table when it comes to the white-hot debate around smart technologies and how they can – and will – shape the development of our cities, architect Carlo Ratti gives a not-to-be-missed opening address at ISE 2018.

This January's must-see Das Haus installation at imm cologne, authored by young Czech designer Lucie Koldova, sees the launch of her new Chips lounge chair for TON, where space and light meeting supreme seating.

When it came to developing an innovative new furniture programme to address the increasingly collaborative way we're choosing to work, premium furniture brand COR developed a collaborative creative model. This is COR Lab.

In the digital age, restaurants and bars remain bastions not only for good food and drink but also for good old-fashioned, real-time social-networking. Tasked alongside chefs who feed the senses, architects around the world are serving up memorable

Next February’s edition of AMBIENTE – the leading international consumer-goods trade fair in Frankfurt – sees award-winning product designer Robert Bronwasser curate a recontextualisation, and celebration, of everyday Dutch design culture.

Sliding-door specialists Hawa Sliding Solutions have developed an innovative new sliding-door system that not only enables space-saving planning, it also cancels noise up to 39 decibels.

imm cologne, the international design fair that’s long operated as a platform for new concepts and trends, takes the lead once more, making digitalisation an integral component of its offering for 2018.

It's often the detail that counts. Particularly when you're designing a memorable restaurant, bar or café project. Architects know where to go for inspiration and specification – Ambiente 2018.

Architonic talks to architect Peter Ippolito – head juror for Domotex's forthcoming Framing Trends exhibition – about the international flooring fair's new thematic focus on individualisation and what it means for architects and other specifiers.

Innovative sanitary manufacturer GROHE has designed a new, technology-packed yet uber-intuitive shower system, which allows you to design your very own dynamic shower experience. Welcome to SmartControl.

THE ATELIER – a new bespoke service from contemporary-flooring experts kymo – invites architects and other specifiers to co-create, transforming their artistic visions, uncompromised, into unique, finest-quality rug designs.

A long-term investment in the latest production technologies, married with razor-sharp, optimised processes, has helped position Pedrali as a major international player in industrially produced, premium furniture

With a raft of paradigm-shifting retail-design projects to its name, prolific Japanese design studio Nendo is one smart shopper.

A long-standing cultural sponsor, premium Swiss bathroom manufacturer LAUFEN sees its contribution to the wider creative field as just another part of its commitment to collaboration and innovation.

As sound management secures its stake at the top table of planning issues, German-based manufacturer ACOUSTICPEARLS shows how interior architecture can – and should – work for the ears as well as the eyes.

If anyone knows water, Grohe does. In spite of having clocked up over 100 years in business, the world’s leading provider of premium sanitary fittings is squarely looking to the future, with technology, innovation and sustainability its constant

Architects engage the senses in a series of pools, spas and bathhouses, designed to bring the body back to the here and now. 

When the architects of a new big-league conference centre in Algiers needed an acoustics partner, they turned to premium Italian manufacturer FANTONI.

Armed with insight and aesthetic sensibility, the German manufacturer ACOUSTICPEARLS has been fighting for almost 10 years against the noise pollution of interior spaces. Their weapons: premium acoustic panel systems that are as beautiful as they are

DOMOTEX in Hanover, the leading international exhibition for floor coverings, will launch its very first keynote theme in January 2018 under the title "Unique Youniverse" leading an industry shift toward in individualised flooring.

Coffee is big business – both in economic and cultural terms. With the brewed bean enjoying a major connoisseurial renaissance, luxury home-appliances brand GAGGENAU has brought the outside in with their fully automatic, professional-standard

FRANKE – the leading kitchen brand with a whole lot of Swiss heritage – knows how to multitask. Its new Chef Center transforms the traditional sink into the ultimate in operational and entertaining hubs, perfect for open-plan living.

Known for its innovative industrial-production processes, premium Italian furniture manufacturer PEDRALI delivered a command performance at this year's Milan Furniture Fair.

Simple, meaningful designs that eschew trends in favour of long-selling products pushing typological boundaries – this is the stuff of Brussels-based studio ALAIN BERTEAU DESIGNWORKS.

Since its launch five years ago, Croatian design brand Prostoria has not only developed an impressive collection of considered furniture designs, it has set out to design the very platform on which the Croatian design industry can connect.

If there's one manufacturer that truly understands wood, it's long-established Czech brand TON. Their steam-bending expertise and passionate craftsmanship lives in the very grain of classic and contemporary furniture designs alike.

When Zurich-based FLUIDSOLIDS founder Beat Karrer met fellow Swiss Lukas Scherrer, owner of Californian design studio SHIBULERU, it was the start of a collaborative bromance that keeps on giving.

Architects get clever, designing innovative and inspiring school environments that change the way students move, think and feel.

Trying to square your new year’s resolution to get out more with a desire to get away from it all? Your cabin waits…

Swiss premium bathroom brand TALSEE has established itself as the go-to solutions-provider for exacting architects.

With the hospitality industry globally growing year on year – aided in no small part by the growth in global tourism – it's time to check into some of most noteworthy, recently completed hotel projects out there.

It's not just hot in the kitchen. Restaurant commissions are getting architects' creative juices flowing across the board, making for unexpected dining environments and memorable experiences.

At the vanguard of research and building in intelligent cross-laminated timber, global multidisciplinary firm Arup knows wood.

A raft of new, landmark museum projects internationally put themselves on show as much as the exhibits they house.

It's ten years since Vienna Design Week was launched and the city-wide creative showcase shows no sign of losing its lustre.

With the co-working phenomenon globally showing no sign of abating, architecture and design has secured a valuable stake at the project table.

A new partnership between Biennale Interieur Kortrijk and Architonic sees the launch of a dynamic, content-rich product catalogue on interieur.be.

Live performance in the age of digital reproduction is far from dead, as a string of new commanding concert halls and music venues from around the world prove. Encore!

When it comes to creating unique, design-led retail experiences, skincare brand Aesop has it in the bag.

When it comes to building types for aspirational living, nothing quite trumps the beach house. The architectural surf’s up!

Summer's here. Let's take a trip! Traditionally the poor cousin to more grandiose transport-architectural types like airports and railway stations, bus-station design is moving into top gear.

Architonic speaks to Elke Moebius, Director of leading retail trade fair EUROSHOP, about the changing landscape of retail-design exhibition.

Premium German manufacturer ALAPE, with its innovative approach to design and technology, has been shaping the experience of water in the bathroom since 1896.

The past meets the present in leading Italian porcelain-tile manufacturer FAP CERAMICHE’s new Roma collection, which marries classical design elegance with contemporary technology.

It's often said that good design is legible design – objects that communicate their use and their usefulness. In the case of premium woodburning-stove manufacturer HARRIE LEENDERS, there's a compelling story behind many of the products, too.

Designed specifically for textiles retailers and interior designers, the Architonic-developed Online Shop Module creates exciting new opportunities in e-commerce

Materials are anything but immaterial to KARPENTER – the Indonesian-based design brand that in the few short years since its launch has managed to claim a convincing stake at the table of manufacturers who truly understand the critical relation

Hear the name RICHARD NEUTRA and you’d be forgiven for thinking first and foremost of the legendary Austrian-American architect’s sun-kissed Californian villas. But, as premium German furniture manufacturer VS highlights through a unique staging,

When premium kitchen brand FRANKE KITCHEN SYSTEMS decided to develop Frames by Franke, the market’s first-ever total product line, they didn’t skimp on quality or performance. Things are definitely cooking.

All good things come to those who wait. Design legend Ettore Sottsass may have left us, but, thanks to global design brand KARTELL, a completely new collection of striking accessories authored by the maestro himself is being launched this month.

When a visionary, game-changing design needs a reboot to respond to the evolving needs of the market, consideration and perfect execution are called for. Here’s the story of how ADECO’s innovative RADAR shelving system made a striking comeback.

Premium Swiss manufacturer FRANKE COFFEE SYSTEMS has been getting up at the crack of dawn for over 40 years to produce fully automatic coffee machines for an ever-growing, international customer base. The perfect blend of design, technology and

Premium Italian radiator brand TUBES, known for its collaboration with big-name designers and its striking, sculptural products, turns the heat up once again with the launch of its new ‘RIFT’ radiator, the ultimate in customisation and flexible

The leading international trade fair for ceramic tiles and bathroom furnishings, Cersaie, offers the perfect opportunity to cast an analytical eye over current trends in these two branches.

Unveiled at this year's edition of the London Design Festival, our latest slice of Architonic Trend Analysis reveals the big hitters when it comes to furniture brands.

Conflict, natural disasters, endemic housing shortages. Architects and designers around the globe respond to humanitarian and social crises with a range of smart, prefabricated solutions.

What constitutes design? It’s an age-old question, which, in response, throws up a raft of terms, including product, process and, of course, designer.

MDT-tex, the go-to textile-architecture manufacturer and consultancy, is invited time and time again to partner with some of the world's leading architects. It's no wonder given the company's innovative outdoor structures and intelligent membranes.

For over 20 years now, craftsmanship-led Japanese furniture manufacturer Kitani has been bringing a considered edit of mid-century Danish classics back to life, to the delight of design-lovers worldwide.

His raft of enviable collaborations with the likes of Cappellini and Established & Sons, and, more recently, Retegui, Menu and Objekten, are testimony to the fact that Brussels-based designer Sylvain Willenz creates Things That People Actually

North America. It may be the new world to some but Architonic's latest installment in its ongoing Architonic Trend Analysis series – North American Design Brands 2014–2015 – reveals a ranking headed up by a number of manufacturers with

It might be the final frontier, but it's also close to our hearts. Space. On Architonic, we present a considered edit of the most notable reference projects out there, intelligently cross-linking these with products and profiles to give you the best

When young English aristocrat Lady Mary Isabel Portman commissioned an Arts-and-Crafts-style mountain hideaway near Garmisch-Partenkirchen on the eve of the First World War, little did she know that it would, a century later, become a one-off,

Which brands have cleaned up when it comes the most searched-for sanitary-ware manufacturers on architonic.com?

Stick a pin in the middle of a map of Switzerland and the chances are you've landed near Thun, a small town that's home to a big player in terms of materials know-how. Long-established, high-end carpenters and fitters strasserthun invite architects,

It’s natural to compare. We all do it. Call it human nature. When such sizing-up is motivated by dissatisfaction or inadequacy, it’s probably not such a healthy activity. But if it’s underpinned by a desire to take stock, to see where you stand

Premium Italian design brand Arper has made it its job to look at our jobs – the ongoing changes in the where and the how we work – responding with a collection of high-performance furniture designs that don't slack off in the aesthetics

The word itself may have been coined relatively recently, but the ritual of 'wellness' – as a means of rejuvenating mind and body – has a long and healthy tradition. This hasn't, as a number of recent projects demonstrate, stopped a bevy of

Wilkhahn has always focused on durability and permanence, and its new "Graph" conference programme is very much part of this tradition. With its innovative chair and accompanying table this German furniture manufacturer is restyling corporate

With half a century of creativity and business under its belt, Italian design manufacturer Pedrali is showing little sign of easing up on the gas pedal. It's full speed ahead for the premium furniture and lighting brand whose elegant marriage of

In this first installment of our new series featuring the work of renowned architectural photographer DEIDI VON SCHAEWEN, we take a look at a unique exhibition of Colombian architect and bamboo-master Simon Vélez's work, currently installed in the

Legendary Austrian-American modernist architect Richard Neutra’s unique furniture designs are back, thanks to respected European manufacturer VS. The perfect marriage of American design and German engineering.

Respected architectural photographer Deidi von Schaewen isn't one for letting the grass grow under her feet. Active since the 1960s and with no sign of hanging up her camera any time soon, Architonic caught up with the peripatetic image-maker to talk

With its recently launched rebrand, family-owned Italian bathroom brand Falper, known for its elegant, unique products, is looking sharper than ever.

The latest fair-going union of architecture and innovative material-processing technology is unveiled in Milan in the form of Architonic’s Concept Space V.

Gone are the days when a standard-issue ‘booth’ was enough of a platform on which design manufacturers could present their latest products at trade fairs. The contemporary exhibition stand is as much a brand-marketing device as it is a product

What do you do if you love fire? Why, head up a fireplace manufacturer, of course. Bart Leenders, son of Harrie Leenders – founder of the eponymous Dutch woodburning-stove producer – knows a thing or two about combustion, heading off regularly

It’s no mean feat producing timeless design that’s also innovative and future-facing. One of the few brands to pull this off is Tribù, the leading outdoor-furniture label that invites its users to sit back and relax, while itself doing anything

Makro doesn’t do compromise. Its second-to-none bathroom concepts respond to the precise needs of its customers, providing the perfect solution for even the most demanding of architectural projects.

Introversion isn’t something the Greeks have much time for. Particularly when it comes to design. Informed by a culture of sociability and dialogue, a cohort of export-focused Greek design manufacturers will be showing their quality products to a

In architectural terms, given the time it takes to complete a large-scale project, ten years isn't that long. All the more remarkable therefore that Austrian manufacturer Rieder's innovative wonder material fibreC – fabricated from concrete and

There's something cooking in the kitchen and we're not talking food. It's a revolution in product design, production and consumption. Respected Italian manufacturer VALCUCINE, whose brand has long been known for its craftsmanship and research-led

We love to shop. This we know. But the way in which we purchase goods and services and the kind of brand experience we expect this to deliver is changing now more than ever. Enter the cutting-edge 'Retail of Tomorrow' total store-design and

Architonic on the ground in the Swedish capital to bring you the best from the designer's design fair.

A chip of the old block Tobia Scarpa certainly isn’t. Son of acclaimed architectural maestro Carlo Scarpa, the innovative designer, who turns 80 next year, was determined from the outset to plough his own creative furrow, in spite of his

'April in Paris' goes the the old Broadway song. But for a number of years now, the smart crowd head to the French capital in January for the spring edition of the now firmly established MAISON&OBJET design fair.

Almost 70 years in business and forward-thinking Japanese manufacturer OKAMURA, renowned for, among other products, its super-engineered office furniture, shows no sign of taking its eye off the ball of innovation. Sit up straight, people.

'Products developed for architecture' is how Italian brand TUBES describes its striking, resolutely sculptural radiators and towel rails, designed to shape the interior landscape as well as heat it. The manufacturer's story is one of a steadfast

No sooner has that Christmas tree been taken down then the spring season of the annual design calendar kicks off with that grandee of the international-trade-fair circuit, imm cologne. Your faithful scout Architonic presents, as ever, its detailed

Icons of the design landscape, global brand KARTELL’s products – with their innovative use of plastic and their clever and expressive, often emotional, forms – have captured the imagination of design-conscious consumers around the world. The

You can never have enough of a good thing, so they say. But lovers of iconic lamps from the early 20th century were for decades deprived of the possibility of owning some of the most striking luminary pieces by the Wiener Werkstätte and the Bauhaus,

Post-crisis it’s all about winning customer loyalty through value for money and memorable service. As an hotelier, taking your guests for granted can mean the difference between repeat business and damaging online reviews. Against this backdrop,

Collaboration isn't for everyone. If you're to make it work, it involves serious time and resources, not to mention a genuine willingness to go beyond your usual MO to achieve a creative result with added value. Celebrated Italian design brand

The first-ever design show in the Middle East to unite on a single platform some of the best global design brands with award-winning design from the region, Dubai's new Downtown Design fair, like the soaring Burj Khalifa, has its sights set high.

Why do manufactured products look the way they do? Often it’s practical necessity. Sometimes it’s aesthetic tradition. In the case of sanitaryware, it’s due historically to the materials limits of Vitreous China and Fine Fire Clay. Enter

More statements from some of our Architonic's most valued members, partners and friends during this, our tenth anniversary year. It's all about you, guys._

Nominated for this year's Design Prize Switzerland, Zurich-based designer Beat Karrer's material innovation FluidSolids, with its strong ecological credentials and impressive programmability, is poised to give traditional materials like metal and

The annual London Design Festival, now with over 300 city-wide events, reflects the British capital's status as an international creative hub. But it also provides a platform for scores of indigenous designer-makers – both individuals and brands

For a colourless, odourless gas, CO2 packs a punch. It now accounts for 76% of all greenhouse-gas emissions. So how do you communicate to a fair-going public the relative merits of different materials when it comes to carbon emissions? Materials

Feeling a little bit lost? It's no surprise, really. As populations grow, cities expand, international travel increases and we all work (and live) harder and faster, it seems that there are ever more new and complex terrains to navigate. Enter a

Major demographic shifts, including an ageing population and the increase in a younger workforce, present serious challenges for the office landscape. What do the different generations who come together to work want and need from their office

There's a long tradition of architectural photography presenting viewers with depopulated spaces – interior and exterior landscapes, devoid of the very users for which they have been designed. Celebrated Dutch photographer IWAN BAAN's unparalleled

With an increase in international travel predicted for 2013, on the heels of a rebound for hoteliers last year, the hotel industry is looking more than ever for ways to make the visitor experience a memorable and profitable one. Enter striking

Architonic isn't just a virtual showcase of products and materials. It's an international community, made up of real people. This year sees ten years of Architonic, so we asked some of our valued members, partners and friends to say a few words about

Materials Council has been busy. Founded in partnership with Architonic in 2012, the leading London-based consultancy has proved in a mere nine months its expertise and relevance to architects, manufacturers and business, providing indispensable

As the world's busiest revolving door, New York is no stranger to new cultural sights and influences. This year's New York Design Week saw a raft of Latin American designers and design collectives exhibit their highly polished and conceptually

With economic contraction giving way in the US to a period of sustained growth, it’s little surprise that this year’s ICFF in New York – under new management – was the most confident edition in some time. Architonic, which is strategically

When was the last time a building won an award for the way it sounds? Architecture, and by extension society, has long privileged the visual over the aural. Yet a number of architects are starting to think and design in a more complete sensory way,

In eight short years, Belgrade Design Week has put the Serbian capital on the creative map, playing annual host to an unmissable pow-wow of the finest creative minds around.

With an expanded North American sales team, a bigger presence at this year's ICFF in New York, and two brand-new apps – 'Best American Design Brands' and 'Best Canadian Design Brands' – Architonic has gone all transatlantic.

Need more light in your life? The second part of Architonic's survey of high-end lighting design from this year's Euroluce fair in Milan should provide the illumination you're looking for.

We may live in somewhat gloomy times, but this year’s confident edition of Euroluce – the biennial international lighting showcase at the Milan Salone del Mobile – shone brighter than an old-fashioned 100-Watt light bulb.