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    You Can Sit With Us aims to open doors that “were firmly closed to us” says 2LG Studio

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    Russell Whitehead and Jordan Cluroe of 2LG Studio have curated You Can Sit With Us, a London Design Festival show that offered “a seat at the table” to a diverse mix of emerging designers.

    The 2LG Studio founders invited 13 designers from a mix of nationalities, races, genders and backgrounds to be a part of the exhibition, which was on show at London Design Fair.
    Cluroe (top left), Whitehead (top right) and Adam Fairweather of Smile Plastics pictured with 9 of the 13 chair designersThe exhibition took the form of a dining room, featuring a long table surrounded by chairs that were each designed by a different participant.
    Whitehead and Cluroe came up with the concept based on their own experiences of trying to break into the design industry and being made to feel like outsiders.
    The chair by Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng features a black lacquer finish”When we launched our practice nearly 10 years ago, there was an inner circle that felt very out of reach to us,” Whitehead told Dezeen.

    “We were so bruised by the industry and felt blocked by certain doors that were firmly closed to us,” he continued.
    “Instead of chasing acceptance where it wasn’t forthcoming, we decided to accept the love that was coming our way and put our energy there.”
    Sam Klemick’s chair incorporates a sweater into its carved wood formThe aim of You Can Sit With Us, he said, was to give a platform to a new generation of designers who may be having similar experiences.
    The exhibition’s name is a reference to the 2004 movie Mean Girls.
    “We wanted this to be a safe space that actively welcomed new perspectives,” Whitehead explained.
    Helen Kirkum produced a lounge seat with upholstery made from trainer insolesAmong the most eye-catching designs in the show is a lounge seat with upholstery made from trainer insoles by Helen Kirkum, a footwear designer who typically crafts her designs from recycled sneakers.
    Norwegian designer Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng has contributed a CNC-cut version of a hand-crafted ash chair she first made during the pandemic in a new black lacquer finish.
    Benjamin Motoc’s piece playfully combines a sketch with a basic 3D formA backrest with a sweater slung over it is part of the carved wood form of a design by California-based Sam Klemick, who had a career in fashion before she moved into furniture.
    Rotterdam-based Benjamin Motoc created a piece that playfully combines a sketch with a basic 3D design, while Paris-based sculptor Bence Magyarlaki has produced a characteristically squidgy form.
    Bence Magyarlaki produced a characteristically squidgy formOther chairs were designed by Amechi Mandi, Divine Southgate Smith, Wilkinson & Rivera, Net Warner, Hot Wire Extensions, Byard Works, Pulp Sculptuur and Blake C Joshua.
    The participants were selected across design, art and fashion because Whitehead and Cluroe “didn’t want to enforce boundaries in that way”.
    Rob Parker of Byard Works contributed a chair made from plywood and corkTheir chairs were arranged around a table produced by Smile Plastics using recycled plastic bottles and old tinsel, which created a glittering effect.
    The exhibition was an important project for 2LG, and for Whitehead in particular, who battled mental health struggles following the pandemic.

    “Emerging talents require nurture” says Jan Hendzel

    The designer said the project allowed him to explore how “heart and emotion” can be a part of design.
    “A lot of healing has taken place in the lead-up to this show,” he said.
    Granite + Smoke produced blankets featuring the title, You Can Sit With UsThe project included a collaboration with textile brand Granite + Smoke, who produced colourful blankets emblazoned with the exhibition’s title message.
    Whitehead and Cluroe also worked with homeware brand Sheyn on a series of suggestive 3D-printed vases.

    “The collection we designed together is a celebration of our queerness, something we have not embraced fully in our product design output, but it felt more important than ever to put that out there right now,” added Whitehead.
    You Can Sit With Us was on show at London Design Fair from 21 to 24 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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      2LG Studio brings colour and personality into London family home

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      Ornately corniced ceilings were preserved and painted pastel inside this detached Edwardian house in southeast London, which local firm 2LG Studio has renovated for a returning client.

      Set in the leafy residential area of Forest Hill, the house on Sunderland Road belongs to a couple who needed space for their three young children to grow and play.
      2LG has completed Sunderland Road house in Forest Hill”Having designed this couple’s previous home, we had a strong sense of their tastes and wanted to evolve that for them in this house,” 2LG Studio founders Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead told Dezeen.
      “We wanted to bring out their characters by emboldening their love of colour and finding ways to build pattern and joy into the materiality of the home,” the duo added.
      “The intent here was to respect the period elements of the building, whilst reflecting the modern style of the family who live there.”

      Hand-printed wallpaper by Custhom Studio features in the lounge and hallwayThroughout the house, playful elements are in balance with a more serious aesthetic.
      Instead of treating the home’s elaborate ceiling mouldings separately – as tradition dictates – 2LG Studio applied a colour-block philosophy and painted them in the same pastel tones used across the upper walls and ceilings.
      The studio drew on a range of references for the interior, from 1980s colours to Italian design elements such as marble and Murano glass lighting, all the way to the Scandinavian influences seen in the natural materials and minimalist approach to furnishing.
      The kitchen is defined by sky-blue cabinetry and marble countertopsCreating impact in the entrance hall is a hand-printed wallpaper, designed by 2LG Studio with long-term collaborator Custhom Studio and used here in a bespoke calamine-pink colourway that’s repeated in the connecting spaces throughout the house, as well as in the rear living area.
      “It creates a welcoming, human feel as soon as you enter,” the design team said.
      This ballet-slipper colour is paired with a brighter candy pink, bringing calm and warmth to the overall scheme.
      2LG painted ceilings, mouldings and upper walls in pastel coloursPink-heavy palettes have become a signature for 2LG, also reflected in the natural pink undertones of the extra-wide Douglas fir floorboards that feature throughout the house alongside a grey poured-resin floor in the kitchen.
      “The floorboards set the tone with a nod to Scandi minimalism, adding a natural soul throughout that unites the bolder elements,” said 2LG Studio.

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      In the kitchen, sky-blue cabinetry is used alongside marble countertops and splashbacks, with arched forms uniting the two finishes while pink elements such as bar stools pop against this calm backdrop.
      “The colours are a key part of the atmosphere and identity of this house,” said 2LG. “The blues gets deeper and bolder as you move upstairs into the study and the family bathroom.”
      “Primary red details give structure to the colour palette in the living room. Pastel green in the baby’s room is serene and fresh, warmed up with a mix of wood tones and creams.”
      Pink details feature throughout the home’s interiorsThe project features bespoke joinery including a playhouse on stilts in one of the kids’ rooms alongside existing 2LG pieces such as the Luca bedhead in the loft bedroom and the Tilda sofa, both designed for London furniture company Love Your Home and upholstered here in Kvadrat x Raf Simons fabric.
      “The fitted elements of the furniture give a sense of coherent design and function to the spaces whilst the classic design pieces bring a curated gallery feel, not unlike a contemporary luxury fashion store,” said 2LG Studio.
      2LG designed custom joinery including a stilted playhouseVarious recycled materials provide textural interest throughout the house, among them the recycled plastic wall lights in the living room by Spark and Bell.
      2LG Studio also added a pink Foresso top made using waste wood chips and resin to the dining table, while the bespoke bathroom cabinet was made using leftover Douglas fir floorboards with recycled plastic details by UK company Smile Plastics.
      Pastel green was used to finish the baby’s roomSince Cluroe and Whitehead founded their design practice in 2014 under the name 2 Lovely Gays, the studio has completed a number of residential projects in the British capital.
      Among them is the couple’s own home and office – to which they recently added a garden pavilion with a “touch of Beetlejuice” – and an equally colour-led renovation of a period property in the Heaver Estate conservation area.
      The photography is by Megan Taylor.

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      2LG Studio enlivens Louisville Road house in London with bright hues

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      In a colourful overhaul of this period house in Tooting, south London, 2LG Studio has added dusky pink walls, blue tilework and coral-orange cabinetry. Louisville Road house falls under the Heaver Estate conservation area – a series of period properties that were constructed between 1888 and 1910 in south London’s Balham and Tooting neighbourhoods. The […] More