For decades we designed workplaces around activities. Bertie’s argument is that activity is no longer the right unit of design. As AI reshapes how work gets done, the organisations furthest along are leaning harder on their buildings - for coordination, learning and holding culture together. He introduces the Relational Workplace: a framework for aligning workplace strategy with what HR and business leaders are actually measured on.

Bertie is a workplace experience leader with around 20 years across EMEA, helping organisations design inclusive, high-performance workplaces. A Senior Insight Strategist at MillerKnoll and a regular keynote and TEDx speaker on the future of work, workplace experience and hospitality-inspired design, he specialises in hybrid work and RTO, employee engagement and wellbeing, and turning employee insight and research into workplace strategy that lifts productivity and retention.

Joanna has over 30 years’ experience in marketing, sales, PR and journalism in the office and workplace sector. She is moderator for the Sustainability and Circular Economy Group at Women in Office Design and a Council member at the Furniture Industry Research Association.

Marketing and sustainability consultant, published writer and speaker. Editor of Sustainability Works; co-founder of The Sustainable Design Collective; Non-Executive Director, FIRA; Chair of the FISP Advisory Committee; Court Assistant and Liveryman at The Furniture Makers’ Company and Chair of its Climate Change and Sustainability Committee.

Alexandra joins the sustainability conversation for Ryder Architecture. Full bio to follow.

Jon has worked, researched and taught in the field of sustainable architectural technology since 2005, joining Ryder in 2023. He has led industry-focused applied research projects for the Scottish Energy Centre, authored industry and academic papers, and speaks publicly on sustainability strategies and retrofit techniques. Jon spends his free time writing and publishing science fiction short stories.

Founder of dc Circularity, Adam is a champion of circularity within the interior fit-out industry. dc supports furniture and fixture manufacturers to promote their circular design and reuse offers through first and second life carbon reporting, and works with interior designers, specifiers and occupiers to maximise circularity within interiors and support carbon reduction planning.

Emma is an Associate Interior Designer at Ryder Architecture, a global architecture practice founded in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1953. She works across commercial sectors, specialising in workplace fit-out, and has recently worked with clients including Bupa, British Airways, Home Group and Sage. She is currently leading the delivery of the 463,000 sq ft North East Regional Centre for HMRC at Pilgrim’s Quarter, working with end-user clients and stakeholders from feasibility through to handover with a focus on agile and sustainable workplaces.

Dave is a Sustainability and Physics Director at Buro Happold, a global multi-disciplinary engineering, design and advisory consultancy. Leading sustainability and building physics teams across Manchester, Leeds and the North East, he supports clients in developing practical strategies across the built environment, with a focus on net zero carbon, circular economy principles, resource efficiency and positive social value. Dave helps organisations turn sustainability ambitions into measurable outcomes.

Michelle brings a rare perspective. Nearly nine years shaping investment and place at Newcastle City Council - delivering major regeneration and infrastructure projects including Newcastle Helix, Pilgrim Street and the restoration of the iconic Tyne Bridge - senior private-sector delivery experience before that, and now leading a listed company focused on regeneration, job creation and economic growth across the North East.

Josh and Joe began their careers in sport science and applied research, working in professional sport before bringing that performance lens into the workplace. Since then they have applied the same thinking across elite sport and global organisations, helping leaders understand how environments, ways of working and organisational systems enable or constrain performance.

Drawing on that experience, they explore how space, culture and behaviours influence people’s capacity to think clearly, sustain energy and recover. They introduce the hidden performance tax and a practical performance-backwards lens for identifying what may be holding people back and where to start.