Explore how sensory intelligence blends data, consumer behavior, and emotions to shape immersive environments. Learn how tools like biometric data and ethnographic studies reveal patterns to optimize design for personalized, impactful experiences. Discover how mapping the “ideal experience” enhances spaces like stadiums, retail stores, and cultural venues.
Meena Krenek the Interiors Global Sector Director and a Principal at HKS. As the firm’s Global Sector Director, Interiors, she oversees HKS’ Interior Design and Experiential Branding services. She excels in experiential design that tells a story, provokes a feeling, and encourages the end user to embark on a unique brand experience. Meena’s design leadership fosters innovative thinking and has been recognized in top publications such as the New York Times, Psychology Today and Monocle on Design.
Imagine a workplace that is focused on technology while prioritizing human experience. This talk explores designing visionary office spaces for cutting-edge companies, emphasizing kinship and human-centered design. You’ll be inspired to move beyond outdated futuristic ideas and design workplaces that truly bring people together.
The study of art, theater, and dance in her youth gave Jenna the creative foundation she needed for a successful career in design. Fascinated by the way people move through space, she pursued interior design to create environments that are beautiful, adaptable, and comfortable.
Jenna has collaborated with various clients, ranging from advanced technology to corporate and residential. This experience refined her ability to balance aesthetics and function in her designs. She credits her love of people-watching with giving her insight into the human experience, enabling her to design better workplace environments that enhance the user experience. Jenna earned her bachelor’s degree in interior design from the University of California, Davis, and is certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification.
1:30 PM – 1:50 PM Secure: A Healing, Equitable, Transformative Design Approach
How can design transform lives within the justice system? The Nashville Youth Campus for Empowerment (NYCE) reimagines juvenile justice architecture, prioritizing healing, dignity, and community well-being. Jose Jordan shares how trauma-informed interior design can reshape intimidating environments into spaces that foster resilience, reduce recidivism, and inspire positive change.
Speaker:
José M. Jordan, RID, IIDA, Principal, DLR Group
José Jordan, RID, IIDA, is an Interiors Leader and Principal at DLR Group, bringing nearly two decades of expertise in restorative and trauma-informed justice design. He specializes in creating interior environments for civic courthouses, secure treatment facilities, and transitional spaces, ensuring that design supports human dignity, rehabilitation, and well-being. His work demonstrates how thoughtful spatial planning and material choices can foster healing, equity, and functionality in public spaces. José is passionate about reimagining environments to better serve those who interact with them, from justice-involved individuals to staff and community members. He collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to integrate evidence-based design principles that enhance safety, reduce stress, and promote positive outcomes. As a recognized leader in his field, José continues to advance conversations around the intersection of interior design, social impact, and justice reform, advocating for spaces that reflect empathy, purpose, and progress.
2:00 PM – 2:20 PM The Hospitality Effect: How Hotel-Inspired Design is Transforming Every Space
How can hospitality design principles enhance workplaces, healthcare facilities, and residential developments – spaces that increasingly need to be reimagined? Using actionable insights and real-world examples, this session explores how to rethink traditional spaces by incorporating service-driven, comfort-focused design elements and how flexible workspaces, luxury amenities, and smart technologies create more engaging, community-oriented environments.
Speaker:
Jessica Haley, Principal and Director of Interior Design, RODE Architects
As Principal & the Director of Interior Design, Jessica Haley leads the firm’s interiors team, which works across all sectors including Hospitality, Multi-family, Institutional and Workplace. She also works within leadership on firm operations and strategy. Pioneering RODE’s interiors department in 2013, Jessica has cultivated a rigorous design approach within the firm that is collaborative and integral to the project teams from an early stage of design. This ensures thoughtful, human-centric programming and flow. She describes RODE’s design style as being a mix of the tried and true with originality and innovation. Jessica received a BFA from the New England School of Art & Design and a Master of Interior Architecture from the Boston Architectural College, where she was recently awarded the 2022 Distinguished Alumni in Interior Architecture Award for her exemplary accomplishments, service and commitment to the field of interior design. Prior to joining RODE, Jessica worked on complex Institutional and Higher Ed Interior Design. She has been featured in NBC’s Restaurants Reinvented, Restaurant Development + Design Magazine, Interiors + Sources Magazine and other national publications.
2:30 PM – 2:50 PM Now what?
Instead of doing what’s easy, how can we do what’s right? What can we learn from history that can help us navigate how we build in a meaningful way? What core values are shifting today and how can we take a moment to pause and evaluate the way we are pivoting? What is the future we aspire to build?
Speakers:
Nisha Sewell, NCIDQ, ARIDO, IDC; Sales Executive, The Collective, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nisha is a talented interior designer with a strong business background, which allows her to craft design solutions that align with corporate goals and cultures. After transitioning from practicing interior design, she joined The Collective, a North American furniture dealer, working from its Canadian HQ in Toronto. Nisha’s education from Dalhousie University, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Parson’s New School for Design equips her with a unique blend of creativity and strategic insight. As a Teknion dealer, The Collective offers Nisha the opportunity to leverage top-tier furniture solutions in her design approach.
Jodi Williams, AICP | LEED AP ID+C | Prosci, Principal | Global Solutions Director, Optimized Asset Portfolios, Arcadis Inc.
Jodi Williams AICP, LEED AP ID+C Principal; Global Solutions Director, Future Workplace, Arcadis Washington, D.C. Jodi Williams brings over 20 years of experience in workplace strategy, facility planning and change management. She leads strategic planning efforts for public and private sector clients, and has been a featured speaker at industry events such as CoreNet, IFMA World Workplace, and Greenbuild.
Helia Taheri, Ph.D., EDAC, WELL AP, LEED GA, Global Human-Centric Research
Dr. Helia Taheri is an award-winning researcher with 8+ years of experience in strategizing and conducting mixed-methods human-centric research, cross-pollinating between architecture, human behavior, and sustainability, and is committed to bridging the gap between academia and industry. She has led and conducted internal research initiatives and human-centric research for global client projects across sectors such as workplace, retail, residential, and mixed-use to inform design decisions that positively impact people, the planet, and business. She actively contributes to the design research community by presenting at conferences, publishing papers, mentoring, delivering guest lectures, and advocating for data-driven and impact-oriented design. Dr. Taheri is the co-chair of the Researchers in Professional Practice Knowledge Network and holds a Ph.D. in Human-Centric Research from NC State University, along with an M.S. in Sustainability and a B.Arch. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Tehran.
3:00 PM – 3:20 PM Dilberts to Dynamos – Rebranding Workplace
The physical office was once a status symbol of our professional identity. But in March 2020, that foundation was shaken, and there was a seismic shift in how we work. Next came WFH, hybrid models, and experimentation, along with office vacancies. Five years later, we are still navigating a complex, evolving relationship with our work environments. The big question is: where do we go from here?
Speakers:
Eric Gannon, AIA, Principal, Gensler Chicago
Eric is a Principal and Studio Director in Gensler’s Chicago office. A leader in the firm’s workplace practice, Eric has extensive experience partnering with clients across industries to create purpose-driven office environments unique to the clients that they enable. He works at the leading edge of workplace design, blazing the trail for new processes, acting as a connector of boundary-pushing ideas and solutions, and seeking inspiration from a variety of disciplines and experiences. Eric frequently contributes thought leadership to a variety of publications and audiences and has served on the board of The Wabash Lights and the CoreNet Global Chicago Chapter.
Joey Lawton, Creative Director, Brand, Gensler Chicago
Joey is the Creative Director for Gensler Chicago’s Brand studio and is a key contributor to the firm’s Product Development, Strategy, and Digital Experience Design practice areas. His 18-year professional journey includes founding and leading the acclaimed experiential design studio, Media-Objectives, where he worked on branding, wayfinding, exhibition, and placemaking based projects across a wide range of typologies. Throughout his career, Joey has earned numerous accolades, including the Interior Design Magazine’s HiP award for Brand Leader, five SEGD Global Design Awards, multiple Interior Design Best of Year Awards, and the AIA National Service Award. He’s been recognized by Metropolis Magazine as the “Windy City Wunderkind” and by the New York Times for his role in creating “Wonder Woods.”