As part of Clerkenwell Design Week’s live programme, Conversations at Clerkenwell 2019 promises even more in-depth dialogue with established and new design talent, industry leaders, journalists and institutes, across a 3-day programme of talks.

A conversation that should not be missed is the Wednesday 14:00-15:00 session titled Women in Office Design, including BDG Architecture + Design’s Chief Executive Officer Gill Parker.

WOD (Women in Office Design) presents a conversation with four incredible and accomplished women leaders who are making waves in the design world. The panel will explore the varied issues faced by women in design and offer insights into the challenges, successes, and journey that got them where they are today. They will share some engaging & fascinating work stories and samples of their works.

In the UK, design, as with many industries, remains a male dominated profession. According to research by the Design Council in 2018, across the design workforce, only 22% of the workforce are women and in architecture that drops to 17%. Furthermore, there is a significant misrepresentation of women within higher positions in interior design firms, with only 25 percent of firm leaders being female.

Given the universal nature of design, these statistics are surprising, if not disconcerting. In an industry as creative and inclusive as ours, how can one explain these disparities? More importantly, what do we want our industry to look like in the future and how do we get there?

Gill Parker has led BDG architecture + design for 17 years. In the last five years the studio has trebled in size, strengthening its position as a leading workplace creative agency whilst expanding its global presence.

Gill has worked with a world class client portfolio of projects around the globe. During her tenure BDG has won numerous industry accolades including the prestigious BCO ‘Best of the Best’ award for PwC in 2004, and most recently, 2017, two Innovation awards for Sky and WPP. In 2018, successful campaigns have resulted in BDG being named as Lego’s Global Design Team as well as work with Sky, Sony and Nike.

Gill is ardent in her support of gender equality in the design industry. As a female CEO she writes and speaks about this, and her own studio has a 40:60 split in favour of women. She also believes in playing an active role in CSR and has recently served as a Director of Heart of City and Chair of Whitechapel Mission.

For further information contact  Anna King or  Cora Kemp.