UK housing estates and Brutalist tower blocks such as the Barbican and Trellick Tower have long divided opinion among onlookers – what is a modernist masterpiece to one person is an eyesore to another. But of course, for many whose opinions are not so often heard, they are simply a home – a backdrop to daily life. For Shawn Adams and his fellow members of POoR Collective (Power Out of Restriction), some of whom grew up on housing estates, these buildings are a source of inspiration – one the studio has channelled into a joyful new rug for British brand Floor Story.
Realised in two contrasting colourways of New Zealand wool, the flatwoven design, named 'Power', is informed by the rigorous geometry found in the plans and sections of London tower blocks. In the pattern, these vertical and horizontal elements are abstracted, hinting at the outline of a deck-access walkway or a circular column borrowed from the Barbican.
The goal, Adams says, was to translate these spatial, three-dimensional concepts into a two-dimensional medium while maintaining an optimistic aesthetic rather than creating an austere or literal architectural plan.
'It's about finding the beauty in something everyday that might ordinarily be overlooked,' says Adams, who, born and raised in south-west London, runs POoR Collective alongside Matt Harvey-Agyemang, Ben Spry, Akmaral Khassen and Larry Botchway. 'We asked, "If we were to take the stories of an estate and try and make it into a rug, what would that look like?"'
He likens the resulting designs to a palimpsest – a visual translation of the layered lives and histories of residents who live within architecture that is so frequently fetishised or derided, and who are often talked about but rarely listened to.
For POoR, which primarily works on architectural projects focused on community development and platforming young people, designing a rug was a new but natural extension of its spatial design practice. 'It’s kind of the same process in a way,' he says, 'whether it’s 2D or 3D. We sketched out ideas, gathered references and started creating and testing. I think all of us were quite aligned from the start.'
To bring the collection to life, POoR worked with Floor Story's head designer Gill Thorpe. 'I was drawn to POoR Collective's ethos of community, joy, wellbeing and their beautifully coloured graphic language,' says Thorpe. 'Power is a versatile and graphically structured flatweave, the only one in the wider collection that comes in two stock colourways. The pattern has been made with the intention of building onto the shapes instead of just scaling up or down, reflecting the inspiration of London's tower blocks.'
Made in Mirzapur, India, POoR's rugs are being showcased during London Design Festival alongside four other designs by four London-based creative practices: Coco Lom, House of Quinn, artist Lakwena Maciver and Les Keepers. Thorpe deliberately chose to work with local designers who had not designed rugs before. 'Each of the five designers has such different styles and ways of creating,' she told Wallpaper*. 'Paint, textiles, photography and mark-making were all brought into the world of rugs for the first time; it was both exciting and explorative.'
While the designers brought new energy and creativity, Thorpe provided the essential technical insights regarding material depth, weave textures and practical considerations like colour durability for high-traffic areas. The POoR team moved from hand sketches to digital drawings and finally to physical samples to understand how different fibres and colour movements would behave in person. The ability to see and touch the fibres in person, Adams says, was a vital part of the process. 'There are aspects like the movement of the weave that you can’t really capture in the same way in a drawing or on a computer screen – you have to see how it will look in person and in samples, and see how the textures will work.'
The rugs will be displayed next month at Floor Story's Shoreditch showroom, which will be transformed into a series of room sets featuring furniture from Spanish brand Sancal and curated by Trifle* Creative. The display will include all five designs – a fitting celebration of London's design talent.
For POoR Collective, the rug offers another medium through which to continue deeper conversations that have long informed its work. Housing estates are filled with overlooked design stories. Platforming them, POoR argues, is a way to challenge design hierarchies and invite marginalised voices to the table. 'With our work moving forward, we’re really looking at what power means,' says Adams. 'We want to talk about buildings, spaces and aspects of design that people don’t typically discuss. We want to shift the conversation.'
The rugs will be on display during London Design Festival, 15–18 September 2026, 10am–6pm daily; Saturday 19 September, 11am–5pm, at Floor Story, Cairo Studios, 4 Nile Street, London N1 7RF