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      Kelly Wearstler creates sculptural oak staircase for hotel in Austin

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      Interior designer Kelly Wearstler included eye-catching details such as vintage rugs and a white oak staircase that doubles as a ceramics display in her design for the Austin Proper Hotel and Residences.Built in 2019 by New York firm Handel Architects, the 32-storey hotel and apartments managed by McGuire Moorman Hospitality is located in Downtown Austin, Texas.
      Los Angeles-based Wearstler, who will be on the interiors panel as a Dezeen Awards 2021 judge, created the aesthetic for the 244 rooms and 99 “branded residences.”

      Panels of Shou Sugi Ban cypress clad the walls

      Her interior design for the hotel revolves around local art and textiles, with some eclectic vintage elements thrown in.
      A focal point is a sculptural staircase made of white oak wood with stepped balustrades.

      Vintage rugs are draped over the wooden stairs
      An interesting backdrop has been created by showcasing the underside of the staircase steps, while a ziggurat of plinths below is used to display a range of glazed earthenware pots and vases.
      Custom panelling along the walls of the hotel is made from cypress wood, charred using the traditional Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban to create a tiger-striped effect.

      Patterned tiles and rugs feature in the Peacock restaurant
      Mismatched vintage rugs run up the stairs, and a mix of chairs and armchairs upholstered in patterned fabric are scattered around the lobby.
      Tiles by Austin ceramicist Rick Van Dyke appear as inlays on furniture such as cabinets, and fibre artwork by local artist Magda Sayeg, known for her yarn bombing installations, are hung in the bedrooms alongside antique mirrors.

      Wine racks and botanical wallpaper decorate the restaurant
      The fifth floor features a pool deck clad with locally quarried travertine, where Mexican restaurant La Piscina serves small-batch tequila.
      There are three other eateries in Austin Proper Hotel and Residences including Peacock, which serves Mediterranean food against a backdrop of parquet floors covered in more vintage rugs and walls covered in Portuguese-style tiles.
      A private dining area, screened off by walls made of full wine racks, features botanical wallpaper.

      Pastel tiles decorate the Mockingbird cafe
      The interior of The Mockingbird, a coffee shop that serves Greek frozen yoghurt, was decked out in more colourful tiles by Wreastler.
      Small square tiles cover the walls and form a pattern of powder blue, seafoam green, inky navy blue and pale burnt orange colours.

      The bar has a flocked wallpaper ceiling
      Austin Proper Hotel and Residences also has a drinking establishment called Goldie’s Sunken Bar, which has a cobalt blue-painted bar, low stuffed armchairs and a high ceiling covered in opulent wallpaper.
      All over the hotel, walls are hug with art and niches are filled with ceramics. Pot plants filled with hardy desert species add splashes of greenery.

      Pot plants and mismatched furniture
      The 99 apartments attached to the hotel also have interiors designed by Kelly Wearstler. Their occupants have access to the hotel’s amenities as well as a private pool, along with dog grooming and concierge services.
      Kelly Wearstler is an interior designer based on America’s west coast. Recent collaborations for the same hotel franchise include the San Francisco Proper and the Santa Monica Proper.
      Photography is by The Ingalls.

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      Kingston Lafferty Design creates “otherworldly” interiors for Dublin skin clinic

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      A palette of plaster, marble, terrazzo and stainless steel was chosen to create interiors that customers want to “reach out and touch” in this Dublin skin clinic by Kingston Lafferty Design.The local firm was commissioned by the Fitzgerald Private Clinic to capture a sense of calm, quiet luxury while maintaining the cleanliness expected from a surgery.

      Top image: the Fitzgerald Private Clinic has a marble-clad archway. Above: its retail space features marble counters
      “The service offer is premium and luxury, and the spaces that encapsulate it were designed to echo that at every touchpoint,” Kingston Lafferty Design founder Roisin Lafferty told Dezeen.
      “We wanted to design a space that was tactile and all-encompassing with a sense of otherworldliness, incorporating associations of sterility with a balance of warmth.”

      Kingston Lafferty Design plays with scale inside Dublin restaurant Cinnamon

      Spread across two tight, 46-square-metre floors, the Dublin clinic houses retail, storage and waiting areas on the lower level while the first floor encapsulates three treatment rooms, a toilet, staff room and secondary waiting area.
      “It is a very small space, so we needed to be clever when designing the layout to get the absolute maximum use from the space,” explained Lafferty. “Every element is jigsawed together to double up, offering both functionality and beauty.”

      The interior of the arch is finished with terracotta-coloured tiles

      Customers enter the clinic through a street-facing, pink-hued retail store with a micro cement floor and a curved wall lined with plaster tubes. According to Kingston Lafferty Design (KLD), these were designed to resemble putty and made from multiple layers of warm-toned plaster that were built up within a custom mould.
      “We wanted the different surfaces to be tactile and combined in unexpected ways, almost calling for people to reach out and touch, and for everything to appear as though it was formed from the structure of the building, as though it was all meant to be there,” said Lafferty.

      The clinic’s undulating pink plaster wall has three inset shelves
      Set with three brass shelves, the undulating wall doubles as a retail display area and also conceals added storage space behind a fully tube-clad door.
      The entrance area is anchored by a black and white terrazzo reception desk that sits under an Acquasanta marble archway. The underside of the arch is clad with zig-zagging matt red tiles that complement the tone of the marble.

      The walls and floor of the waiting area are covered in black and white terrazzo
      “The arch is the strongest element that frames the clinic experience,” the designer explained. “It highlights the sales and reception desk while encasing and concealing an existing structural beam. We built the arch to align with the depth of the custom reception desk, focusing on materiality both on the front facade and the inner depth.”
      The skin clinic, which sits beyond the arch, contrasts with the soft pink tones of the store. It features a stainless steel staircase and black and white terrazzo flooring, with the archway marking the junction between the two.

      Treatment rooms are clad in stainless steel
      “The staircase was the only structural element that we kept in the design. We sought to make a feature of its angular form and framed it in steel and glass, the steel providing both a tactile wall covering and a vital storage bank with additional retail display for product,” Lafferty said.
      An intimate waiting room wrapped in terrazzo and housing a bench seat upholstered in blue leather is located on the other side of the store’s curved, undulating wall.

      Brass accents in the toilets add an element of warmth
      On the first floor, mirror- and walnut-clad boxes create a series of interconnecting treatment rooms and corridors.
      “The treatment rooms needed to be highly clinical, sterile and very easy to keep clean,” said Lafferty. “Hygiene was of the utmost importance to the client. So we wanted to find a balance so that it didn’t feel cold and unwelcoming.”

      Blue terrazzo counters the sterility of the stainless steel
      Lozenge-shaped mirrors were added to disrupt the rooms’ clean lines and add softness, while subtle colour changes were introduced through a blue tone in the terrazzo and a hint of green in the textured plaster walls and ceilings.
      A seamless, full-height wall of walnut wood was added to the corridor outside the treatment rooms to contrast against the steel cabinetry and add warmth to the upper floor.
      Health and self-care was a central theme in another of KLD’s recent refurbishment projects. Earlier this year, the studio incorporated green walls, a yoga studio and rooftop terrace into a co-working office in Belfast to help workers unwind.
      Photography is by Ruth Maria Murphy.

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      Casa ai Bailucchi is a two-level apartment overlooking Genoa port

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      Italian studio Llabb has combined two apartments in Genoa, creating a quirky home that combines nautical references with contemporary art.Casa ai Bailucchi is the home of a young creative couple – one is a gallery owner and music lover, the other is a freelance graphic designer.

      The L-shaped upper level contains the kitchen and living spaces
      The two-level, 135-square-metre apartment is located on the upper levels of a building overlooking the port, so the design was heavily influenced by the huge machinery that can be seen occupying the waterside.
      Locally based Llabb, led by designers Federico Robbiano and Luca Scardulla, planned the layout to take full advantage of the views and also peppered the interior with very subtle maritime references.

      Nautical details are combined with vintage furniture and contemporary artworks

      These references include a staircase with a rope handrail, a porthole window, and a colour palette featuring shades of blue and yellow.
      Other details include a mix of custom-made and vintage furniture, decorative tiles, large plants and a variety of artworks from the clients’ personal collection.

      The upper floor leads out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace
      The starting point for the design was the addition of a staircase, connecting the two previously separate apartments. With four metres of height between the two floors, it was a challenge to fit this in.

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      Robbiano and Scardulla’s solution was to create a staircase that winds up in several different sections. As well as the blue rope handrail, it features oak treads and a steel frame with open risers.

      The nautical-inspired staircase features a rope handrail and a porthole window
      “The result is pretty dynamic and allows the visitors to see the apartment from different views,” Scardulla told Dezeen.
      “It guides you, almost like the stepping stones in Japanese gardens.”

      The bedroom features plaster walls and terrazzo flooring
      Both levels have their own character. The lower level is more compartmentalised, with two bedrooms, a study room, and a bathroom.
      Original terrazzo floors have been preserved in these rooms. There are other nods to the building’s history too, for instance, the master bedroom features an arched window and exposed plaster walls.

      Patterned tiles feature in both the bathroom and the kitchen
      The upper level is mostly open-plan. The L-shaped floor plan naturally separates the lounge area from the dining space and kitchen, with the space further subdivided by cutaway walls.
      “It was a big challenge to manage the long and narrow living space on the upper floor; the risk was to have a ‘corridor effect’,” said Robbiano.
      “We used different layers of perceiving and living the space, making it more interesting to explore.”

      Studio workspaces can be found on both floors
      The apartment contains two work-from-home spaces. As well as the study room on the lower level, there is a “studiolo” on the upper floor, which the designers liken to the cockpit of a crane.
      The living space also opens out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace, which the owners have filled with even more plants.
      Photography is by Studio Campo.
      Project credits
      Design: LlabbDesign team: Luca Scardulla, Federico Robbiano, Linda Consiglieri, Laura Davite, Riccardo Gelmini, Martina Pisano, Floria BruzzoneConstruction: Zena CostruzioniCarpentry: Carlino SantoMetalwork: Metal ProjectTiles and sanitary ware: NobiliFlooring: Effebi parquet

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      Studio Anton Hendrik Denys designs Belgian office informed by 1960s colour schemes

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      Studio Anton Hendrik Denys and Steen Architecten have transformed an industrial office building in Belgium by cladding it in corrugated metal and adding colourful graphic interiors.Studio Anton Hendrik Denys, in collaboration with Steen Architecten, stripped the existing office building in Heverlee back to its core and used the company’s corporate identity to create a design that it calls a “contemporary twist on modernism”.
      The AEtelier office was designed for an IT consulting company in Belgium and contains a combination of private workspaces, meeting rooms, open plan communal areas, and event rooms that can be used for events and conferences.

      Top: AEtelier by Studio Anton Hendrik Denys. Above: walls and the ceiling are painted a deep blue.

      “I love and always apply a minimalistic design-language, but simultaneously I feel the need to add something extra,” studio founder Anton Hendrik Denys told Dezeen.
      “Modernism often balances minimal shapes wonderfully with splashes of colour and new, unfamiliar materials.”

      Wood-panneled areas provide a contrast against the blue walls
      Informed by the bold interior colour schemes of the 1960s, the designer chose a deep blue colour for the walls of the office and used teal carpeting and a green floor throughout.
      A welcome desk and lockers at the entrance of the office have a muted grey colour palette and are framed by a wood-panelled backdrop, while the blue walls and ceiling create a colourful contrast.

      Midcentury-inspired seating areas are built into nooks
      An existing dropped ceiling was replaced with circular soundproofing panels that expose the height of the space and its industrial piping and fixtures.
      Circular acoustic panels have been added to the ceilings throughout the interior. These are mimicked in large halo lighting fixtures suspended over tables, as well as on cabinetry details that feature circular cut-outs, and have also been added to a wall in a private office.

      Colours zone different spaces within the open-plan areas
      Denys used colour in an informative way to define different spaces. The orange hue used for the company’s corporate identity was chosen for kitchen areas, bars, toilets and soft furnishings, to make these easy to find.

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      “The main colour of my client’s corporate identity happened to be orange, which was both a welcome coincidence and a perfect starting point to build my midcentury-inspired colour palette,” Denys said.
      “In the meeting rooms eventually, less bright shades of the main colours were applied to create a more relaxed atmosphere,” he added.

      Bars are painted one block colour, so that guests and users can easily navigate the space
      A visual language was developed by Jaap Knevel, an information designer, to create iconography and signage so that staff and guests can easily navigate within the space.
      The green floor defines shared spaces and guides users through the building. These hard floor surfaces are juxtaposed with a soft teal carpet that covers the floors of private offices and meeting rooms.

      Halo lighting fixtures match the circular acoustic panels
      Studio Anton Hendrik Denys and Steen Architecten also renovated the exterior of the building, which is now clad in corrugated aluminium that contrasts and frames glimpses of the bold interior that can be seen through the windows.
      The aluminium cladding continues into a central landscaped courtyard that houses plants, as well as bright red furniture and a concrete bridge that connects two parts of the office.

      A concrete bridge runs through the courtyard between wild landscaping
      “For the outdoor renovation, the goal was to create a calm and subtle look that would serve as a frame for the bright interior,” Denys explained.
      “Creating a contrast between a silver-ish facade with windows framing shots of blue, orange, green and pink behind them,” he added.

      Opal-framed windows and doors sit within the corrugated aluminium facade
      “I wanted to move away from the general perception of how office spaces should look like nowadays,” Denys explained.
      “Besides that, I wanted to create a space that could be reorganised as time evolves and people might have different needs for their work environment.”
      Studio Anton Hendrik Denys was founded by Anton Hendrik Denys, a Belgian-born designer based in Copenhagen who works across art, furniture design, interior and spatial design.
      Colourful office interiors are on the rise. Beyond Space recently completed this colourful office designed around a reconfigurable grid system, while Note Studio also created a bold interior that aims to “break the grid” of 1930s office buildings.
      Photography is by Hannelore Veelaert.
      Project credits:
      Designer and creative lead: Studio Anton Hendrik DenysCollaborating architect: Steen ArchitectenLandscape design: Van Dyck Tuinarchitectuur

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      Ministry of Design creates lush “banking conservatory” for Citibank Singapore

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      Offices and meeting rooms are nestled among tropical plants in this wealth management centre in Singapore by local studio Ministry of Design.Conceived as a “banking conservatory”, the verdant scheme won an international competition launched by Citibank Singapore last year that invited entrants to reimagine the conventional interiors often associated with financial institutions.

      Ministry of Design has created a conservatory within the Citi Wealth Hub
      The brief set out by Citibank was to create a wealth management centre dedicated to its high net-worth clients, over an area of 2,787 square metres across floors six to nine of an office building on Singapore’s Orchard Road.
      Across its four levels, the Citi Wealth Hub has more than 30 client advisory rooms alongside flexible office and event spaces, making it the bank’s largest wealth advisory hub in the world.

      Levels seven and eight are filled with sinuous brass planters

      The site is distinguished by its soaring atrium with tinted glass walls and skylights that create ideal conditions for growing tropical plants.
      In recognition of this, the studio proposed an office scheme based around a lush conservatory that would anchor the entire office.

      Seating alcoves are nestled into the greenery
      On floors seven and eight, a series of social spaces are nestled within the greenery, including a bar, observation deck, garden pods, banquette seating and a central garden lounge with a honed Grigio Carnico marble bar.
      “The choreographed verdant and lush greenery evokes an atmosphere where everything seems to flourish in a natural and sustainable manner – a nod to the ideals of wealth management,” said Ministry of Design’s (MOD) director of development Joy Chan Seah.

      Garden pods replace traditional meeting rooms
      “Although drawing from the virtues of biophilic design, the scheme aims to create a cultured conservatory and not a wild forest,” she added. “Introducing a measure of control and order amidst nature’s abundance, we created a series of carefully detailed planter box arrangements.”
      These sinuous, hairline brass containers are lit from below to signpost pathways and meeting spaces among the foliage.

      They are outfitted with TV screens and acoustic panels
      On the seventh floor, garden pods were installed as an alternative to traditional meeting rooms. These are lined with acoustic panels and equipped with curved TV screens, concealed power points and cables for connecting laptops.
      In collaboration with landscape architecture studio ICN Design, MOD carefully selected plants that would adapt easily to an air-conditioned environment, thrive even in the shade and create four distinct vertical layers to offer varied views at every level.

      The planters are lit from below to help signpost pathways
      For the tallest level, the designers selected betel nut feature palms, while elegant, feathery parlour palms sit below their crowns at the second level with bushy saplings and big-leafed arums in the foreground.
      Feathery Boston ferns, rosette-leafed bird’s nest ferns and money plants occupy the lowest level, fringed by jungle-floor plants that are spotlit at night.

      Marble planters decorate the eighth floor
      The eighth floor is dedicated to Citigold Private Clients, leading the design team to opt for more luxurious materials such as walnut and marble, while an observation deck offers aerial views of the conservatory on the level below.

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      Since this floor is less open to natural daylight, the planting here is smaller in both the horizontal and vertical scale, with planters set between desk alcoves and pathways.

      Walnut wood lines the walls to create a high-end finish
      Floors six and nine were conceived as “backstage areas” offering office space for the bank’s 210 relationship managers.
      They hold a variety of hot desks, collaboration tables and a town hall for meetings.

      Collaborative tables are fringed in planters
      Large planters help create a calming work environment on these levels and are filled with shade-loving plants that, in the wild, would grow low on the rainforest floor.
      Throughout the office, the temperature of the lighting is programmed to mirror human’s natural circadian rhythm and the movement of the sun, changing from blue to reddish undertones over the course of the day.

      A marble reception centres the eighth floor
      To keep the plants healthy the project uses a hydroponic system, in which plants are held in place by absorbent granules instead of soil.
      Grow lights with special LED bulbs that mimic natural sunlight are integrated within the recessed architectural lighting.

      Integrated lighting follows humans’ circadian rhythm
      “We’ve had really good responses from Citibank and from their clients so far,” the studio said. “They’ve said this is unlike any other wealth management hub they have seen.”

      10 plant-covered buildings that point to a greener future

      Studies have shown that access to green spaces, or even pictures of nature, can benefit workers’ mental health and improve performance in the office.
      As a result, a plethora of plant-filled workplace interiors have sprung up over the past few years, including this co-working space in Lisbon with over 1,000 potted plants and trees, while tropical flora provides privacy for workers inside an office in Utrecht.
      Photography is by KHOOGJ.

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      Jean Verville Architecte inserts gridded steel lightwell into Montreal home

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      Canadian studio Jean Verville Architecte has created a theatrical interior inside a Montreal house by adding a large steel structure capped by a skylight that casts dramatic shadows.For the project, called MSO; Play/Pause, the studio completely reorganised the interior of the building and built a 12-metre-high steel lightwell in the centre of the three-storey house.

      Top image: the steel structure casts dramatic shadows. Above: it runs through the house
      The house belongs to a pair of actors, Sophie Cadieux and Mani Soleymanlou, so Jean Verville Architecte designed them a  home that could double as a performance venue.
      “We subtracted floor sections from the heart of the house to insert the steel structural installation, ” studio founder Jean Verville told Dezeen.
      “The rooms on the outskirts have been kept but redistributed to new versatile functions.”

      Light from the skylight is scattered across the ground-floor kitchen

      The steel installation measures five by five metres. A skylight caps the structure, turning it into a lightwell that casts theatrical shadows in the rooms.
      Its addition breaks up the shapes of the existing rooms, creating an interesting new layout for the owners as they go about their daily lives.

      The steel grids create decorative shadows
      As the structure unfolds over the three floors of the four-bedroom house, it creates what the studio describes as “pauses,” with functional spaces at the bottom of the building followed by living spaces and then bedrooms.
      “We start with the first two scenic pauses on the ground floor with the kitchen and the multifunction room,” Verville said.
      “Then the six scenic pauses of the living spaces and artistic creation to then end with the two scenic pauses of sleeping breaks. Each space has been designed to be versatile and re-modelable with a new function, nothing is permanent!”

      A greige hue was chosen to enhance the shadow play
      Metal grid screens and low walls were also added to the interior to create intriguing divisions between the spaces.
      The studio chose a monochrome greige colour for the interior to underline the shadows and light patterns created by the steel structure, and to work as a background for potential future theatre events in the house.

      Jean Verville Architecte creates “luminous” white triplex in Montreal

      “The great calm of monochrome greige and the changing and dancing light offer as much visual spectacle as inspiring spaces for theatrical rehearsal, and even soon the possibility of performance before a small audience,” Verville said.

      Jean Verville Architecte shot a series of playful images with the owners
      To capture the final result of the renovation, the studio shot a photo series of the MSO; Play/Pause space with photographer Felix Michaud that features the owners in different staged situations inside their home.
      Jean Verville Architecte recently finished another Montreal project, a white triplex adorned with gold windows. Previous projects on Dezeen include an electropop-informed installation created with students in Quebec City.
      Photography is by Studio Jean Verville Architects and Felix Michaud.

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      Beyond Space designs colourful office around reconfigurable grid system

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      Beyond Space has created a flexible office interior for a security company in Amsterdam using a colourful grid system that allows the user to change the layout when needed.Informed by an endless repeating grid system, the studio used a structure made from beams and columns to knit together two office floors.

      Top: office interior by Beyond Space. Above: white aluminium beams and columns run throughout the interior
      The rigid grid was constructed from aluminium to create a structural framework that gives the client the freedom to organise and reconfigure the space within it, by dismantling and moving walls as needed.
      “Should the nature or ambitions of the company change, the grid offers flexibility. Walls can easily be dismantled and rebuilt on another point in the grid,” Beyond Space said.

      Yellow-trimmed windows and doors frame private workspaces

      Multicoloured trimmed doors and windows create privacy for workspaces and contrast against the rigid white framework. The studio also hoped the colour would emphasise the flexibility of the space.
      “We wanted to put the emphasis on the fact that these doors and windows are infills in the grid and by making them a contrasting colour, the difference between the grid and the infills becomes clear,” Beyond Space cofounder Stijn de Weerd told Dezeen.

      Plants are encouraged to grow around and up the frame
      Painted concrete serves as a base for the office floor, while zoned areas and infill rooms were made from a wide range of materials including coloured MDF, corrugated sheets and fabrics.
      Carpets in meetings rooms and felt contouring against corrugated-metal walls add texture and softness to the otherwise rigid theme.

      Note Design Studio creates colourful interiors to “break the grid” of 1930s office building

      “The corrugated metal, coloured MDF, felt, solid surface and carpet were chosen to create a diverse palette of different colours and rich textures which don’t remind you of a typical office,” said de Weerd.
      Plants have been spread out throughout the space and add an organic feel to the aluminium grid.

      Glass partitions divide the spaces within the white frame
      A white perforated spiral staircase centres the space and links the two levels of the office.
      Pastel-hued furnishings provide a contrast against the white grid and fixtures, as the studio said it was important to maintain a balanced feel.
      “We wanted to combine the apparently opposite: strict but playful, cosy as well as radical,” said de Weerd.

      Colourful furnishings contrast with the starkness of the fixtures
      Beyond Space was launched in 2020 by Remi Versteeg and de Weerd, who had previously founded Space Encounters, and works across art, architecture and product design.
      Among the architects’ projects at Space Encounters are a tile-clad office building on stilts above a brick warehouse and also and office interior which uses soft partitions to divide space.
      Photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.
      Project credits:
      Project team: Remi Versteeg, Stijn de Weerd, Arnoud Stavenuiter, Menno Brouwer, Matilde ScaliContractor: Verwol, OpmeerPlants: Het Groenlab, AmsterdamContract furniture: Lensvelt Contract Furniture, BredaConsultant fire safety: DGMRStructural engineer: De Ingenieursgroep, Amsterdam

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      Over 40 per cent of BAME interior designers have faced racial discrimination, survey finds

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      Two out of five BAME interior designers have faced discrimination at work due to their ethnicity, according to a diversity survey by the British Institute of Interior Design.Conducted last year, BIID claims its Diversity in Interior Design survey is “the UK’s first-ever survey of diversity in interior design”.
      Forty-two per cent of the 109 respondents who identified as Asian, black, mixed or other said they had been a victim of discrimination in their profession or workplace because of their race or ethnicity.
      Just over 60 per cent also believe that their race or ethnicity has hindered their advancement in the industry.
      “It is clear that racism has been a factor that has held back the career progression of ethnic minority designers,” BIID chief operating office Katherine Elworthy told Dezeen.
      White designers disproportionately represented in senior positions
      The results found that 46 per cent of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) interior designers are the only person of colour in their workplace.
      White designers, on the other hand, are disproportionally represented in leadership roles.
      Although they made up only 69 per cent of all 363 survey respondents, white designers accounted for 78 per cent of those in high-level positions.

      Fifteen per cent of all respondents have faced discrimination based on their ethnicity. This number increases to 42 per cent if only including responses from people who identify as Asian, black, mixed or other

      A total of 363 interior designers responded to the diversity survey. Overall, 37 per cent of respondents believed that they had been the victim of discrimination.
      Along with discrimination based on ethnicity the survey also identified that 18 per cent of designers believe they had been discriminated against because of their gender.
      The vast majority of these were women with 63 out of the 298 female respondents saying they had experienced discrimination.
      The survey also revealed that 10 per cent of respondents had been discriminated against because of their age.
      Issues start at university
      In addition to the survey, BIID analysed data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on how different minority groups were represented among interior design students and recent graduates over the last five years.
      This showed that while interior design students are more likely to be from BAME backgrounds than the average UK student, a quarter of them end up having to take on low-skilled, non-industry jobs after university compared to 19 per cent of white students.

      Of all survey respondents who were in senior positions, 78 per cent were white
      This is a higher percentage than the average BAME student who studied a different subject, which BIID concluded: “suggests there may be particular difficulties for ethnic minorities who have interior design degrees”.
      “We also know from government statistics there is a correlation between being a member of some ethnic minority groups and being in the bottom income quintiles,” Elworthy explained.
      “If unpaid internships are still one of the routes into the profession then this, of course, may disadvantage designers who come from lower-income households.”
      HESA data further showed that there is an “attainment gap” at university, with only 13 per cent of BAME students receiving a first-class degree compared to 28 per cent of white students.
      Problem requires a “multi-faceted” solution
      “Whilst we are encouraged by high numbers of students choosing to study interior design, we need to explore how we can support the career progression of those students from ethnic minorities who may not be getting the opportunities to progress once qualified,” Elworthy concluded.
      “We feel that a multi-faceted approach is the best way forward. Our recently formed Diversity and Inclusion Committee is looking at how we can help support change within design practices, including recruitment, internships and opportunities for promotion,” she added.

      “Conversations about diversity need to expand to celebrate the work of people of colour”

      “We are also looking at how we can work with partners in the wider industry, such as universities, colleges, trade shows, awards schemes, suppliers and other industry initiatives to make sure our industry is diverse and inclusive.”
      The survey, which received responses both from BIID members and non-members, was conducted anonymously. “This does mean that we were unable to verify the identity of respondents,” BIID said.
      “We must also emphasise that given that this survey was entirely voluntary and based on a small self-selecting sample size, it cannot necessarily be used to extrapolate for the entire UK interior design profession.”
      In a separate effort to increase the diversity of the interior design sector, Sophie Ashby and Alexandria Dauley set up the United in Design initiative earlier this year.
      The project outlines seven concrete steps that interior design studios can take to improve their diversity.

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