Skip to main content

Design for Wellbeing Conference

background

 

Building livable lifestyles and shaping a harmonious new ecology of livability 
 

The Design for Wellbeing Conference will explore how to build livable lifestyles and shape a harmonious new ecology of livability in the ever-changing environment. The three-day conference will cover a range of issues. Prestigious experts from the fields of architecture, design, real estate, healthcare, furniture, and materials will gather and discuss how to create a new workplace ecology of harmonizing space and reshaping the relationship between people and the environment through a design lens. Numerous well-known workplace and healthcare brands and service companies will display their latest products and cutting-edge solutions. This conference is free to access for all Design Shanghai ticket holders.

 

Sponsorship Enquiry

Become a Speaker

Design for Wellbeing Conference 2025 Theme

Holistic design thinking creating a harmonious future

As Yuval Noah Harari, author of A Brief History of the Future, said, 'For the world of the future, the biggest constant is change'. In today's fast-changing era, change is not just a challenge. It’s an opportunity for renewal and new chances. Lifestyles and needs are undergoing rapid transformation; the pursuit of a healthy life, a work-life balance, healing and healthy spaces have become basic demands of ordinary people.

In the context of the workplace, the concept of a distributed workforce as a form of “operational agility” has gained significant momentum in recent years. This model enables organizations to leverage talent from diverse cultural backgrounds and time zones, fostering innovation and creativity. Characterized by individuals collaborating remotely from diverse locations, distributed teams offer an outstanding advantage for organizations seeking agility, resilience and efficiency in today's competitive environment, making this one of the preferred models for the future of work.

Application of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) principles to the design concept are also undoubtedly a must for the meaningful future of work. Diversity in the workplace is not just a feel-good buzzword; it's the strategic inclusion of individuals from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and abilities.

Along with the rise of environmental consciousness, there is a growing demand for safety, sustainability, wellness and smart and contactless technologies in the workplace. Protecting against climate change has become a new employee benefit, which means that designers must have a sharper sense of environmentally friendly design. We hope to create a workspace that can adapt to embrace social change while balancing the sustainable development needs of the next generation with the imperatives of nature.

For older people particularly, subjected to the health pressures of urban life, there is more and more concern for the well- being of both body and mind, generating a richness in spirit and life with a sense of well-being. At present, the supply of healthy residential areas and apartments in China cannot meet the needs of elderly people; generation Z and millennials pay more attention to health, sleep, nutrition, fitness and psychological health design and services than the older generation. The continuous release of national policies and the needs of the health care industry have prompted more and more existing properties to be turned into elderly care facilities circuit-a whole new world of unprecedented development opportunities.

The Design for Wellbeing Conference will explore how to build livable lifestyles and shape a harmonious new ecology of livability in the ever-changing environment. The three-day conference will cover a range of issues, from flexible workplace layouts to comfortable experiences that incorporate natural elements; from intelligent workplace equipment to humanized designs that create a sense of well-being; and from healthcare-integrated urban community programmes to recreational and wellness spaces for spiritual healing. Prestigious experts from the fields of architecture, design, real estate, healthcare, furniture and materials will gather and discuss how to create a new workplace ecology of harmonizing space and reshaping the relationship between people and the environment through a design lens. Meanwhile, numbers of well-known workplace and healthcare brands and service companies will display their latest products and cutting- edge solutions.

Join us to explore more possibilities for healthy living and define new ways of harmonizing living!

 

5 Key Sub-Themes Across a 3-Day Conference

Day 1  Morning

Theme 1:The Changing Landscape – Workplace Rebalancing

In today's fast-changing era, where workplace environments are changing all the time, workplace needs to be better adapted to cope with the variability of the future. How to create a desirable ideal workplace in this challenging era? In this session, let's explore the future changes and embrace workplace rebalancing.

Day 1 Afternoon 

Theme 2:Tech-Driven Transformation of the Future

Change is not just a challenge. It’s an opportunity for renewal and new balance. And with the addition of new workplace concepts and advances in technology, we are moving towards a new balance. This session takes technology as the starting point to lead you into a high performance, high-performing, creative and highly vested workplace.

Day 2 Morning

Theme 3:Designing Diverse, Inclusive and Equitable Workplaces

As more and more companies incorporate DEI concepts into their company strategies, DEI design concepts have become an inevitable requirement for future workplace development. This session will focus on DEI's design concepts and inspire designers with real-life examples of balancing company and employee, family and work, workplace and life.

Day 2 Afternoon

Theme 4:Sustainbale Workplace

As the rise of environmentally conscious, there is a growing demand for safety, sustainability, wellness and smart and contactless technologies in the workplace, protecting against climate change has become a new employee benefit, which means that designers need to have a sharper sense of environmentally friendly design. We hope to create a workspace that can adapt to embrace social changes while considering the sustainable development needs of the next generation and the balance of nature, create a new workplace ecosystem with more warmth and vitality through innovative workspace design and reshape the harmonious coexistence between people and the environment.

Day 3 

Theme 5:Wellness-Infused Spaces: Designing for a Healthier Future

Under the background of aging, high-stress lifestyles and growing health concerns, more and more people begin to pay attention to health care design. Population aging is the basic national condition of China for a long time in the future. At present, the supply of healthy residential areas and healthy apartments in China cannot meet the needs of elderly people, and generation Z and millennials pay more attention to health, sleep, nutrition, fitness and psychological health design and services than the older generation. In the context of national policies and industrial demand, the stock assets to pension facilities circuit is facing unprecedented development opportunities.. In this section, we will work with the industry's top designers to explore the health space suitable for contemporary lifestyle, pay more attention to the integration of health science, aesthetics and art, pay attention to the physical and mental health and social needs of residents, and pay attention to personalized, intelligent, green, community integration and health technology integration.

2025 Schedule

4 June

Loading
04/06/2025
  1. This section unveils the "Rebalance Initiative" – a visionary framework harmonizing technological advancement, sustainable practices, and human-centric design. Discover how interdisciplinary synergy can reshape innovation ecosystems, ensuring emerging technologies empower inclusive growth while nurturing planetary boundaries and societal wellbeing.
  2. The new office depart from traditional office modes, integrating leisure into the workspace. With user needs as a starting point, they aim to explore a more life-oriented open office space, providing a more comfortable and relaxed working experience for each user.
  3. Case Study: a new prototype for the reuse of large floorplate office space in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The Covid pandemic has brought about a huge upheaval in how we think about the workpl ...
  4. During this speech, Diego will share insights into the concept of 'fun in functionality,' a guiding philosophy behind his work as both a designer and lecturer in Social Design. Attendees will be encouraged to envision more inclusive and interactive spaces that inspire creativity and reflection. Through case studies from his studio, Diego will showcase how their core design principles are applied to deliver unique and uncompromising solutions across diverse creative fields in pursuit of well-being.

    - Emotion drives
    - Fun is functional
    - Interaction creates connections

  5. The new "McHappy Office" redefines the boundaries of the workplace. Create a meaningful and innovative destination that draws inspiration from the McDonald's retail experience, making the new space a quality office choice for top talent
  6. Key Points:

    1. Urban renewal and rural-urban integration are defining trends of our time. Architecture should actively respond by continuing the narrative of existing spaces. 

    2. The future of architecture lies beyond single-function physical spaces—it must break boundaries, embracing hybridity, openness, and multidimensional interactions. 

    3. The greatest significance of design is its social impact—creating spaces that enhance well-being while unlocking cultural, economic, and social potential.

  7. In the current fast-paced, high-intensity working atmosphere in city life,  working space has occupied more than one-third of people's time daily. The working space is not only the container medium for the group, but also another "third space" to connect and to remain people. While designing to tell a concept or mission, the design should also take the current and future people's spacial experience as the core thinking task, so that the bespoke suitable and comfortable working space will eco-sustainably enrich the space and people inside. 

    1. To create a pleasant working space with a design balance of passion and reason 

    2. To continuously enrich the space and people with flexible designs 

    3. To interpret each brand's uniqueness and cultural values 

  8. 1. Borderless Workflows: How AI dissolves physical constraints in hybrid workplaces, deploying intelligent collaboration systems to redefine the equilibrium between operational efficiency and human-centric experiences.

    2.Human-Machine Symbiosis: Examining AI agents as cognitive partners transforming job roles and team dynamics, while cultivating next-gen leadership models for human-AI co-creation.

    3. Living Workspaces: IoT and biosensing technologies enabling self-adaptive environments that dynamically respond to employees' cognitive states, forging workspaces as living organisms.

5 June

Loading
05/06/2025
  1. In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the workplace is no longer just a functional space—it has become a catalyst for innovation, a reflection of corporate culture, and a driver of collaboration. This talk will explore how cutting-edge workplace design, from skyscrapers to high-tech campuses, from urban landmarks to interior environments, can create more flexible, diverse, and sustainable experiences for businesses and employees alike, unlocking new possibilities for innovation.

    1. Expanding Boundaries: Integrating Outdoor Spaces

    2. Redefining the Workplace: Enabling Industry Innovation

    3. Human-Centered Design: Enhancing Workplace Appeal
     

  2. As a tangible and actionable driver of experience, The ‘hotelification’ of the workplace undoubtedly holds great potential to transform the office environment. By reimagining the work space from the perspective of hospitality, with service, comfort and convenience at its core, it is possible to create a dynamic ideal workplace that engages and motivates employees.
  3. The speech focuses on the critical role of workplace design in enhancing the overall employee experience, emphasizing that workplace performance today is influenced not just by effectiveness but also by employee satisfaction and engagement. Additionally, addressing the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) concept in future workplaces is essential for creating environments where all employees feel valued and included

    1. The Workplace performance : Effectiveness and Experience

    2. Role of DEI in Enhancing the Human Experience

    3. Innovative design solutions for better experiences.

  4. 1. Personal space and public space 

    2. Spatialize indentity

    3. As a part of company

  5. Technology and green go hand in hand, this is the trend of the future development of workplace space. How can technology be utilized in the office environment to serve the employees? How to balance the development of office space with technology and nature? What does a truly green building look like? What is the special significance of green office space for enterprises?
  6. Shanghai's new benchmark for sustainable design, exploring the green landscape 

    1. Sustainabillity features of One Museum Place

    2. Hines ESG Programs

    3. T3 - Future Technology for buildings
     

  7. THE SOURCE:The renovation of an existing high-rise tower demonstrates a remarkable example of urban regeneration and circular economy. A hybrid function and flexible work environment are integrated through a concept of work-life integration and a people-centred approach. The design features innovative elements, applies advanced energy efficiency technologies and a variety of renewable energy sources, and creates a new sustainable development model for urbanization
  8. Jeff now is a photographic artist, collaborating with Saint-Louis on a captivating photoexhibition in Hong Kong, He has captured the nature wonders, cultural heritage andexquisite craftsmanship of crystal making in Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche through hisunique and poetic camera lens. He will share his views on human-centered design from the perspective of an architect and photographer.

6 June

Loading

2025 Speakers


 

View More