Leading paint manufacturer, Dulux Trade, recently invited architects, specifiers, and interior designers to the Allermuir showroom in London for a panel discussion exploring inclusive design and ‘the power of colour and sustainability on wellbeing’.
Designing inclusive spaces presents a unique set of challenges for specifiers and architects, and the process of achieving inclusive design can be quite daunting – especially due to the various rules and regulations.
To address these challenges and provide guidance, Dulux Trade organised an event titled ‘Inclusive Spaces, Sustainable Places: A New Era of Design Thinking’. This panel event, co-hosted with Allermuir, aimed to share valuable insights on the importance of designing inclusive spaces and how to achieve this in practice.
The panel discussion included insightful contributions from Marianne Shillingford, Creative director at Dulux, Peter Howard, Sustainability and CSR lead at Dulux, and Dawn Scott, Senior Colour designer at Dulux – as well as guest speaker, Stephanie Kyle, Senior architect and Inclusive design consultant at Floyd Slaski Architects.
Marianne Shillingford emphasised that colour is a powerful tool for communication, as it can evoke different emotions in building occupants, and should thus be carefully considered ‘to match the mood and use of the space’. She also explained how Dulux ‘takes the key issues of the day and distils them into colour palettes for interior designers, architects, and specifiers, to use on projects’.
Dulux Trade explained: “Peter Howard shared insight into the impact the decorating industry has on the environment and indoor air quality – and offered practical solutions for improving sustainability across projects, after which Dawn Scott took an in-depth look at how colour and design can be used to create inclusive spaces. This was then bought to life further by Senior architect and Interior Design consultant, Stephanie Kyle, who shared the rationale behind her colour and design choices for an infant school in Leicester, and how they will positively impact the neurodivergent students there.
Dawn Scott said: “At Dulux Trade, we believe discussions around inclusive design are crucial for the evolution of our industry. Inclusive design is so important as it ensures that environments are accessible and comfortable for all users, regardless of age, ability, or background. The topic is gaining momentum, and we are seeing it shine through in briefs from customers more and more – but there is still more that can be done.
“Events like our ‘Inclusive Spaces, Sustainable Places: A New Era of Design Thinking’ panel discussion at Allermuir are crucial for bringing inclusive design to the fore and educating the industry on best practices. The event exceeded expectations, and generated insightful conversations and ideas around how design can be more inclusive. We’re committed to continuing these important dialogues to shape spaces that work for everyone.”
Allermuir creates contemporary furniture for offices, retail, hospitality and public spaces. In 2005 Allermuir became part of The Senator Group, a manufacturer of high-quality furniture for the contract market and leading investor in research, development and design.