5th May 2026
May news: East Bank’s vision unfolds, a folk fest for Museum of the Home, and welcome to Frankie!
Mitre & Mondays designs woodland immersion for AHEC in Denmark; Playrise packs up for Ethiopia; British Flowers Week returns; O’DonnellBrown makes headlines with Millport project – plus barbecue tips from Planthood
East Bank institutions at Stratford Waterfront, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Image courtesy of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
East Bank
Building London’s new cultural quarter
Building London’s new cultural quarter
A one-of-a-kind collaboration of major arts institutions, world-leading universities and the people of the Olympic boroughs, East Bank is the UK’s newest cultural quarter. Opportunities to work on such an ambitious and important placemaking project don’t turn up often, so when the tender came up for East Bank’s communications, the whole Zetteler team jumped in feet first.
Now we’re on board and part of the team making the East Bank vision become a reality. Some of the UK’s most impressive cultural organisations already call it home – a state-of-the-art campus for London College of Fashion, UAL; a new 550-seat theatre for dance at Sadler’s Wells East; and the ever-impressive V&A East Storehouse. These have now been joined by the V&A East Museum, which has just opened to a national chorus of acclaim, with BBC Music Studios to follow.
Take that to the bank
Now we’re on board and part of the team making the East Bank vision become a reality. Some of the UK’s most impressive cultural organisations already call it home – a state-of-the-art campus for London College of Fashion, UAL; a new 550-seat theatre for dance at Sadler’s Wells East; and the ever-impressive V&A East Storehouse. These have now been joined by the V&A East Museum, which has just opened to a national chorus of acclaim, with BBC Music Studios to follow.
Take that to the bank
Photo by Patricia Niven.
Zetteler
Reddin beds in
Reddin beds in
Zetteler is a small agency by design, so it’s always a major moment when someone new joins the fold. Say hello to our new account director, the comms and strategy specialist Frankie Reddin.
Frankie’s story so far takes her from communications in the culture and hospitality sector, where she ran her own agency, through Soho House, and into the National Gallery, where she took charge of developing the membership engagement strategy. A diverse curiosity-driven career to be sure – and one that makes her ideally placed to take the helm for our evolving roster of cultural clients.
Meet the team
Frankie’s story so far takes her from communications in the culture and hospitality sector, where she ran her own agency, through Soho House, and into the National Gallery, where she took charge of developing the membership engagement strategy. A diverse curiosity-driven career to be sure – and one that makes her ideally placed to take the helm for our evolving roster of cultural clients.
Meet the team
Trelya nursery in Cornwall benefitted from Design for All. Render courtesy of alma-nac.
Design for All
Open call – free architectural help on offer for 2026
Open call – free architectural help on offer for 2026
Design for All’s 2026 open call is now live! Set up by alma-nac to overcome barriers facing the non-profit sector, the programme offers much-needed help for England-based charities and community organisations with a turnover of less than £1 million.
For many organisations, whether they need to expand a premise, renovate what they have, or construct something entirely new, the early development phase is difficult to fund and complex to navigate. Thanks to Design for All, up to four successful applicants get free architectural advice and guidance for building-related projects.
As an example, previous awardee Trelya, a purpose-built nursery facility in Cornwall, is on track to begin construction later this year. So if you know any causes with a building project in the pipeline, spread the word!
Open call
For many organisations, whether they need to expand a premise, renovate what they have, or construct something entirely new, the early development phase is difficult to fund and complex to navigate. Thanks to Design for All, up to four successful applicants get free architectural advice and guidance for building-related projects.
As an example, previous awardee Trelya, a purpose-built nursery facility in Cornwall, is on track to begin construction later this year. So if you know any causes with a building project in the pipeline, spread the word!
Open call
Photo by Lewis Ronald, courtesy of Playrise.
Playrise
Prototype play structure to find new home in Ethiopian refugee camp
Prototype play structure to find new home in Ethiopian refugee camp
Play is an essential part of child development, but for an estimated 49 million children around the world, it is something they struggle to access. In refugee camps and temporary settlements, dedicated play spaces are all-too-often absent or poorly maintained.
After its hugely successful launch last month at Museum of the Home in East London, Playrise is dismantling the display structure and bringing it to its first permanent home: a refugee camp in Ethiopia.
In a full-circle moment for Playrise, the Ethiopian site was one of the locations the team visited during the research and prototyping phase. Now, the children living there will get to see – and play on – the structure that their thoughts and experiences helped to build.
Go play
After its hugely successful launch last month at Museum of the Home in East London, Playrise is dismantling the display structure and bringing it to its first permanent home: a refugee camp in Ethiopia.
In a full-circle moment for Playrise, the Ethiopian site was one of the locations the team visited during the research and prototyping phase. Now, the children living there will get to see – and play on – the structure that their thoughts and experiences helped to build.
Go play
The Mitre & Mondays trio: Josef Shanley-Jackson, Freya Bolton and Finn Thomson. Image courtesy of AHEC.
American Hardwood Export Council
For 3daysofdesign, Mitre & Mondays and Benchmark create Wood for the Trees
For 3daysofdesign, Mitre & Mondays and Benchmark create Wood for the Trees
Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign has grown into one of the world’s leading design fairs. For 2026, American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) returns and is doubling down on its dual focus: not only highlighting the materiality of hardwood, but situating it within a broader context of responsible forestry, carbon storage and long-term sustainability.
On 10–12 June, the Mitre & Mondays-designed exhibition Wood for the Trees presents an immersive forest experience at the heart of Material Matters, leading visitors on a journey through the life of hardwood timber from seed to finished product.
The exhibition draws on the ideas explored in AHEC’s recent feature documentary Forested Future, which examines our relationship with forests through the lens of the people and communities whose livelihoods depend on them. Supported by the peerless craft expertise of Benchmark, Mitre & Mondays’ vision translates the story on screen into a design-led spatial experience.
In the studio
On 10–12 June, the Mitre & Mondays-designed exhibition Wood for the Trees presents an immersive forest experience at the heart of Material Matters, leading visitors on a journey through the life of hardwood timber from seed to finished product.
The exhibition draws on the ideas explored in AHEC’s recent feature documentary Forested Future, which examines our relationship with forests through the lens of the people and communities whose livelihoods depend on them. Supported by the peerless craft expertise of Benchmark, Mitre & Mondays’ vision translates the story on screen into a design-led spatial experience.
In the studio
Artwork by Mike Hankin.
Museum of the Home
Nine-day festival explores folk culture in an urban context
Nine-day festival explores folk culture in an urban context
Running from 13–21 June, ’What the Folk?’ at Museum of the Home is an expansive and inclusive celebration of folk traditions, spanning performance, visual media, storytelling and more.
Aiming to interrogate traditional and contemporary folk practices, the festival kicks off with a folk fair selling traditional craft, art and contemporary work inspired by folklore, leading into a packed programme of tours, workshops and live music.
Highlights include an opening talk from Simon Costin, director of Cornwall’s Museum of Witchcraft; an embroidery workshop based on Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky from the Fabled Thread; an exploration of global music with cellist Ezra Escobar; a dive into Vietnamese folk tales with Major Books, a ‘folkmoot’ hosted by the Folk Union, and a chance to get up close and hands-on with rarely seen folk artefacts from the museum’s collections.
Folk it up
Aiming to interrogate traditional and contemporary folk practices, the festival kicks off with a folk fair selling traditional craft, art and contemporary work inspired by folklore, leading into a packed programme of tours, workshops and live music.
Highlights include an opening talk from Simon Costin, director of Cornwall’s Museum of Witchcraft; an embroidery workshop based on Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky from the Fabled Thread; an exploration of global music with cellist Ezra Escobar; a dive into Vietnamese folk tales with Major Books, a ‘folkmoot’ hosted by the Folk Union, and a chance to get up close and hands-on with rarely seen folk artefacts from the museum’s collections.
Folk it up
Flowers from the Farm board. Image courtesy of Flowers from the Farm.
Flowers from the Farm
Major plans for Chelsea Flower Show in May, and British Flowers Week in June
Major plans for Chelsea Flower Show in May, and British Flowers Week in June
The team behind Flowers from the Farm are hard at work. From 19–23 May, they are set to launch the first-ever working flower farm at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show – the first group to do so in its century-long history.
And from 15–21 June 2026, British Flowers Week will return, coinciding with the United Nations’ International Year of the Woman Farmer. Following the theme ‘Flowers for the future’, this year’s festival programme offers the public hands-on opportunities to explore and discover the plantlife that the UK has to offer.
Through the collaborative efforts of British Flowers Week, Flowers from the Farm, the Garden Museum and many others, the public appetite for local blooms has reached a new peak. Now that’s good news.
Taking root
And from 15–21 June 2026, British Flowers Week will return, coinciding with the United Nations’ International Year of the Woman Farmer. Following the theme ‘Flowers for the future’, this year’s festival programme offers the public hands-on opportunities to explore and discover the plantlife that the UK has to offer.
Through the collaborative efforts of British Flowers Week, Flowers from the Farm, the Garden Museum and many others, the public appetite for local blooms has reached a new peak. Now that’s good news.
Taking root
Photo by David Barbour, courtesy of Millport Town Hall.
O’DonnellBrown
A new model for community heritage: Millport Town Hall
A new model for community heritage: Millport Town Hall
Across the UK, the story is often the same: town halls closing, youth clubs shuttering, and vital community hubs fading away. But on the Scottish island of Great Cumbrae, Millport Town Hall is writing a different ending.
After a painful closure in 2016, the local community rallied around a crowdfunder to take ownership and commission architects O’DonnellBrown to restore its role as the beating heart of the island.
Key to the transformation is a small extension containing three holiday rental apartments, creating an essential economic lifeline to future-proof the building. By keeping tourism income directly in the community, rather than being siphoned off by Airbnb and distant landlords, this model provides a roadmap for at-risk communities, heritage and social infrastructure across the UK.
History repurposed for the present
After a painful closure in 2016, the local community rallied around a crowdfunder to take ownership and commission architects O’DonnellBrown to restore its role as the beating heart of the island.
Key to the transformation is a small extension containing three holiday rental apartments, creating an essential economic lifeline to future-proof the building. By keeping tourism income directly in the community, rather than being siphoned off by Airbnb and distant landlords, this model provides a roadmap for at-risk communities, heritage and social infrastructure across the UK.
History repurposed for the present
Photo by Max Miechowski, courtesy of Planthood.
Planthood
Grilling season is here
Grilling season is here
One of the most interesting things about Planthood is how many of its customer base are meat eaters. It’s often assumed a plant-based diet is the purview of veggies and vegans. The same can be said about grilling season. As the sun comes out, barbecues are fired up. But there’s more than meat that benefits from smoky flavours and the lick of a flame.
Planthood co-founder Will recommends a secret weapon for your own grills: acidity. "For me, it’s all about having a few flavour bombs in your back pocket that are easy to whip up. Acidity wakes up the taste buds and brings out the other building blocks of flavour like sweet, smoky and umami, which are classic big barbecue flavours. I always fall back on salsa verde or chimichurri and now get asked to bring one to every al fresco eating occasion.” Yum!
Get fired up
Planthood co-founder Will recommends a secret weapon for your own grills: acidity. "For me, it’s all about having a few flavour bombs in your back pocket that are easy to whip up. Acidity wakes up the taste buds and brings out the other building blocks of flavour like sweet, smoky and umami, which are classic big barbecue flavours. I always fall back on salsa verde or chimichurri and now get asked to bring one to every al fresco eating occasion.” Yum!
Get fired up
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