The Architect@Work talks programme has returned for 2021 as a digital summit. Over the past decade, this European trade show and exhibition has developed a reputation for tackling issues facing the profession, touching upon different materials and the environment that surrounds us.
This year the organisers have dispensed with a specific theme but many of the panel discussions will be centred around our physical and mental wellbeing in a post-pandemic society. Without drawing specifically on design resolutions to a situation we don’t yet fully understand, the talks at A@W2021 will address a future vision on the places where we will live, work and socialise. They will explore how we care for the most vulnerable and the fact that good design and the environment do not have to be sacrificed in the process.
It is important to gain a full picture of the built environment and so all the panels will feature speakers from a design background, as well as a client perspective – including commercial clients and local authorities. Some highlights include:
• Healthy office environments as highlighted by the wellbeing expert Ben Channon and the
head of design at The Office Group, Nasim Koerting;
• Creating better homes for the elderly according to renowned architect Sarah Wigglesworth
and Guy Flintoff from Retirement Villages;
• Ways that we can make housing more equitable, featuring Sue Morgan – head of the Design
Council – and rising star Yẹmí Aládérun from Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association;
• The changes we will see to design outside that includes Transit Studio who organised the
successful pedestrianisation project in Soho;
• Considering the changing role of the suburbs with Peter Murray of the NLA and Georgie Day
from Enfield Council;
• And hear from two designers of the most recent Maggie’s Centres – Ab Rogers and Alex de
Rijke – alongside the woman that commissioned them, Dame Laura Lee.
The six panels will take place on 27th and 28th January and anyone can register for free at
www.architect-at-work.co.uk
Pictured Top: Alex de Rijke of dRMM will discuss his Maggie’s Centre in Oldham with Ab Rogers and Dame Laura Lee