Small but Powerful

It could easily have been a real flop - a period when Wall Street was in turmoil and in the UK the property market found itself in a state of meltdown was not the ideal time for 100%Design, the trade fair for top quality interior design, to take place in London.
Fortunately things turned out much better than could have been expected. In spite of the unfavourable circumstances most of the exhibitors were satisfied with the results of the fair and the organisers even registered a considerable increase in trade visitors - with more architects than retailers. One explanation for this may be the persuasive selection of exhibitors and the holistic orientation of the fair.

100%Design placed its focus clearly on visitors from inside the industry, in other words architects and planners, who were attracted above all by the increasing importance of 100%Detail, the section of the fair which deals specifically with materials for building design and construction. The concept is a successful one. Even if it isn't always easy to look beyond the sterile standardised architecture of some manufacturers, experienced trade visitors to the fair should be in a position to appreciate as such the high-quality and innovative products which are to be discovered on the occasionally sparsely designed presentation areas.
100%Design has succeeded in positioning itself as a small but premium quality exhibition, and with its manageable range it fills a gap left by the major fairs such as Milan, Cologne and Frankfurt.

100%Futures, the presentation platform for up-and-coming design, is an established part of the fair and an important forum for young international designers. This year individual participants made a strong impression with inspiring experiments in materials and production methods.

Off events
100%Design is very much the commercial basis for the London Design Festival. However, the example of Milan shows that alternative exhibition areas, which in London and are above all the areas around Brompton Road, Covent Garden and Shoreditch, can provide a lively accompanying programme and make a visit to the fair even more enjoyable.
The largest of these alternative exhibitions is the Tent at Truman's Brewery in the legendary Brick Lane. However, every year the impression grows stronger that the Tent is increasingly developing into the vintage marketplace for the festival - which means that for architects the location is becoming increasingly irrelevant.