2020 Year In Review

A look at our highlights and milestones over the last year.

It’s been a strange year, full of unforeseen circumstances and everchanging government guidelines. At Sky House, the design centre has adapted and followed government guidelines to ensure we continued offering our services and sharing our products throughout the year of the pandemic.

Despite the circumstances, Sky House and our extremely talented exhibitors have hit many milestones this year and have lots of things to celebrate. Keep reading to hear about some of our best moments and greatest achievements.

The exhibitors faced every challenge they encountered with confidence and adaptability, with many of the brands carrying out virtual services when visits were not possible. There were virtual CPD seminar’s, virtual site surveys and meetings held over various video conferencing platforms to accommodate our clients needs.

2020 was the year that two new exhibitors joined the Sky House Design Centre, bringing with them a range of luxury products and innovative display spaces within the showroom. The first was Belgravia Hardwood, boasting a wide range of timber window and door products with the ability to tailor the solutions to each individual project. The Belgravia Hardwood exhibitor bay showcases many of their products and gives clients the ability to get a feel for how the products would look and work in their homes.

Next we were joined by Morgan Ellis, the luxury lift makers. Morgan Ellis installed a vacuum lift in their showroom space, allowing visitors to experience the lift in person before incorporating one into their home. There is now an option for homeowners to finance a home lift, granting more flexible payment options with Morgan Ellis.

Sky House embarked on the process of a major renovation project, set to complete in 2021. The renovation project will see the entire entrance façade redesigned, showcasing a number of glazing systems from IQ Glass on a large scale. Due to the large nature of the renovation, there will be a number of new meeting rooms and exhibitors bays ready for use next year.

A number of the current exhibitors decided to expand their bays this year, squeezing more of their products and systems into the showroom. IndigoZest will have an entertainment space in addition to their smart home technology space, showcasing their smart home cinema capabilities.

The Grants Blinds bay underwent a huge renovation, resulting in an elegant, minimalistic space showcasing a number of concealed blind systems. The exhibitors bay looks bare from the outset, only revealing all the hidden, automated systems upon entering the stand or clicking a button. Concealed curtains and blind systems are designed to sit invisibly within the stand, demonstrating their suitability for minimally framed glazing. There is even a configuration to suit opening corner glazing configurations.

It’s been a big year for Urban Outdoors too, with a number of new products being added to their outdoor living range as well as expanding their showroom space. They were appointed UK distributors for the Cubic Outdoor Living kitchen & garden storage range and for the Firescience woodburning cooking outdoor fireplaces.

Urban Outdoors expanded their bay to reflect the company growth, now able to showcase more of their outdoor kitchen products for visitors to see for themselves. During the pandemic, people focused on spending more time in their gardens and in turn considered improving their outdoor spaces. This meant there was a 50% growth in the business for outdoor products, compared to 2019. Finally, Urban Outdoors were appointed distributors for Delvita pizza ovens, the compact solution suitable for even the smallest garden space.

Sky House Design Centre was declared a Covid secure workplace in August of 2020, meaning our team could safely work from the design centre. We employed a number of safety regulations and procedures for staff and visitors to follow, you can find the Covid secure guidelines here.

A major highlight that cannot go unmentioned is the successful showroom visits that took place in the times when we were allowed to re-open to visitors. Both staff and clients followed the one way system and social distancing guidelines to ensure all visits were carried out in line with government guidelines. Visitors instilled their trust in Sky House, allowing us to continue working throughout the uncertain times.

Sky House Design Centre now falls into Tier 4 of the UK’s tiered system, meaning weare currently closed to visitors. If you’d like to enquire about booking a showroom visit once we can reopen, you can get in touch here. 

In summary, despite the numerous challenges 2020 presented, our talented tenants and team members delivered exceptional results across the board. The design centre as a collective looks forward to the next year of challenges and we are eager to hit the ground running in the new year.