12 things not to miss at London Design Festival 2025

London Design Festival 2025 returns from 13–21 September for its 23rd edition, transforming the capital into a citywide celebration of creativity and innovation. Across ten design districts, the festival presents landmark installations, major exhibitions and industry fairs that tackle today’s cultural, social and environmental challenges. Supported by the Mayor of London, this year’s highlights include Lee Broom’s Beacon on the Southbank, thought-provoking showcases at the V&A and Design Museum, the launch of Design London Shoreditch, and the debut of Fleet Street Quarter as a new Design District. Here are twelve highlights you won’t want to miss.

Beacon by Lee Broom

Lee Broom Beacon, LDF 2025

#FLODown: Beacon is one of the landmark projects at this year’s London Design Festival, created by Lee Broom in collaboration with BROKIS and Materials Assemble. Located at the entrance of the Royal Festival Hall, the installation reinterprets classic street lamps as a vast sculptural chandelier made from upcycled glass fragments, drawing on Southbank’s Brutalist architecture and the legacy of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Each hour, the illuminated shades pulse in time with Big Ben’s chimes, beginning with a slow, poetic rhythm before building to a dramatic crescendo. Designed for longevity, its components can later be repurposed into individual fixtures, making it both sustainable and enduring.

Date: 13–21 September 2025, open 24 hours daily. Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Price: Free, no ticket required.londondesignfestival.com

V&A at London Design Festival 2025

Jakkai Siributr, installation There’s No Place. Image credit Arina Matvee, courtesy London Design Festival

#FLODown: The V&A Museum in South Kensington serves as a central hub for London Design Festival 2025, presenting a programme of exhibitions and installations that explore how design can engage with pressing social and cultural issues. Highlights include Jakkai Siributr’s There’s No Place, a collaborative embroidery project reflecting on identity, belonging and the ongoing refugee crisis on the Thai–Burma border. Rana Haddad and Pascal Hachem’s Debris of Text and Eyeglasses documents the human impact of the 2020 Beirut Port explosion through delicate glass panels. Also featured is Alicija Patanowska’s The Ripple Effect, a newly commissioned ceramic seating installation in the V&A’s garden and pond, partly constructed from mining waste sourced from one of Europe’s largest depositories. The installation encourages visitors to reflect on our complex relationship with natural resources.

Date: 13–21 September 2025, 10am – 5:45pm daily. Location: V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL. Price: Free, no ticket required. vam.ac.uk

The Design Museum’s Triple Bill

Kelp Council by Julia Lohmann, More than Human at the Design Museum. Image credit Luke Hayes, Courtesy of the Design Museum

#FLODown: During London Design Festival, the Design Museum in Kensington presents its “Triple Bill” of must-see exhibitions. Blitz: The Club that Shaped the 80s explores the iconic London nightclub and its lasting impact on a generation’s style (opening 20 September 2025). More Than Human examines design beyond human-centric needs and features a thought-provoking symposium, while Platform: Bethan Laura Wood showcases the designer’s bold, inventive approach through engaging workshops and interactive displays.

Material Matters London

Talks space at Material Matters 2024, William Knight

#FLODown: Material Matters, a flagship fair of the London Design Festival, brings together architects, designers, manufacturers, and innovative brands to explore material intelligence and sustainable design. Now in its fourth edition at Space House near Holborn and Covent Garden, the event features over 40 curated exhibitors, showcasing materials from bio-based alternatives and recycled composites to heritage crafts and cutting-edge fabrication. Highlights include 3M’s DI-NOC™ sustainable finishes, Anglepoise’s 90-year legacy, and MycoWorks’ Reishi™ mycelium materials, alongside emerging designers Jacob Marks, Micaella Pedros, and Ric Frampton, with talks and panels exploring circularity, craft, and regenerative design.

Date: 17–20 September 2025 (17 Sept 10 am – 6pm; 18 Sept 10am – 9.30pm; 19–20 Sept 10am – 6pm). Location: Space House, 1 Kemble Street (corner of Kingsway), London WC2B 4AN. Price: Free, ticket required. londondesignfestival.com

Design London Shoreditch

House of ICON – Shoreditch Town Hall Assembly

#FLODown: Design London Shoreditch makes its debut at this year’s London Design Festival, introducing a fresh addition to the Shoreditch Design Triangle. Spanning three venues, Protein Studios, Kachette, and Shoreditch Town Hall, curated exhibitions will focus on design, culture, and interiors, featuring installations such as Ben Cullen Williams’ AI-driven Self Portrait in collaboration with Google DeepMind, and 2LG Studio’s inclusive You Can Sit With Us salon. Other highlights include the British Council’s Ancient Futures and Moleskine’s creative workshops. With over 40 contributors, Design London Shoreditch will also feature a programme of talks and product showcases, reflecting the area’s creative energy.

Date: 16–18 September 2025. Location: Design at Work by OnOffice: Protein Studios Shoreditch, 31 New Inn Yard, EC2A 3EY; Design Culture: Kachette, 347 Old St, EC1V 9LP; House of ICON: Shoreditch, Town Hall, 380 Old St, EC1V 9LT. Price: designlondon.co.uk

Step Inside Quantum

Step Inside Quantum at Imperial College London.

#FLODown: Step Inside Quantum is an interactive, walk-through installation at Imperial College London that uses textile and sensory gates to demonstrate the principles of quantum physics. Designed by Chloé Rochefort with local Young Producers and Imperial’s quantum researchers, it lets visitors experience concepts such as superposition, entanglement, and uncertainty in a playful and tangible way, showing how quantum mechanics influences everyday life.

Date: 15–21 September 2025, Noon - 6pm; Location: Main Entrance, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ. Price: Free, no ticket required. londondesignfestival.com

Ceramics in the City – Museum of the Home

Ceramics in the City will take place at the Museum of the Home.

#FLODown: The Museum of the Home presents its annual Ceramics in the City exhibition and selling fair, founded by Karen Bunting. Set in East London’s creative hub, the event brings together world-class ceramicists, showcasing a wide range of functional tableware, stoneware, decorative objects, and unique one-off pieces. Visitors can watch live demonstrations, meet the makers, and explore the variety of contemporary ceramic art.

Date: 13–14 September 2025, 10am - 5pm. Location: Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. Price: Free, drop-in event. londondesignfestival.com

Sketch Art & Design 2025

Sketch London

#FLODown: As part of its annual Art & Design exhibition, Mayfair’s Sketch presents an installation by Mexico City’s AGO Projects, featuring works by the studio Mestiz. Making their London debut at 9 Conduit Street, the exhibition highlights AGO Projects’ focus on socially and environmentally conscious creativity, international collaboration, and supporting artists and designers who aim to create positive change.

Date: 13–21 September 2025, 8am - Noon. Location: Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, London W1S 2XG. Price: Free, no ticket required. londondesignfestival.com

In the Age of Too Much – Parallel

Protein Studios

#FLODown: Digital product studio Parallel presents In the Age of Too Much, a three-day event examining how we can shape, organise, and design knowledge in an era of information overload. Taking place in Shoreditch duringthe programme brings together designers, technologists, and curious minds to explore how we navigate endless inputs, the evolving nature of knowledge work in an AI-driven world, and the visual and experiential language of next-generation intelligence tools.

Date: 16–18 September 2025, 10 am - 6pm daily. Location: Protein Studio 2, 31 New Inn Yard, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3EY. Price: Free. londondesignfestival.com

11 Million Dots

Artist Rafael El Baz, to transform the façade of Vantage Data Centers’ for London Design Festival.

#FLODown: Artist Rafael El Baz, in collaboration with the local community, transforms the façade of Vantage Data Centers’ new London campus into one of Europe’s largest public artworks. Using 11 million perforated aluminium panels inspired by ambient sounds, interviews, and the industrial history of Park Royal, the installation reflects the area’s ongoing transformation. QR codes allow visitors to experience the original soundscapes behind the work, connecting technology, memory, and community across a six-storey display.

Date: 13–21 September 2025, open 24 hours. Location: Vantage Data Centers, Wesley Playing Fields, London NW10 6PH. Price: Free. londondesignfestival.com

Fleet Street Quarter

Art Workshop with Bella Gomez, LFA2025. © Nathan Piccio.

#FLODown:  Fleet Street Quarter will debut as an official Design District at London Design Festival 2025 with a lively programme celebrating its design heritage and creative future. Highlights include design-focused walking tours led by David Harry (The London Spy) and Sarah Williams-Robbins (Mrs Londoner), an inspiring talk and live demonstrations from acclaimed artist Gemma O’Brien, hands-on exploration of traditional letterpress printing at the St Bride Foundation, and a playful stencil postcard workshop with Bella Gomez. A key feature of the programme is Whispers, an installation by Polish designer Oskar Zieta, inviting audiences to reimagine the future of the built environment. Discover more

The design festival will take place from 13 to 21 September 2025, with events happening throughout London, including the 10 design districts. londondesignfestival.com