Clerkenwell remains the natural centre of the week, not only for its concentration of showrooms and temporary installations, but also because it hosts many of London’s leading architecture and design studios. Once an industrial and craft-based district, it has gradually transformed warehouses, Victorian buildings and former workshops into a rich network of ateliers, workplaces and exhibition spaces, while preserving a strong connection to street life.
This density defines CDW: a design week that does not unfold within a single fairground, but disperses through courtyards, churches and historical architecture. From here, the route extends naturally towards Stratford, Holland Park and King’s Cross, forming an itinerary shaped by crossings rather than linear stops.
King’s Cross Station, London – Photo © Richie Chan
Across Clerkenwell, design moves between exhibition, dialogue and urban experience. At Arper, reconnecting takes shape through informal encounters and a LEGO® workshop conceived as a collective exercise in collaboration, turning the showroom into an open and participatory environment. Nearby, Moroso explores the dialogue between atmosphere, craftsmanship and contemporary living, while ICG (Iris Ceramica Group) focuses on surface as architectural language, linking material innovation, sustainability and spatial research.
Church of St Bartholomew the Great, London – Photo © J. Thomas Salas
The layered identity of the district emerges inside St Bartholomew the Great, where Magis presents new collections by Ronan Bouroullec and Jasper Morrison within one of London’s oldest churches, creating a dialogue between contemporary design and medieval architecture. Along Clerkenwell Road, Villeroy & Boch develops an immersive installation dedicated to the bathroom as a sensory environment, while Ethimo hosts a project by Elena Salmistraro that interprets outdoor living through colour, material and domestic intimacy.
The Charterhouse, London – Photo © Lance Bellers
A few minutes away, Sessions Arts Club offers a pause within the rhythm of the festival, reflecting the social dimension increasingly shaping London’s design scene. At The Charterhouse, Gandia Blasco Group places Mediterranean-inspired collections within Tudor architecture, reinforcing the dialogue between heritage and contemporary design.
V&A East Museum, London – Photo © K_Smith
The journey continues east to the new V&A East Museum in Stratford, one of London’s most significant recent cultural openings. Here, The Music is Black: A British Story, developed with Reality is__, expands design into music, identity and visual culture through an immersive, interdisciplinary approach.
Kyoto garden, Holland park, London – Photo © Mistervlad
The day concludes in Holland Park, where Leighton House reopens its Arab Hall with a contemporary reading of Victorian interiors and Islamic decorative traditions. Nearby, Kyoto Garden introduces a quieter moment within the urban landscape, offering a pause between water, stone and vegetation.
The Standard, London – Photo © DjSully
To complete the itinerary, a stay at The Standard, London introduces a more vertical and contemporary reading of the city, positioned between King’s Cross and the creative routes leading towards East London. Across CDW 2026, London does not concentrate design in one place. It disperses it across the city – and, in doing so, reveals one of its most distinctive qualities.
