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      Old nylon factory converted into “cathedral-like” office space

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      HofmanDujardin and Schipper Bosch have inserted a steel frame into the expansive production hall of an old nylon factory in Arnhem to create the KB Building offices. The office is housed within one of several 1940s factories on a 90-hectare chemical-industry plant in the Netherlands, which local developer Schipper Bosch is transforming into a campus
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      Rattan yoga pods create “space of captivating calmness” for studio in Bangkok

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      Thai architecture studio Enter Projects Asia has used rattan to enclose a series of studios for yoga brand Vikasa at its headquarters in Bangkok.Enter Projects Asia used rattan – a type of climbing plant with a flexible woody stem – as the main material to break up a 450-square-metre space in a triangular-shaped block in downtown Bangkok into a series of yoga studios.
      The studio is shortlisted for leisure and wellness interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020.

      Rattan was used to enclose private yoga studios
      Supported on a frame of Thai timber, the material was used to partition two public yoga studios and fully enclose two smaller, private studios.

      The architecture studio wrapped the spaces in the natural material to create “an urban oasis in the chaos of Bangkok – a retreat from the grind”.

      Rattan was chosen as it can be found on the island of Koh Samui of the east coast of the country, where yoga brand Vikasa had a retreat.
      “All elements of the project were made from natural, local materials to be a hub or a portal for their existing location, which is based on a hillside in Koh Samui: Thai hardwood, local black slate, bamboo and most notably, rattan,” said Enter Projects Asia design director Patrick Keane.
      “The result is a space of captivating calmness, cloaked in quiet contentment – an oasis of tranquillity amongst the chaos of Bangkok,” he told Dezeen.

      The studio’s reception has a rattan desk and light feature
      Along with the pods, rattan was used to create light fittings in the studios and a large, sinuous desk that dominates the reception area.
      The desk becomes a bench for those waiting for classes and turns into a light feature that winds its way above the reception area,  ending in a woven lampshade above the main staircase.

      The rattan light feature hangs above the stairs
      The three-dimensional rattan forms were created in collaboration with specialist furniture designer Project Rattan by combining traditional weaving techniques with digital design.

      CO-LAB Design Office creates bamboo yoga pavilion in Tulum

      “We facilitated the fusion of 3D technologies with local Thai craftsmanship to bring nature to an urban context,” explained Keane.
      “We worked using 3D software, special effects modelling namely Maya and Rhino. Frames and templates were all printed on giant templates for the craftspeople to use as guides for their weaving techniques.”

      The rattan desk turns into a bench
      Overall, Enter Projects Asia hopes that it has created a space that communicates a sense of spirituality
      “It embraces all five senses, with soft geometry to counter hard urban edges, tactile materials that are touchable and natural, the smell of nature, and the technical acoustics – as good as a radio station – and the food and beverage Vikasa provides,” said Keane.

      Rattan forms are visible from outside the building
      The studios occupy the first floor of Vikasa’s headquarters, which has a cafe area on the ground floor, with the rattan forms designed to be visible through large glass windows from the street.
      Previous yoga studios on Dezeen include a bamboo pavilion nestled in the jungle in Tulum designed by CO-Lab Design Office and a muted studio with a textured sisal ceiling in Melbourne.
      Photography by Edmund Sumner.
      Project credits:
      Interiors architecture and design: Enter Projects AsiaDesign director: Patrick KeaneDesign team: Tomas Guevara, Azul Paklaian, Archana Ramesh, Sergio LissoneLocal craftsmanship: Project RattanBuilders: Enter Projects, Ian SykesEngineer: Lincoln ScottConsultants: Ian Sykes BuilderCollaborators: Project Rattan

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      Edinburgh College of Art's interior design students imagine cultural centres for their city

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      In this school show, Edinburgh College of Art students are presenting 10 interiors projects for public and community spaces, from an archive chronicling Scotland’s black diaspora to a hybrid day and nightclub.Created by a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students, the concepts adapt existing and historical buildings in Edinburgh for new uses, in a bid to create interiors that are sensitive to their context.
      University: Edinburgh College of Art, University of EdinburghCourses: BA and MA Interior DesignTutors: Ed Hollis, Rachel Simmonds, Gillian Treacy and Andy Siddall
      School statement:
      “The interior design programmes at ECA use real buildings and spaces as testbeds for the adaption and evolution of interior, architectural and spatial design ideas. Under the Interior Lab initiative, staff and students share research knowledge to develop their own individual response to the discipline, benefitting from the international cohort’s varied experiences and approaches.
      “Further work of the students can be found at ECA’s digital exhibition Summer 2020.
      “Through self-generated briefs for their projects, our 10 graduates have proposed designs including an Astronomy Centre within a light-polluted city centre and a Black Cultural Archive and Legacy Centre for Scotland.”

      The Island of Knowledge by Alkistis Brountzou, MA

      “The Island of Knowledge is an open, public space inside the Freemasons Hall for sharing knowledge and learning, which explores the spatial intersections of the physical and the digital world.
      “Inside the main hall, or ‘nest’, new hybrid experiences are generated by utilising new technologies such as augmented reality inside of an expanded cinema, various multilayered exhibitions and lecture halls.
      “The intervention’s form emphatically symbolises the contradiction between the diachronic character of the space formations and the extremely changeable digital content, suggesting that the physical and digital, materiality and immateriality are interwoven by their contradictions.”
      Email: brountzoualk@gmail.com

      Freemasons Hall by Gillian Kavanagh, MA

      “My master’s thesis focuses on the intersection between interior architecture and conservation. The design briefs I devised for the Freemasons Hall in Edinburgh challenge the idea of a historic institution in the modern world and question how interiors can be ‘re-programmed’ to revitalise the institution’s appeal.
      “To represent these ideas, I explored experimental mixed media drawing methods including collage, watercolour sketching and video studies. Adaptive conservation aids the longevity of buildings, which is the principal ambition of my work. The layering of materials, decoration and human narratives significantly influences my approach to the conservation of interior architecture.”
      Email: gilliankavanagh54@gmail.comInstagram: @gk_trinsic

      Viaticus by Mari Nasif, MA
      “Inspired by the idea of Masonic degrees, the brief re-imagines the Freemasons’ journey towards knowledge and translates this into spatial settings based on the learning domains proposed by Benjamin Bloom.
      “The proposal, broadly defined as a philosophy library, occupies the voids inside of an existing staircase volume. Its verticality mirrors Bloom’s hierarchical learning model where higher levels house more complex learning. Each degree is uniquely designed to activate the senses and help individuals resolve the cognitive challenges along the journey to mastery.”
      Email: mari_nasif@outlook.comWebsite: marinasif.com

      Pixelbox by Sher Ming Foo, MA
      “Pixelbox is a site-specific, transitional intervention designed as part of the museum in the Freemason Hall, Edinburgh. The lattice layout is an extrapolation of the building’s existing design, with the addition of modern elements to create a new design language.
      “The white, stainless steel structure seamlessly integrates furniture design and interior architecture, reducing the boundaries between the insertion and the existing building. Its location allows for the existing use of the Grand Hall to continue while welcoming visitors to the building.”
      Email: sherming97@gmail.comWebsite: linkedin.com/in/shermingfoo

      The Ar/ba/Son Market by Sinead Russell, MA
      “Personality is a big driving force in my work. I believe in curating and invoking a unique soul within the core of every project. I draw a lot of inspiration from researching and conceptualising how these projects may look and feel if they were people. I focus on creating a story and with every detail hope to add to that narration.
      “Recently, my work has begun to focus its attention on artisans and craft, and specifically on the promotion of local makers. This project explores how their work can be incorporated within my designs to inspire a new appreciation for craft makers at a larger scale.”
      Email: sinrussdesign@gmail.comWebsite: sinruss.co.uk

      The Third Place by Hollie Middleton, BA
      “Like many UK cities, Edinburgh has seen soaring rents, an influx of Airbnbs and the perennial construction of student accommodation in the past decade. A little-known casualty of these private developments is Edinburgh’s post-war architecture, which is overlooked in favour of maintaining the city’s Georgian heritage.
      “The Third Place is a Scottish architecture archive dedicated to preserving the history of undervalued post-war buildings and supporting local communities in challenging the homogenisation of Edinburgh’s urban landscape. Black steel frames demarcate contemporary insertions while complimenting the existing lines of the 1960s building. Sculptural concrete forms echo iconic Scottish post-war structures.”
      Email: holliemiddletondesign@gmail.comInstagram: @byholliemiddleton

      Black Cultural Archive and Legacy Centre of Scotland by Aaliyah Oshodi, BA
      “This project establishes a Black Cultural Archive and Legacy Centre of Scotland. Archives are necessary to preserve the work of marginalised people but they are often overly clinical. That’s why I wanted to create a space which is colourful and warm and where the lives and stories of the Black diaspora across Scotland can be collected and preserved.
      “I created a series of interior spaces that facilitate oral storytelling. Inspired by the Adinkra stamped cloths of Ghana and the kanga garments of Kenya, I was able to design textiles and wallcoverings that can act as catalysts for conversation.”
      Email: hello@aaliodesigns.co.ukWebsite: aaliodesigns.co.uk

      Scottish Literature Centre by Jiawen Zhang, BA
      “This project aims to create a new literature centre for the city of Edinburgh. It hopes to connect and provide a central hub for all of the existing architectural spaces on the literary trail in Edinburgh Old Town.
      “This interior proposal for the Tron Kirk church provides a central, easily accessible location for promoting local literature by providing spaces for interaction between local writers and literary tourists.”
      Email: jiawenz@umich.eduWebsite: 924370879.wixsite.com/website

      Wax Lyrical by Bethany Harle, BA
      “I am interested in how interior spaces can shape our wellbeing and behaviour. Alongside the alarming rate at which UK nightclubs are closing, this guided my graduate project. Called Wax Lyrical, this day and nightclub consists of five venues that focus on different aspects of nightlife culture: drinking, drugs, sex, dance and music.
      “The design concept aims to reduce the risks to the physical and mental health of visitors, which are usually heightened within these environments. Informed by the experimental interiors of 1970s disco clubs, the spaces hope to create a healthy escape.”
      Email: bethany.harle@hotmail.comWebsite: bethharle.com

      The Astronomy Culture Centre by Echo Zhu, BA
      “The Astronomy Culture Centre is designed as an interior ‘station’, where the public can engage with sky events and explore the world above with interactive galleries and simulation technology, despite the light-polluted skies of Edinburgh. It helps visitors to investigate and understand our role in the universe and ultimately care about the future of humanity.
      “The design strategy revolves around gravity, the dominant force in the universe, which is closely related to the birth of life on earth. This theoretical underpinning is integrated into the design in the form of flow routes to encourage experiencing and pursuing activities within the designed interior environment.”
      Email: echoecho0716@gmail.comPortfolio: linkedin.com/in/echo-zhu-67091a184

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      Ortraum Architects builds timber music studio beside house in Helsinki

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      Ortraum Architects has built an asymmetric studio called 12 in the garden of a house in Helsinki, Finland, to provide its owners with space to compose music and make ceramics.The structure was commissioned by a couple who wanted an external space to work from home, beside their existing 1960s home in the Jollas neighbourhood.
      It features two contrasting storeys that Ortraum Architects has set askew, giving rise to a sculptural form and two individual workspaces inside for the couple.

      Ortraum Architects’ 12 studio has two storeys set askew
      The 12 studio, which has been shortlisted in the Dezeen Awards in the small workspace interior category, measures 72-square-metres and is complete with a kitchen and bathroom.

      While providing individual studio space for the couple, it is designed to be easily adapted into a guest house or even become a home for the client’s children in the future.

      The studio is in the garden of a house in Helsinki
      “The client couple needed two main spaces, a ceramics workshop and a music-composing studio,” said the studio. “The massing is visually divided into two levels, reflecting the two different building functions,” it continued.
      “The plan also needed to be flexible enough to function additionally as a guest house and future home for one of the two children in the family, so bathroom and kitchen spaces were included.”

      A ceramic studio is on the ground floor
      The material palette of 12 is deliberately pared-back, with its cross-laminated-timber (CLT) structure left exposed internally and externally. On the exterior, this will turn grey with time to help the structure blend in with its surroundings.
      Its entrance is marked by large glass doors that face the existing home, sheltered by a small cantilevered corner of the second floor.

      A hidden black staircase has storage in its treads
      This entrance opens into the ceramics studio on the ground floor, which is complete with a small bathroom.
      A black wooden staircase that leads to the first floor is concealed behind a wall and features treads that double as storage units.

      The building contains a music studio upstairs
      Above, the first floor contains the music studio. Its angular form was developed to help enhance the acoustics of the space and make it suitable for recording music.
      This space is complete with two large windows that open towards a neighbouring forest, alongside a small balcony and gallery level for use as an extra lounge area.

      The music studio has an angular form to enhance its acoustics
      Ortraum Studio’s goal for 12 was for it to “be a best practice example for environmentally friendly construction and infill projects in a suburban context”.

      Saez Pedraja adds small studio to a fashion designer’s Santa Monica residence

      For this reason, its size was dictated by an existing concrete foundation from an old garage, avoiding the need for new and obtrusive groundwork, while its structure was prefabricated using CLT to avoid waste and speed up construction time.
      It has also been developed to facilitate natural ventilation and is powered by solar panels and heated using a ground source heat pump of the main home.

      A small balcony looks out to the neighbouring houses
      As part of the project, Ortraum Architects also built a small playhouse for the client’s children, which is also made of CLT and is tied to a pine tree in the garden.
      Named the Birdhouse, it features heart-shaped windows and is modelled on pictures that the children drew of their “dream house”.

      A playhouse sits next to the studio
      Ortraum architects is a small Finnish design studio headed up by architect Martin Lukasczyk. In 2017, it completed a family home in Finland that has a number of child-friendly features including a trapeze, a climbing wall and a hammock.
      Photography is by Marc Goodwin.

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      Architect John Wardle renovates his own house in Australia

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      The founder of John Wardle Architects has remodelled Kew Residence, his Melbourne home of 25 years, using Victorian ash and handmade glazed tiles from Japan.John Wardle and his wife Susan have owned the two-storey house, which has been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 house interior of the year, for a quarter of a decade and renovated it multiple times.

      Wardle has owned Kew Residence for 25 years
      “My first year of practice coincided with my first year of homeownership,” he told Dezeen.

      “I undertook the pre-purchase inspection of the house and completely missed the tell-tale sign of termite infestation throughout which required a more substantial re-build than first anticipated!” he added.
      “Three children wore out the last iteration.”

      Victorian ash lines the walls, floors and ceilings
      With the couple’s adult children now grown up and moved out, the kitchen and the first-floor study became the focal point of the house.  For this version of Kew Residence, the architect focused on creating spaces to display his art collection.
      “Of particular interest to me is the study especially during this time in lockdown, as I spend just about all my daylight hours solely in this space,” said Wardle.
      Here, built-in shelves form an informal display for the couple’s collection of ceramic art and sculpture.

      Built-in bookshelves line the study
      Victorian ash clads the floors and ceiling to create the sensation of a “cocoon” with views of the leafy garden beyond.
      “The corner window arrangement is a direct reference to a composition of the window seat in the living room of the Fisher House in Pennsylvania by Louis Kahn,” explained the architect.
      “My arrangement of five windowpanes, ventilation panel and a window seat is abstracted from the original as I’ve arranged them around my view out across Melbourne.”

      The architect collects Japanese sculptures
      The wood also forms plinths for displaying certain sculptures and acts as a neutral backdrop for the art displayed on shelves.
      “For many years I’ve had a fascination for ceramics both as objects and the process of their making and have collected many objects from many places over time,” said the architect.
      “My travels to Japan have resulted in many of my favourite pieces.”

      The staircase is also made from Victorian ash
      Concealed sliding panels, discrete hand pulls and hidden cupboards conceal storage throughout Kew Residence.
      Wardle designed the joinery, including the built-in bookcases and main staircase, himself and had it built by expert craftspeople.

      Wood and ceramic tiles in the kitchen
      His choice of timber, Victorian ash, is the main material used throughout the house.
      “I’ve always had an affinity for this beautiful primary indigenous species,” said Wardle.
      “Vast forests of this majestic tree were decimated in bushfires here in Australia earlier this year, unfortunately. It’s not something I would feel confident in specifying again until substantial regrowth occurs.”

      Grooved tiles form a tall splashback in the kitchen
      The timber features in the kitchen too, alongside dark and striking ceramic tiles made by INAX in Japan. These narrow, concave tiles have been arranged vertically to create an interestingly textured splashback that reaches to the wood-lined ceiling.
      INAX tiles also line the master bathroom, which was built in an earlier extension to Kew Residence.

      INAX tiles from Japan feature in the bathroom
      Wardle has visited Tokoname, where the makers live, and Kew Residence features five different styles of the ceramic tiles.

      Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal winner John Wardle names 12 key projects from his career

      “Our practice has a long association with INAX, the Japanese tile manufacturer, having used their tiles in the suspended gallery in our Phoenix project, as well as 60,000 plus individual tiles embedded into the concrete facade panels of our Melbourne Conservatorium project,” said Wardle.
      “The ancestors of INAX produced the tiles so loved by Frank Lloyd Wright and his partners and used to great effect on the Imperial Hotel.”

      Five different kinds of tiles decorate the house
      Phoenix Central Park, an arts venue designed jointly by John Wardle Architects and Durbach Block Jaggers, has also been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020.
      Earlier this year Wardle was awarded the Gold Medal from the Australian Institute of Architects.
      Photography is by Trevor Mein and Sharyn Cairns.
      Project credits:
      Architect: John Wardle ArchitectsProject director: John WardleModel maker and designer: Andrew WongPA: Luca VezzosiInterior Designer: Jeff Arnold, Elisabetta ZanellaConstruction: Overend ConstructionStructural Engineer: 4 Site EngineersBuilding Services Engineer: JWABuilding Surveyor: Sampson Wong

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      Dreamscapes & Artificial Architecture book editor selects five favourite 3D artists

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      Berlin-based publisher Gestalten has released a book that showcases whimsical architectural and interiors renderings. The book’s editor, Elli Stuhler, highlights five artists that feature inside.Comprising just over 200 pages, Dreamscapes & Artificial Architecture shows off the fanciful landscapes, structures and interiors imagined by 3D artists “working at the intersection of architecture, interior design, and technology”.
      Gestalten says the hardback book comes at a time when spatial modelling software “has the potential to be immensely liberating”.
      “We have never before had such capacity to render the world as we would like it to be,” explained the publishers.
      “Modeling software is not industry-specific; you don’t have to be an architect to design a building, or an interior designer to render a space,” it continued.
      “In recent years it has become increasingly popular among artists, who take the visual language of traditional CGI and apply it in new and interesting ways. In this book, this is exemplified by renders of impossible spaces that cannot – and will not – be built.”
      A total of 44 3D artists are featured in the title, whose work depicts everything from pastel-pink seaside homes to desolate, post-apocalyptic wastelands.
      Gestalten editor Elli Stuhler talks through five of her favourite artists – see below for the full selection.

      Paul Milinski

      “Australian artist Paul Milinski is featured right at the outset of the book because his work does a really good job of encapsulating the book’s overall mood.
      “His work combines several disciplines: 3D, of course, but he also weaves in architecture, interiors, still-life and landscaping. These spaces don’t always need to make sense – escalators leading down to the edge of a glassy pond, for instance – and that’s what I personally like most about them.”

      Filip Hodas
      “Filip Hodas is a Czech 3D artist with a huge online following, no small part of which will have been garnered by his Pop Culture Dystopia series.
      “Mickey Mouse heads and Poke Balls lie forgotten, overgrown as if they’re remnants of some bygone world. My favourite of his works in the book show hulking brutalist concrete structures surrounded by water, as though emerging from the depths.”

      Hayden Clay
      “Hayden Clay is an American photographer and 3D artist. We’ve included works that look a lot like a flooded version of the New York subway.
      “He contrasts the foreboding subject matter with beautiful, warm lighting, like the next morning after a storm.”

      Notoo Studio
      “Referring to many of the works in this book as ‘surreal’ is a very apt parallel to draw, but I like how this studio takes it a step further and has created a series of vignettes that are contemporary reinterpretations of artists René Magritte, Giorgio de Chirico or Maurits Cornelis Escher.
      “This series expands the 2D world of these artists and fills it with contemporary furniture.”

      Andres Reisinger
      “I love the pastel colour palette of Andres Reisinger’s work. One of the works we show in the book is a pool with a deck made entirely from what appears to be white pink ostrich feathers.
      “In real life, what could possibly be less practical? After a single swim, the feathers would be damp and matted – completely miserable. But that’s what I think makes this so appealing, it doesn’t need to be practical. Nothing about these spaces are in any way tied to reality. That’s the joy of it.”
      All images courtesy of Gestalten.

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      Arched precast concrete panels form North Perth House by Nic Brunsdon

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      Precast concrete panels punctuated with swooping arches make up this family home in Perth, Australia, designed by architect Nic Brunsdon.Nic Brunsdon squeezed the two-storey house onto a tight plot of land for a family keen to live closer to the city of Perth and all its amenities – even though it meant downsizing from their former property.

      Working with a restricted budget, the architect and his eponymous studio decided to use precast concrete panels as the main building material.

      “By using this commercial construction system as the main conceptual organising principle, the project was able to gain significant budget and time savings, while maintaining legible design integrity and innovation in housing type,” the studio said.

      North Perth House comprises eight precast concrete panels that are arranged in a grid-like formation. The ground floor has a sequence of four panels that run horizontally from east to west.
      “On the ground floor these panels demarcate layers of privacy from the street front back towards the rear of the property, each signifying a threshold leading deeper into the private life of the house,” explained the studio.

      On the first floor are another four panels that have been turned 90 degrees to run perpendicularly from north to south.
      These arches slot neatly into notches that have been made in the concrete panels on the ground floor.

      The concrete panels are punctuated with arches – a shape that one of the clients was particularly fond of as it brought back childhood memories of the arched doorways that appeared in their grandmother’s home.
      Narrow arching doorways connect different living spaces throughout North Perth House. On the ground floor, these arches have been made to sit in line with each other so that there are clear sightlines from the front to the rear of the home.

      The larger arches form windows or striking decor features. For example, one has been filled with bookshelves, while another has been inlaid with warm-hued timber to create a dramatic headboard in the master bedroom.
      Timber is one of the three materials that Nic Brunsdon opted to apply throughout the interior – it has also been used for the cabinetry in the kitchen, staircase balustrades and sideboards.

      Concrete has then been left exposed across the walls and floor, while insulated polycarbonate sheeting has been fitted in some of the windows to diffuse the harsh sunlight.

      Arches puncture floors and walls of Glebe House by Chenchow Little Architects

      Pops of colour in North Perth House are provided by a selection of contemporary artworks.
      “The simplicity of the design belies the complexity of the resulting spaces that are created; spaces that are compressed and dark, high and washed, raw and unfinished, and rich and intimate,” added the studio.

      Nic Brunsdon is based in Perth’s South Freemantle suburb. The architect is longlisted in the hospitality building category of this year’s Dezeen Awards for his project The Tiing – a boutique hotel in Bali that features rugged concrete walls that were cast against bamboo.
      Its 14 guest rooms are each shaped like funnels, directing views towards the jungle on one side and the ocean on the other.
      Photography is by Ben Hosking.

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      Thomas Heatherwick and Ab Rogers to speak at virtual Workplace Wellbeing by Design conference

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      Dezeen promotion: Workplace Wellbeing by Design is a week-long online event taking place during this year’s London Design Festival, which explores the complex relationship between design and wellbeing in the workplace.The event, which will take place from 14 to 18 September 2020, includes talks by leaders in the architecture and design industry, including Thomas Heatherwick, Ab Rogers and HOK senior director of WorkPlace, Kay Sargent.

      Thomas Heatherwick will be speaking at the Workplace Wellbeing by Design event
      These creatives will be joined by more corporate figures such as Bruce Daisley, who developed Twitter for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Cees van der Spek – communications director for EDGE – and workplace theorist Jeremy Myerson.

      Other speakers include biometrician Nikita Mikhailov, who will discuss new data-driven biometric techniques for employers and employees, as well as Maaind founder Martin Dinov, who will outline how AI can be harnessed for workplace wellbeing.

      Ab Rogers will be speaking at the event about his Maggie’s Centre design
      Over the course of five days, five 75-minute sessions will explore the issues of workplace design from a range of viewpoints including technology and diversity, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
      Each session will be hosted by author and design commentator Aidan Walker and will be split into three sections: a keynote, a practical case study and a Q&A session.

      Maggie’s chief executive Laura Lee will explain the organisation’s architectural philosophy
      Day one – the Well Workplace – will begin with a talk between Rogers and Heatherwick about their work for Maggie’s Centres.
      While the two architects discuss how they have tried to use the built environment to influence the psychology of its inhabitants, Maggie’s chief executive Laura Lee will explain the organisation’s architectural philosophy.

      Bruce Daisley will also be speaking at the event
      Day two, led by Dinov, will focus on the smart workplace and the impact of technologies like AI on wellbeing. EDGE’s van der Spek will also uncover the ideas behind the brief for the firm’s existing project in Amsterdam and its new one at London Bridge.

      Heatherwick Studio designs plant-filled Maggie’s Centre in Leeds

      “People have been talking about – and designing for – psychological diversity, as well as the individual’s control over their physical environment for a generation now,” said Walker.
      “Sensor technology has given a whole new meaning to the smart building and the impact of artificial intelligence is just around the corner,” he continued. “It’s time to take stock and Covid-19 has added currency and urgency to the discussion.”

      Speakers will also discuss the impact of office design on mental and physical health
      Day three – the Human/Humane Workplace – will be led by Swann, whose book The Human Workplace explores interior and behavioural design.
      Swann will be joined by architect Giuseppe Boscherini, Mikhailov and director of Chapmanbdsp design consultancy Ian Duncombe to discuss “psychosocially supportive design”.
      Day four, led by HOK’s Sargent, will concentrate on creativity, productivity and diversity in discussions with Ricoh’s workplace services director Simone Fenton-Jarvis and MoreySmith principal Linda Morey Burrows.
      Real estate company CBRE’s Kate Davies and Art Acumen CEO Catherine Thomas will also join the talk.

      Workplace theorist Jeremy Myerson will be part of a discussion about the future of work
      Day five considers the future of work, led with a keynote by Myerson from the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art and the Worktech Academy.
      This will be followed by a discussion with Mike O’Neill, former director of global research at Haworth, Guy Smith, founder of COSU and former design director of WeWork, and Frances Gain, associate of strategy at M. Moser Associates.
      The conference has been organised by the creators of the MAD World Summit with Dezeen as the media partner.
      Registration is £25 for all five sessions, with profits donated to cancer support charity Maggie’s.
      For the full agenda, visit the event’s website.

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