This year’s theme labelled as Designing with Impact focused on designing a sustainable future with both organic and experimental materials that can have a positive ripple effect on our environment. To raise awareness and highlight salient issues, several immersive installations by both regional and international architects and designers were erected around the Dubai Design District (d3) community to showcase creative design thinking.

While upcoming designers were also given a platform to display their artistic creations through a series of exhibitions, various manufacturing brands also used the design festival as a launchpad to introduce sustainable products with innovative and repurposed materials that also lean towards workplace wellbeing.

As participants in the Festival our d3 showroom team hosted talks to on this important theme with two key subject matter experts.

Oliver Baxter, Insight Programme Manager at MillerKnoll, shared insights on how modern workplace adjustments can contribute towards improving employee health, revitalize work culture, and improve team productivity. 

Meanwhile Amruta Kshemkalyani, Founder of the Sustainability Tribe, focused on how we can create and maintain sustainable and healthy indoor spaces that impact the user and the environment where we spend most of our time.

Running in close parallel to Dubai Design Week is Downtown Design, a leading trade show for contemporary and high-quality design manufacturers, complemented by activations that feature interactive talk programmes, pop-up concepts and design installations. 

Taking place at the Waterfront Terrace that lies in close proximity to Dubai Design District (d3), the purpose-built venue, currently in its 9th edition serves as a key networking event for the architecture and design fraternity.

For two years in a row our flooring design capabilities have been showcased as an integral point at The Forum of Downtown Design – a core platform where an extensive line-up of global speakers, designers and manufacturing brands share their thoughts that aim to disrupt traditional ways of thinking. This year taking centre stage were our Floor Architecture II carpet tiles. Style Stone tiles were installed in a custom beige colour, designed and made in Scotland, and featured throughout The Forum adding impact to the space, specified by our Dubai-based aligned dealers Metre Squared.