Amanda Levete is the founder of AL_A, an international award-winning design and architecture studio set up in 2009. Notable commissions include the highly anticipated expansion of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, a 1.5 million sq ft luxury shopping mall and hotel in Bangkok on the former grounds of the British Embassy, a new centre for the cancer care charity Maggie’s, a 13-hectare media campus for Sky, and a cultural centre in Lisbon commissioned by Energias De Portugal (EDP), one of the world’s foremost energy companies. In 2011 Amanda Levete designed the Timber Wave, a large and complex structure in American red oak that stood outside the Victoria & Albert Museum during the London Design Festival. 

Win Assakul completed his part II in architecture at the Architectural Association in 2014. Born in Thailand, he was educated in the UK and spent his year in 2013 out at AL_A. ‘He was probably the best year-out student we have ever had,’ Amanda Levete said. ‘He is quite exceptional as a designer, thinker and communicator. It is rare to find those qualities in one so young.’ He is interested in the idea that product design can act as a catalyst or testbed for architectural ideas. Prior to this project, he had no experience of physically making objects. Working on The Wish List coincided with his final exams. His solution? To ‘give 100%’ to both.

For over 25 years the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) has been at the forefront of international wood promotion, successfully building a distinctive and creative brand for U.S. hardwoods. AHEC’s global programme of activities secure a future for American hardwoods by demonstrating the performance and aesthetic potential of these sustainable materials, while providing valuable creative inspiration and technical advice.

Benchmark is a leading company of craftspeople and designers, founded 30 years ago by Sir Terence Conran and Sean Sutcliffe. Based in West Berkshire on a converted farm, the team is now 50 strong in over 40,000 sq ft of workshops for timber milling, carpentry, veneering, spraying, specialist metalworking and upholstery, as well as design studio and furniture showroom. Benchmark works extensively on design solutions for hotels, restaurants, public buildings, offices and private residences.

The London Design Festival was conceived by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans. Building on London's existing design activity, their concept was to create an annual event that would promote the city's creativity, drawing in the country's greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators to a deliver an unmissable celebration of design. First staged in 2003, the London Design Festival is now one of the world's most important annual design events. The estival programme is made up of over 300 events and exhibitions staged by hundreds of partner organisations across the design spectrum and from around the world.

The London Design Festival works closely with, and receives financial support directly from, the Mayor’s Office – having transferred support from the London Development Agency. The Festival also receives support from Arts Council England, as a National Portfolio Organisation 2012-15.

The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.3 million objects that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The Museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.

James Latham

Morgan Timber