Talk archive

We regularly speak at a range of seminars and conferences.

Online videos of talks

Kerstin has been recorded at a series of events. You can watch the videos on Youtube following the links below.

2020, Eurest: Future of food and work series The future of work – Reflections on the office post Covid-19
2018, Conscious Cities Festival From Collective Patterns to Preferences and Perceptions
2018, Architecture Today Interview with Dr Kerstin Sailer on affordances of open-plan
2014, Worktech Data Driven Design
2014, Space Syntax Ltd Five Things You Might Not Know About Offices
2012, TEDxUCL Designing Buildings for People

Talks archive

Below is a listing of our participation in past events.

2020

Transdisciplinary Workplace Research Conference

16-19 September 2020, Frankfurt / online
Matt and Kerstin presented a paper entitled “From Saint Jerome’s study to workplace seismographs: The role of spatial layouts in decision-making speed across different industries”.
Workplace Trends Research Spring Summit

9:00am-17:00pm
10th September online
Rositsa discussed a new way to measure workplace effectiveness in hospital wards & co-working spaces. You can watch a video recording here.
Culture Collective London Chapter

5-6pm
9th September online
Kerstin spoke about the impact of intentional design of an office on culture and how this would change with our new reality.
Eurest Future of Food & Work series – Sustainability & Purpose

12:30pm-13:30pm
17th June 2020, online
Kerstin took part in the Eurest Future of Food & Work series together with a panel of experts to focus on Sustainability & Purpose and investigate what the future might look like, as we enter a new era for food and beverage in the workplace. You can watch a video recording here.
‘The return to the office’

5:00 pm BST / 12:00 pm EST
4th June 2020, London
Kerstin took part in a webinar to discuss how to plan the return to the office and the impacts of 2020 on the future of work. You can watch a video recording of the discussion here.
What will be the ‘new normal’ for the workplace in 2021?

Workplace Trends Webinar

3:00-4:00pm, 14 May 2020
Alongside two other experts in the field of workplace, Kerstin was invited to to take part in a webinar to share her thoughts and predictions for the workplace post COVID-19. You can read Ros Pomeroy’s write up of the webinar here or watch a video recording of the discussion.

2019

Workplace Week Fringe Event: Workplace Settings and the Experience of Visibility 

Herman Miller showroom, London, UK

8:15-9:30am, 12 November 2019

Ros and Kerstin ran a free taster session as part of Workplace Week, hosted by Herman Miller. Talking about workplace settings, preferences and visibility patterns, participants were taken on a journey to discover the variety of factors that come into play when we make choices at work.
Arts Council England Away Day 

Coventry, UK

3 October 2019

Kerstin was invited to speak at a panel on the topic of ‘Working smart or smartly working’ at the away day of the Arts Council England bringing together their nine regional offices and an expected audience of 550 staff. The panel covered the future of the workplace, new ways of working and experiences in different office settings.
Design Junction: Wellbeing and the workplace 

 

The Everyman Cinema, King’s Cross, London, UK

10am, 19 September 2019

Ros was a panellist at this event speaking about the workplace and its impact on how people feel and behave.
The 12th International Space Syntax Symposium 

 

Beijing Jiaotong University, China
8-13 July 2019

Kerstin gave a presentation at this bi-annual event which brings together academics, practitioners and students of space syntax, which is both a theory and model used to analyse the relationship between behaviour data and spatial morphology. Kerstin’s paper co-authored with Matt Thomas from Lancaster Business School on analysing offices and their propensity to innovate as a result of seating plans and organisational affiliation can be downloaded from here.
CoreNet Global: Human Performance at Work and in the Workplace 

 

CBRE, Henrietta House, London

26 June 2019

Ros was a speaker and panellist at this CBRE sponsored event. She spoke about the impact of workplace design on behaviour, specifically collaboration.
Designing for Generations: Fact or Fiction? 

Herman Miller Ltd, National Design Centre, London

19 June 2019

Kerstin was a panellist at this event organised by Herman Miller Insight Group and Nespresso Professional
Work in 2030: It may not be what you think 

The Shard, London
28 March 2019

Kerstin participated in the Spring 2019 workshop of KIN, the Innovation Network at Warwick Business School with a talk on the physical workspace in 2030.

2018

Architecture Today: Workplace Conference 

 

Institute of Structural Engineers, London
09 October 2018

Kerstin spoke at the Workplace Conference of Architecture Today on the experience of working in open plan offices. A summary of the conference is written up in the article ‘Getting Down to Business’ in Architecture Today including an interview with Kerstin on how to make sense of open-plan working
Worktech Academy Debate 

 

Milliken Showroom, London
26 September 2018, 6pm

Kerstin contributed to a panel discussion of the Worktech Academy, hosted by Milliken to explore how the growing focus on wellbeing influences the workplace design process. A short report from the event was written up by the Worktech Academy
Report launch, Instant Offices 

 

TOG, White Collar Factory, 1 Old Street Yard, London
21 June 2018

Ros contributed to the panel discussion ‘The Evolution of Flexible Workspace’ hosted by Instant Offices to mark the launch of their latest market report

Wellness 18

5 Broadgate, UBS, London
6 June 2018

Kerstin spoke at the WELLNESS 18 conference about ‘The Visibility Experience – How workplace design impacts people’s perception and emotions’. Kerstin’s presentation is available to download from Unwired.
Panel discussion, Bene Office 

 

Bene Showroom, London
23 May 2018

Kerstin contributed to the panel discussion ‘You’ll never walk alone – Humanising the Workplace’ at the Bene Showroom in London as part of Clerkenwell Design Week.
Work 2.0 Conference 

 

Business Design Centre, London
25th April 2018

Kerstin chaired the ‘Real Estate and Space’ stream on Day 2 of the conference Work 2.0. More information on the conference can be found here.
Urbano Networking breakfast 

 

Wellcome Collection, London
18 April 2018

Kerstin gave a talk at the networking breakfast of Urbano, hosted at the Wellcome Collection. Her talk was entitled ‘Ghostbusters or workplace scientists? Who ya gonna call?’ and addressed the need for data science approaches in the workplace. 
Panel discussion at book launch event 

 

Herman Miller showroom, London, 22 March 2018

Kerstin participated in the panel discussion ‘Workplace – How complicated can it be?’, held in the Herman Miller showroom to launch Neil Usher’s book ‘The Elemental Workplace’.

2nd International RGCS Symposium “Coworkers, Makers & Hackers: True Opportunities to Renew Work Practices and Entrepreneurship?”

Loughborough University, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, 18 January 2018

We presented our research at this second symposium organised by RGCS (Research Group Collaborative Spaces), in pecha kucha format, on the topic: ‘The spatial configuration of co-working: how space brings people together or keeps them apart’ 

 

#RGCS2018

2017

Panel debate: Deus ex machina 

 

Vitra showroom, London Clerkenwell
23 Nov 2017

Kerstin was part of the panel discussing ‘What will the coming era of automation and robotics mean for the workplace?’ 

 

Full details can be found on Workplace Insight.

William Pitt Seminar, Pembroke College Cambridge
13 Oct 2017
Kerstin spoke at this annual event now in its 12th year. The topic of the seminar was “The Productivity Paradox: are we all too busy to get anything done?”. Kerstin’s talk was entitled: “Headphones, Hide-Outs, Ostrich Pillows – Getting things done in the workplace”. More details can be found here.
EUSN17, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
26-29 Sep 2017
Ros and Kerstin presented recent findings from their research into collaboration, social networks and space. Their talk discussed “The Effect of Small Distances – Investigating Interaction Networks in a Workplace”. A summary of findings is presented in the blog post ‘Seeing and being seen‘.
The Future of Work: Flexibility in the Workspace‘, James Tobias showroom, Clerkenwell
21 Sep 2017, 5pm
Kerstin was featured speaker at this event in the Clerkenwell showroom of office furniture manufacturer James Tobias. She talked about flexibility in the workspace and how spatial elements can be placed in the office to create differing spatial layouts to suit organisational cultures and people’s behaviours.
‘Following the life of the Francis Crick Institute’, The Crick Institute, London
4 Sep 2017
Ros and Kerstin spoke about the spatial layout of the Francis Crick Institute and how it creates affordances for scientists to collaborate; this is part of their work so far on a Wellcome Trust funded research project.