“There is no one single answer,” replied Jackie. “We must start by demystifying disabilities through extending our knowledge. We can only work with what we know and understand.”
“Inclusive design must not be an afterthought,” agreed Julie. “It must be introduced at the early phase of the project. We need to give people the autonomy to choose how they want to work.”
Harsha talked to Simone about her book: “Within ‘The Humancentric Workplace’ you have a chapter titled ‘A place where people thrive’ and you talk about how workplaces can be that destination that people want to go to. You also work with clients to put greater focus on employee health and well-being.”
“Culture is so important, but we do have to accept that we don’t have all of the answers,” explained Simone. “We can’t use a ‘cookie cutter’ approach. When. designing our homes, we tend to start with colour, not furniture. Why is this often not the case in the office? Colour is so important and should not be chosen simply to match the corporate branding!”
“Furniture is just one part,” agreed Julia. “We need to put the right pieces in the right places. Furniture should be, of course, aesthetically pleasing but also functional and designed for sustainability with careful consideration to materiality and wellness.”