Victoria Makes Designs On This Year’s London Design Festival
Headline Date 30-08-2018
The area around Victoria is to showcase its new found design credentials during this year’s London Design Festival. The Victoria Connections Design District will see a range of events take place during the Festival in September (15-23) cementing its growing reputation as a creative district and leading leisure destination.
With its location close to Parliament, for many years Victoria was dominated by Government offices and civil servants. In the past, no one visiting the area would necessarily have associated it with good design or the creative industries. Following multi-million investments however, and significant redevelopment over the past decade, Victoria is now a vibrant place, buzzing with creative talent, the best of the capital’s culture, a growing retail offer and world class bars, restaurants and hotels.
Working with the theme of ‘Connections: people and places’ the Victoria Connections Design District showcases the role that design plays in creating a place such as Victoria. Different forms of design can be seen in a variety of events and activities, delivered by an array of local businesses including House of Fraser, Westminster Cathedral, the Apollo Victoria Theatre and tech pioneers Somo Global . The District events seek to show visitors how excellence in design is now part of the new landscape of Victoria – a place with a fascinating history and an exciting future.
From an exhibition of original cartoons by one of the Telegraph’s political cartoonists, BOB, to an event at the Guards Museum explaining how the military influences mainstream fashion design, the events have been created to celebrate design is all its forms. Exclusive design tours of the Westminster Cathedral, a bespoke floral installation by the RHS London’s in-house florist, a walking tour of the new developments led by Landsec and an exhibition of the costumes and props from the award winning musical ‘WICKED’, demonstrate that design is something that binds the area together – its people and businesses, its historic buildings and its new developments.
The Victoria Connections Design District is curated by the Victoria Business Improvement District, which has acted as area custodian over the past eight years and represents hundreds of local businesses.
Ruth Duston, Chief Executive of the Victoria Business Improvement District said:
“Being part of this year’s Design Festival is the perfect platform for us to present a different side of Victoria. With our major transport hub we are London’s Gateway, and for many visitors we provide their first experience of the capital – but we are so much more than just an arrival and departure point. The Victoria Connections Design District vividly brings to life our emerging design credentials and showcases just how vital good design is when it comes to creating desirable destinations. We are thrilled that so many of our local businesses are involved in the Festival and look forward to welcoming visitors in September.”
Alongside the Design District events, a number of local bars, restaurants and hotels are running special offers and promotions. Eccleston Square Hotel, for example, is offering rooms with 20% off the best available rate and a free mini bar during the Festival, the Rubens Hotel has a 2 for 1 offer on its bespoke ‘London Design Festival Cocktail’ and during the Festival the Aster Restaurant in Nova is offering 25% off your food bill. Full details of all offers can be found of the Design District website.
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