Header: Courtesy of SDW
London Design Festival’s largest dedicated district is entering an ambitious new era this autumn. Evolving from the long-standing Shoreditch Design Triangle, Shoreditch Design Week (SDW) returns from 15 to 20 September 2026 with a wide-ranging, wide-angle festival programme. The event unites over 100 showrooms, galleries, pop-up venues, and studios across East London, hosting hundreds of activations, product launches, workshops, and panel discussions.
At the heart of the festival sits a core exhibition programme running across four central venues during the first three days, from 15 to 17 September. Once the historic centre of London’s furniture trade, Shoreditch continues to assert its identity as a vital global creative quarter for architecture, commercial workspace, hospitality, retail, and residential interiors.
The four exhibition anchors
The core three-day exhibition schedule is structured around four distinct venues that tackle everything from circular manufacturing to early-career creative support.
Material Matters at Unlocked
Making its district debut for its fifth edition, Material Matters relocates to the multi-level UNLOCKED Shoreditch warehouse on Curtain Road. Originating as a podcast, the platform focuses on material intelligence across architecture and design. Standout features include FRONT® and Biomason’s Mimmik Tile™—a world-first tile grown using biological bacterial processes instead of heat firing. Visitors can also inspect Carbon Cell’s compostable alternative to plastic insulation foams, acoustic panels constructed from post-consumer garment waste by The Or Foundation, Neve Beill Ceramics’ Thames Matter collection crafted from riverbed clay, and Phyta Biodesign’s wildlife-friendly architectural wall structures.
House of ICON at Shoreditch Town Hall
Dedicated to residential and hospitality interiors, House of ICON spans styles ranging from Nordic minimalism to bold maximalism. Expanding its presence this year, Isola Design brings its international digital network to the venue to showcase independent studios focused on circular systems and biomaterials. Alongside Isola, Raw Collaborative presents Design Intelligentsia, an exhibition exploring collectable design, traditional craft techniques, and cultural narratives. Creative duo 2LG Studio (Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead) also return for the fourth edition of You Can Sit With Us, presenting their most expansive project yet—Messy Heart, an installation celebrating raw emotion and human imperfection through textiles, lighting, and home accessories.
Design at Work & Neuroplaces at Protein Studios
Curated by OnOffice, Design at Work examines workplace wellbeing, comfort, and practical spatial design. Co-located at Protein Studios is Neuroplaces, the UK’s first B2B exhibition and conference dedicated entirely to neuroinclusive and accessible environments. By bringing together spatial researchers, industry leaders, and workspace designers, Neuroplaces offers practical strategies to adapt offices, hotels, transport hubs, and public buildings for neurodivergent individuals.
ND Selects & Design Burger at Kachette
New Designers brings its graduate-focused platform to Kachette under the banner of ND Selects. This curated showcase focuses on early-stage British design businesses in their first one to five years of trading, presenting work from studios like This is Oink, Rosie May Ceramics, Riolab Ceramics, Phil Berczuk Design, and E.L.S Designs.
In the adjacent annex, independent platform Design Burger debuts its new publication, The Product Design 100. Running across all six days (15–20 September), this feature combines a physical display of 100 key industrial design objects from the past decade with an on-site pop-up bookshop and informal industry talks.
Timber innovations and local creative voices
Beyond the core trade venues, timber sustainability takes centre stage at the Tab Centre with Wood for the Trees, presented by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) in collaboration with Mitre & Mondays and Benchmark. Inspired by the documentary Forested Future, the installation combines spatial construction and documentary storytelling to question how responsible forestry shapes modern building methods.
To highlight East London’s creative ecosystem, festival organisers introduced the ‘Voices of Shoreditch’ cohort—a team of local designers whose work, talks, and editorial perspectives run throughout the event. Participating figures include Jasper Morrison, Bethan Laura Wood, Rio Kobayashi, Raw-Edges (Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay), Martino Gamper, Michael Marriott, Alexandra Gerber, Andu Masebo, Donna Wilson, Jutta Goessl, Lee Broom, Ollie Olanipekun, Mitre & Mondays (Finn Thomson, Josef Shanley-Jackson, Freya Bolton), and 2LG Studio.
Showroom trail and district program
The broader neighbourhood activation runs for the full six days from 15 to 20 September. Over 60 showrooms and design spaces are participating with dedicated launches, exhibitions, and late-night openings.
A central destination along the district trail is the Wax Building, where design brands Tamart and Minimalux present site-specific installations. Other major showrooms opening their doors include Lee Broom’s flagship space, Christopher Farr, Floor Story, Bisley, Ally Cappellino, Hendel & Hendel, Holte Studio, Lozi Designs, and Nakagawa.
Event details
Admission to Shoreditch Design Week is free, but visitors must register online for a digital visitor badge to access the main exhibition venues.
Opening hours
Exhibitions (15-17 September 2026)
• Tuesday 15 September: 10am – 6pm
• Wednesday 16 September: 10am –9pm
• Thursday 17 September: 10am – 4pm
Showroom and partner opening hours vary between 15-20 September 2026.
Exhibition Venues:
- House of Icon – Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, EC1V 9LT
- Material Matters – Unlocked Shoreditch, 118 Curtain Rd, EC2A 3AY
- ND Selects – Kachette, 347 Old St, London EC1V 9LP.
- Wood for the Trees, AHEC – Tab Centre, 3 Godfrey Place, E2 7NT
- Design at Work & Neuroplaces – Protein Studios, 31 New Inn Yard, EC2A 3EY
For the latest programme information and events, visit the Shoreditch Design Week website.
