During March The BCFA sprang into action and opened its doors for the first ever BCFA OPEN Spring design exhibition in London. The ‘blooming’ marvellous event was held at The Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, an industrial space that provided a wonderful blank canvas for BCFA members to fill with the latest and best in contract interior products.

With a variety of commercial interior products, covering the full range of contract sectors including Hospitality, Office, Healthcare and Education the BCFA OPEN was established to showcase a specially curated selection from the top contract suppliers creating a different experience than any other show for the audience of designers, specifiers and buyers!

Our keynote speaker Wayne Hemingway, kicked of the ‘Creativity Reviewed’ seminar with an inspirational and honest talk. He spoke of his creative journey, discussing how he got to where he is today and covered topics of sustainability and the difference of lifestyle for creatives now compared to his inspired, resourceful early life. He was then joined on stage by some of the biggest names in design (Gensler, Forpeople, Foster+Partners, Map Project Office) who gave a stimulating discussion covering the core topic of creativity and its effect on their business and industry.

Wednesday continued to be an inspiring day, with Chris & Suzanne hosting The Patternistas Creative Pattern Workshops that were available to attend throughout the day. This gave an opportunity for visitors to get their hands dirty and get creative. Chris and Suzanne gave a delightful talk about their recent projects and how pattern making works, followed by the chance for the audience to make their own! Thank you to Morgan Furniture for kindly donating Lucca stools for everyone to sit on.

The BCFA awarded best stand to Roca, who’s innovative bathroom products were beautifully displayed within a framed stand with glass panels and spring colours used to enhance their products. Design Insider also had the honour to award Colebrook Bosson Saunders’s Ollin Arm, the top prize for the Innovation Awards. Congratulations to you both!

Overall, the show was a great success with an atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm and has established itself to be the go-to show for designers within the contract industry.

For more information on our upcoming BCFA Open exhibitions, keep an eye out on our dublin.bcfaopen.com website for further details and your chance to register to attend!