APE Grupo, a leading name in Spanish ceramics, continues its journey through the world’s leading international design stages with its participation in Clerkenwell Design Week 2026, taking place in London from 19 to 21 May. Following its appearance at Appartamento Spagnolo during Milan Design Week last April, the company now arrives in Clerkenwell — one of the districts with the highest concentration of architecture and design studios in the world — to take part in ‘El Salón’, an exhibition bringing together some of Spain’s leading design and interiors brands.
Promoted by ICEX under the Interiors from Spain brand and curated by designer Tomás Alonso, the exhibition offers a contemporary interpretation of Spanish design, focusing on material innovation, craftsmanship and product versatility.
The installation is housed in the Chapter Hall of the Museum of the Order of St John, a 16th-century building located in the heart of Clerkenwell whose monumental entrance, St John’s Gate, is one of the district’s historic landmarks. This is the first time the venue has been included in the official Clerkenwell Design Week programme, making the 2026 edition a particularly significant moment: a historic interior of remarkable architectural character opening, for the first time, to the contemporary design circuit.
Within this context, APE Grupo presents a proposal that moves away from the conventional exhibition format in order to explore new relationships between material, object and space. Among the featured pieces is Occhiata, an artisanal lattice structure that interacts with light and architecture, and which has become one of the ceramic solutions most appreciated by architects and designers.
Alongside it, the company explores less conventional uses for its collections, taking small-format ceramics with a decorative vocation into territories closer to furniture and object design. An approach that connects with a freer way of designing, where materials are no longer confined to fixed categories.
Participation in Clerkenwell is also an opportunity to showcase the evolution of Ilbagno, the brand recently relaunched by APE Grupo, which expands its scope towards a holistic conception of bathroom spaces by incorporating new product typologies.
The programme also includes a public talk on Wednesday 20 May from 6:30 pm featuring Tomás Alonso and Oli Stratford, editor-in-chief of Disegno magazine, discussing the exhibition and the current state of Spanish design. Admission to both the exhibition and the event is free upon registration.
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