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The Disposable Interior: Durability, natural materials and how spaces shape who we are
Commercial interiors are stripped and refitted every five to seven years. The industry has developed serious tools to respond — materials passports, embodied carbon targets, circular economy frameworks. These matter. What they don’t address is whether a space is designed to last — and whether the people inside it would miss it if it were gone.
This panel brings together three perspectives on a different approach. Piercy & Company make the design case: that a mentality shift — from optimising for the first day towards designing for the project’s whole life — produces spaces that are more sustainable, more humane, and more genuinely expressive of the organisations that commission them. Derwent London offers the client view: their Savile Row headquarters, designed nearly a decade ago, remains their base today — long-life, loose-fit, and still working. Kinda Studios provide the scientific evidence: neuroaesthetics research shows that our material choices, and their design within a space have measurable effects not only on the brain and body but also on the planet we share. Detailing impacts across our human nervous system they explore the power of intentional design across individual and societal health.
The sustainable choice and the humane choice are the same choice. The most sustainable interior is the one worth keeping.
