Design that lasts...

Ivory’s design expertise is wide-ranging. And while we’re best known for exhibition stands and conferences, we also have a proud history of creating permanent spaces.

This work is always about understanding how the space will be used, what it needs to communicate to the people who will inhabit it, and how we can build something that has a lasting positive impact.

Here are three of our favourites.

Building creativity into the walls for Design Bridge

Design Bridge is a London agency known for making brands stand out. So when they asked us to redesign their offices, it meant more than a fresh lick of paint. They needed a space to inspire creativity.

Observing the agency in their natural habitat, we saw that each department used the office in different ways. Our redesign embraced this fact, pushing against uniformity to create a range of unique but connected spaces.

We made big changes by removing walls, moving staircases, and reworking the lighting. We made small changes, like adding deep shelves for concept boards – to turn every inch of wall space into an idea showcase.

By studying how the original space was used, we were able to shift working patterns to enable better collaboration and creativity.

The result was a working environment as imaginative and purposeful as Design Bridge themselves.

Creating a real snoozefest for Vispring

Vispring is a luxury mattress maker that rests on a hundred-year legacy of craft. We were asked to create their flagship retail environment, a ‘Sleep Centre’ in the heart of London’s West End.

The space had to do justice to the fact that buying a mattress means buying something upon which you’ll spend a third of your life. We began by considering what makes a good night’s sleep. Two vital attributes, comfort and time, became the foundation of our design.

So first, comfort. We designed the store to be a warm and welcoming space, furnished with the very materials and tools used to create Vispring mattresses. The fact that it feels so well-appointed is a mark of the products’ quality.

Next, time. We wanted to give shoppers space and time to discover the Vispring mattress. So we installed a wardrobe on one wall of the store, which was actually a hidden entrance. Stepping through, Narnia-like, you find a staircase painted with a skyscape. It takes you from sunset to dusk as you descend to a tailored ‘sleep fitting’ experience on the lower level.

Every inch of Vispring’s retail environment was designed to give shoppers space and privacy to fully test the mattresses, so they could sleep soundly knowing they’d made the right purchase.

Developing a legend for the National Theatre

Ivory’s design department has been entrusted with interior design projects for some of London’s greatest listed buildings, including the Barbican Arts Centre and The Law Society. One of our proudest is the redesign we completed for the National Theatre’s Lyttelton Café and Espresso Bar.

The new space had to conform to the English Heritage preservation requirements of this grade I listed building, but also embody the forward-thinking nature of the contemporary National Theatre.

Our design fused the elegance of Denys Lasdun’s original architecture with a new direction. The Café and Espresso Bar design rhymed with the theatre around it, while a palette of man-made stone and warm dark timber gave the spaces a material relationship to the larger environment.

For the layout, we took great care with visual sight lines so the café was easily locatable but didn’t attract attention to itself when not in operation.

Our designers have a track record of navigating the challenge that working in heritage spaces represents, to create environments that enhance and celebrate the beautiful buildings they sit within.

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