Complete design support for the BFI offices
Article
Here's what Karen Dassy, Senior Designer at Dickson, had to say:
Dickson – Constant:
Can you tell me more about your position as Senior Designer at Dickson?
Karen Dassy:
As a textile designer, my role is to design fabrics, combining my creative and technical expertise. The threads, the way they pass each other, and their colours are my tools for developing the textiles we weave in our production units. I also work on showcasing our products, for example by providing our customers with layout plans for our flooring, as I did for the BFI project.
DC: What were the issues in the BFI project? What were the challenges? How did you go about combining the colours with the rooms? How did you come up with the layout? What was the main theme of this project?
KD: The BFI building has a surface area of 1,500m2 over five floors, mainly made up of open spaces and meeting rooms. The architect wanted a simple proposal, on the basis of which he would work on the rest of the space. In order to create unity, I suggested a similar layout for all floors, and to differentiate the floors, I used different colours on this plan. The open spaces are simple, large flat areas in neutral, natural colours, with a colourful walkway, while the meeting rooms are enlivened by dynamic layouts in the colours of the adjoining open spaces.
DC: Why did you choose the Mirage and Allure collections/ranges?
KD: The Mirage and Allure ranges have textures that discreetly bring the floor surface to life and softly reveal the “colour changing” effect of Dickson woven vinyl. I chose these ranges because they are timeless and create a calm and serene atmosphere in the workplace, conducive to concentration.
Photo : ©Studio Zembra
Photo : ©Studio Zembra
DC: What's your favourite room? And why? What details do you like best?
KD: I think my favourite rooms are the open spaces, I love their colourful walkways, like a cheerful red thread that runs from one end of the floor to the other, and I like the architect's work who has matched the colours of the furniture with the colours of the floor. Colour, in addition to its functions of signage and marking out spaces, conveys emotions and contributes to wellbeing in the workplace - it's very important!
DC: How did the discussions with the customer go?
KD: Discussions were very straightforward right from the start and the customer trusted us immediately, giving us carte blanche in terms of creativity. So I was able to develop my idea with a relatively strong initial position and we adjusted the meeting rooms following a discussion to achieve a more timeless look that suited the project the BFI wanted.
DC: In conclusion, what are you taking away from this experience/project?
KD: It was a great experience in which we had great deal of freedom thanks to the architect's approach, which was to start the layout of the space with the floor.