Smart Workplace Design Summit Spring Edition στο Βερολίνο

Day 0

We were the first to visit Zalando’s new headquarters in Berlin, an inspiring workplace environment organized around a living atrium which is the heart of the building. Impecable human-centered design, with great attention for details and use of natural materials. Henn and Kinzo created a unique workplace. There is even childcare provision with kindergarden on site and facilities for working parents.

Day 1

Starting with Lars Sorensen and his social experiments, enjoying with Mike Walley and his running a hotel and tech company theory. Going on with Ahrend’s call for silence and the silence box which seems the only possible way to detouch from smart devices, prof. Veronica Kotradyova and her deep research on applying human centered design at workplace, Luctra presentation on how lighting impacts our health and well-being, Zaha Hadid Architects amazing use of decoding data analytics to get the best out of people in the workplace, Linkedin and their experimenting workplace innovation in an actual workplace hub, Unicredit and a practical approach on how to manage optimization in huge corporate portfolio, Ecophon and its always convincing by experience need for healthy acoustic environments that help people thrive, Jan Revaj and his empathy, emotion, evolution approach that leads to breathtaking architectural results, and finally Killan Keller and his focus on the authentic feelings that facilitate decision making, which we practiced on stage using our bodies. The end of the presentation could not be better, but that we cannot describe, it was a unique experience that only those who lived it can understand.

Day 2

Zalando team presented their new headquarters challenges and the way they use digital tools to facilitate work and employees everyday life. A panel discussion followed about agile workplace and agility, where everybody agreed that agility as a word is trendy to use and actually it can reperesent different meanings and working parameters. Lieven Bartier made it obvious that we can be more effective with shorter and dedicated meetings of 17 minutes. Stephanie Hugues was as always inspiring presenting her architecting interactions strategy of creating spaces deriving from the intelligence of users. Mikomax and Vecos presented playfully how their furniture and storage products respond to contemporary workplace needs. Chris Middleton from Kinzo architects presented some key projects of their user-centered design approach with again inspiring workplaces for all. Workshops and the closing campfire session on how a good crisis can turn to transformation opportunity with Hansel Holger from European Central Bank lead to the end of the conference.

We are already excited for next Smart Workspace Design Summit event and we are overwhelmed of the people we met and the power of exchanging ideas and experiences.