NeoCon, North America’s largest design expo and conference for commercial interiors, returns June 10-12 to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart for its 51st year. Organizers expect more than 50,000 architecture and design professionals during the three-day event. Attendees can tailor their conference experience to specific areas of interest, experience level, schedule, and spending goals by choosing à la carte from the menu of more than 100 CEU seminars and featured programs.
Once registered for NeoCon at www.neocon.com (free online registration through Friday, June 7 or $65 on-site), attendees can sign up for My Planner to search exhibitors and new products, create a personalized itinerary, map out custom floor plans, and even send private messages to exhibitors. Also, the NeoCon App is available through the App Store and Google Play.
All products entered in the Best of NeoCon competition presented by Contract magazine and sponsored by NeoCon and The McMorrow Reports, will be available for viewing at https://bestofneoconawards.secure-platform.com/a. More than 40 jurors – interior designers, architects, and facilities management professionals – will review the products over three days before NeoCon begins, and winners will be named at the Best of Neocon Award Winners’ Breakfast on Monday, June 10. Award recipients’ booths and showrooms will be flagged with Best of NeoCon Award signs during the show.
Other awards programs include Interior Design’s HiP at NeoCon (Honoring Industry People and Innovative Products), the IIDA/Contract Magazine Showroom & Booth Design Competition, MetropolisLikes, and BUILDINGS magazine’s Product Innovations Awards.
Special NeoCon exhibits and features at the Merchandise Mart this year include:
>ASID: The Oasis, 1st Floor, West Pass-Thru. ASID will showcase the impact of design through a new installation custom designed by HDR Design and Brand Strategy Principal Elizabeth von Lehe. The space serves as an oasis that invites visitors to engage, ask broad questions, and explore the beautiful, impactful, and sometimes surprising ways that design impacts lives.
>BuzziLounge, 1st Floor, East Pass-Through. In this year’s BuzziLounge, BuzziSpace will highlight the acoustic shelter of its soft BuzziSpark lounge sofa as well as the flexible BuzziDee pouf under a sea of BuzziDome acoustic pendant lights – plus striking acoustic wallpaper.
>Design Center, Floors 6, 14, 15, 16. While focusing on home furnishings and interior design, the Design Center at theMART has many contract lines. More than 100 showrooms offer luxury furniture, fabrics, floor and wall coverings, lighting, accessories, art, and more. Luxury residential furnishings can be found on floors 6 and 14, and outdoor and casual furnishings on floors 15 and 16. Learn more at www.designcenter.com.
>Framery X Reality To Idea, 1st Floor, North Central Corridor. Framery, industry pioneer in soundproof workspaces and meeting pods, collaborates with Reality To Idea artist Joshua Vides to create “an amazing installation transforming a Framery booth from reality back to idea.”
>Green Furniture Concept: Acoustic Tree, 1st Floor, Wells Street Pass-Through. The Leaf Lamp Tree is an acoustic decorative light by Green Furniture Concept. Hundreds of wool leafs are clustered at the top of a 15′ steel trunk, taking on the shape of a real-life tree. Surrounding the trunk is a bar-height table with integrated power chargers, which makes this piece an ideal meeting point for casual and impromptu collaboration.
>Herman Miller, 1st Floor, South Lobby. This year’s installation will celebrate the nearly endless design possibilities of the Herman Miller Group with an inspiring selection of products from across its family of brands.
>Hightower: “A Blank Canvas, 1st Floor, North Lobby. Since 2003, family-founded and operated Hightower has offered fresh, modern workspace pieces from up and coming international designers. Its new activation space will welcome the A&D community with “a blank canvas” – an all-white concept leveraging a building block design and the latest in clever products, leaving it up to the imagination of designers to put their touch on a space.
>ID Live, Mezzanine Level, the Grand Staircase. For the fourth year, Interior Design will host ID Live, sponsored by Carnegie. Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen will host designer guests at the ID Live studio. The interviews (Monday, Jun. 10, 1:00-2:30pm; Tuesday, Jun. 11, 1:30-3:00pm) and will stream on Interior Design’s Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/InteriorDesignMagazine – and will be projected on the Grand Staircase.
>interiors+sources Materials Pavilion, 7th Floor, 7-1000. This is the destination for NeoCon attendees seeking more in the area of materials product, ideas, and inspiration. Hundreds of material samples are displayed side-by-side, with details on their origin, makeup and recommended applications.
>LuxeHome, 1st Floor. Many of the boutiques at LuxeHome, the world’s largest collection of premier boutiques for home building and renovation, have product collections designed for use in hospitality, contract, or commercial projects in addition to residential. Many will host special events during NeoCon. For more information, please visit http://www.luxehome.com/.
>Mohawk Group’s Relaxing Floors, 1st Floor, Kinzie/Wells Entrance. Featuring a collaboration of makers and thinkers, Mohawk Group collaborated with 13&9 design studio to create human-centered flooring solutions that not are only imaginatively designed but therapeutic as well. Working with Fractals Research, the Relaxing Floors collection translates stress-reducing biophilic fractals into calming patterns for the modern workplace.
>NOOKs on Parade, 7th Floor, 6000 Aisle. NOOK is a new type of furniture – startlingly quiet inside – separating without isolating – providing a perfect location for concentration, connection, collaboration. NeoCon attendees are invited to grab one of the NOOKs on the 6000 aisle to recharge, make a call, meet, or just take a breath without missing any of the excitement.
>OFS Lounge, 11th Floor, Suite 11-127. OFS is offering a little treat for NeoCon attendees: A cool space where there’s no selling, just being.
>Pedrali Buddy Constellation, 1st Floor, Northeast Corridor, Starbucks Escalator. The “Pedrali Buddy Constellation” is a special setting in which Pedrali’s poufs and sofas show their friendly and versatile spirit. This collection, 100% made in Italy, welcomes guests with its bright colors, soft shapes and comfortable volumes – “impossibly plush.”
>Snowsound Quiet Zones, 7th Floor, Pass-Throughs. Snowsound offers NeoCon attendees a moment of peace and quiet between the two main sections of the NeoCon Exhibit Hall on the 7th floor. These acoustic retreats are designed with Snowsound’s patented technology offering an architecturally inspired acoustic haven of tranquility and comfort for attendees to enjoy.
>Sossego: Dias Chuvosos – A Rainy Afternoon on the Veranda by Guilherme Wentz, 1st Floor, Center Pass-Through. This installation by emerging designer Guilherme Wentz is an exploration into disconnecting from the modern world to discover sossego (Portuguese for “a warm tranquility”). It is tropical minimalism, a new interpretation of modern Brazilian design, and includes an iconic award-winning piece by Aristeu Pires.
>Sossego: Brazilian Relaxation Lounge, 14th Floor, Suite 1445 (West Side of Building). “Deliciously deep, distinctly Brazilian” lounge seating by Aristeu Pires and featuring HBF Textiles offers a space to disconnect and experience calm. Brazilian treats and cafezinho will be served. NeoCon attendees are invited to meet award-winning designers at the forefront of modern Brazilian design.
>via seating: Where Great Things Happen in a Chair, 1st Floor, Kinzie/Wells Entrance. via’s philosophy, “great things happen in a chair” inspires its goal “to cultivate the perfect sitting experience.” Italian-designed outdoor furniture collections Sierra and Tahoe will be on display at the Kinzie/Wells entrance.
Keynote Presentations (Keynotes)
Keynotes will be held at the NeoCon Theater (19th Floor) and they can also be viewed via live stream available on the Grand Stair off the South Lobby. Keynotes are not pre-approved for CEU credit; however, attendees may self-report to their respective industry associations. Attendees would need to retain a copy of their registration, as proof of attendance, as well as a description of the presentation.
>Monday, June 10, 8:00am The Familiar and Unusual: An Investigation of Balance and Experience in Design, Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, presented by IIDA. Having first worked together for a decade designing sets for Hollywood films, Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch founded Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors in 2002. The pair have forged an ability to create projects without boundaries or borders, employing a range of materials, objects and references—from the unexpected to the pedigreed to the mundane. They are designers of interiors, buildings, furniture, and objects whose philosophy has spearheaded a movement in the industry against corporate modernism. The spaces they create reflect the narrative of the people who occupy them as well as the couple’s singular vision which gives their design a sense of power and cohesion [KE1]
>Tuesday, June 11, 8:00am Stuff Matters: The Material World We Make – Ilse Crawford, presented by ASID. Ilse Crawford is a designer, academic and creative director with a simple mission: to put hTman needs and desires at the center of all she does. As Creative Director and Founder of Studioilse, together with her multi-disciplinary, London-based team, she brings her philosophy to life. This means creating environments where humans feel comfortable; public spaces that make people feel at home; and homes that are habitable and make sense for the people who live in them. It means designing furniture and products that support and enhance human behavior and actions in everyday life. It means restoring the human balance in brands and businesses that have lost their way. [KE2]
>Wednesday, June 12, 11:00am Do No Harm: The Role of Design in Complicated Times
Liz Ogbu presented by AIA Chicago. A designer, urbanist and spatial justice advocate, Liz Ogbu is Founder and Principal of Studio O, a multidisciplinary consultancy working to innovate challenged urban environments globally. From designing shelters for immigrant day laborers in the U.S. to a water and health social enterprise for low-income Kenyans, she has a long history of working with communities in need to leverage the power of design to catalyze sustained social impact. Her work blends human-centered design research methodologies, architecture and equitable development principles, cross-disciplinary design thinking frameworks and social agendas. [KE3]
Special Events
>Saturday, June 8, 6:00-11:00pm Discofeelia! Diffa Chicago Neudisco Gala 2019, Revel Fulton Market- 1215 W. Fulton Market. The DIFFA/Chicago Gala is an evening dedicated to the cause of eradicating HIV/AIDS in our lifetime. This year, the event blends the hottest trend in architecture – biophilia – with the sounds of neudisco. In the words of event organizers, “It’s human nature to connect with nature, and natural to go floral and get on the floor. DIFFA Chicago is laser-focused on bringing you the latest neudisco laser-lights-&-sound-sit-down-then-get-down dinner and dance show.” https://diffachicago.org/event/11679
>Sunday, June 9, Noon-3:30pm IIDA Annual Meeting, Venue SIX10, 610 S. Michigan Ave. IIDA will recognize the 2019-2020 International Board of Directors, the 2019 College of Fellows inductees, the recipients of the Star and Titan awards, and the Member and Student of the Year. This year, in honor of its 25th anniversary, IIDA will also present two additional industry awards, the Silver Legacy Award, and the Silver Founder’s Award. A pre-event networking reception, sponsored by Vitra, will begin at noon, with the Annual Meeting starting promptly at 1 p.m., followed by a post-event champagne toast reception sponsored by Poppin. http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/neocon-2019
>Sunday, June 9, 5:00-8:00pm Interior Design 2019 HiP Awards and Party, Entrance at Marshall’s Landing at the top of the Grand Staircase. Now in its 6th year, the HiP Awards at NeoCon Honors Industry People and Innovative Products. Doors open at 4:30pm; HiP Awards will be presented 5:00-6:00pm, and the HiP Party is 6:00-8:00pm. Tickets will be available for purchase at www.idhipawards2019.splashthat.com
>Sunday, June 9, 7:00-11:00pm SILVER, the IIDA Gala (formerly COOL), The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, 160 East Pearson Street. The annual IIDA black-tie gala kicks off NeoCon with a special evening of networking, dinner, and dancing to honor the winners of the 46th annual Interior Design Competition and the 27th annual Will Ching Design Competition. Prominent international interior designers and global design manufacturers will join IIDA to celebrate the award-winning design firms and their outstanding projects. This year’s Host sponsor is Tarkett. http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/iida-gala
>Monday, June 10, 7:30-8:30am 2019 Best of NeoCon Award Winners’ Breakfast, The Renaissance Hotel Ballroom, One West Wacker Drive. The Best of NeoCon 2019 award winners will be announced among industry peers on the opening morning of NeoCon. Now in its 30th year, the iconic competition honors the best new commercial interiors products in the industry which are exhibited at NeoCon. Honors include Gold and Silver Awards, as well as Innovation Awards, Editors’ Choice Awards, and one Best of Competition Award. Best of NeoCon 2019 is presented by Contract magazine and sponsored by NeoCon and the McMorrow Reports for Facilities Design & Management. https://registration.experientevent.com/ShowNEA191
>Monday, June 10, 12:30-1:30pm A Design Dialogue: Julia Monk and Tom Polucci in Conversation with John Czarnecki, Ligne Roset, 440 N. Wells St. Julia Monk and Tom Polucci both senior principals at HOK and 2019 inductees into the IIDA College of Fellows, will be in conversation about their global work in workplace and hospitality interiors with IIDA Deputy Director and Senior Vice President John Czarnecki. Light lunch will be served. RSVP to events@lignerosetcontract.com.
>Monday, June 10, 7:00-10:00pm Mohawk Group Celebration at IIDA. Industry colleagues will celebrate design innovation and IIDA’s 25th anniversary on Chicago’s iconic Mag Mile with Mohawk Group at IIDA headquarters for cocktails and live music. Invitation only.
>Tuesday June 11 8:00am Contract Inspirations Awards Celebration, Tarkett Showroom, 3rd Floor, Suite 380. The Inspirations Awards recognize a commitment to social responsibility in commercial interior architecture and design: implementing design to improve the quality of life for those in need. Winners are recognized for work completed for clients that are a worthy cause. The clients, in turn, receive a generous grant from award sponsor Tarkett. The entire design community is invited to attend. It’s a lovely celebration with Contract editorial team emceeing the event. https://www.contractdesign.com/competitions/inspirations-awards/
>Tuesday, June 11, 3:00-5:00pm Design Center Toast to Fine Design, Floors 6, 14, and 15. NeoCon attendees are invited to enjoy a glass of bubbly, live music, hors d’oeuvres, and cocktails in more than 90 Design Center showrooms. Registration required. https://www3.ten31.co/neocon/
>Tuesday, June 11, 3:00-5:00pm – Exhibit Hall Happy Hour, Floor 7. The NeoCon energy and festivities move onto the 7th floor Exhibit Hall, where A&D professionals can enjoy afternoon cocktails, conversations, and connections while exploring hundreds of exhibitors from around the world.
>Wednesday, June 12, 7:00-8:55am BIFMA Breakfast and Annual Membership Meeting, NeoCon Theater, 19th Floor. Members of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association and invited guests are encouraged to attend the Association’s Annual Membership Meeting to hear the state-of-the-industry and state-of-the-association reports. http://www.bifma.org/
>Wednesday, June 12 8:00am ASID Presents Insights from the 2019 Outcome of Design Awards, Location TBA. Following the first-ever Outcome of Design Awards, created in collaboration with NeoCon, Herman Miller, and METROPOLIS magazine, ASID will explore how design truly impacts lives as seen through occupancy data and analysis. These awards honor firms that showcase the power of design through research-driven results and innovative, humancentric concepts. This panel, moderated by ASID, will explore how this design approach can be implemented across projects and will highlight the 2019 OODA winning projects and the data. https://www.asid.org/events/asid-at-neocon
Student Activities
The Student Program is designed exclusively for interior design and architecture students. Students are also invited to register on-site for any one-hour CEU accredited program offered on Tuesday or Wednesday at a discounted rate of $25, subject to availability. For more information and registration links, please visit www.neocon.com/programming/student-programs.
>Tuesday, June 11, 9:00am-5:00pm IIDA Student Design Charette (Charette is 9:00am-3:00pm; presentations and judging 3:00-5:00pm), 6th Floor, Suite 613. Sponsored by Herman Miller, school-nominated IIDA Student Members from around the country will compete in this live, onsite annual design competition. Students have less than six hours to determine a design solution, develop a presentation, and pitch their concept to a panel of esteemed judges. NeoCon attendees are encouraged to observe the students during the creative and presentation process. Winners will be announced at the Winners Reception on Wednesday, June 12. http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/student-design-charette
>Tuesday, June 11, 9:30am-Noon ASID Design Pathways, NeoCon Theater, 19th Floor. A panel of experienced design professionals will explain why trade shows are essential to students’ careers and why it’s imperative to attend them. They will offer insights into what questions to ask, how to evaluate products, and why it is critical to success to make connections and establish strong vendor relationships throughout their careers. After the panel, students will break into small groups, each led by one of the panelists, and tour the show floors. [SP1]
>Wednesday, June 12, 12:30-1:45pm IIDA McDonald’s Headquarters Student Tour, McDonald’s Global Headquarters, 110 N. Carpenter St. Students will join the McDonald’s Global Design group, responsible for creating new restaurant experiences around the world. In 2018, McDonald’s opened its centralized, global headquarters in the emergent Fulton Market district. The new headquarters is reflective of McDonald’s innovative culture and brings together all employees, from the president to Hamburger University trainees, under one roof. The building was developed by Sterling Bay and designed by Gensler, with IA Interior Architects and Studio O+A leading the interior design and buildout. [SP2]
>Wednesday, June 12, 2:00-3:00pm Powered By Design: An IIDA Bootcamp Program, McDonald’s Global Headquarters, 110 N. Carpenter Street. Veteran designers offer an energized and engaging seminar. Each speaker will have ten minutes to share with attendees a robust, fast-paced tour of their design topic. Speakers include Verda Alexander, Cofounder of Studio O+A, Tamie Glass, Associate Professor at The University of Texas, Austin and Author of “Prompt: Socially Engaging Objects and Environments,” Carl Gustav Magnusson, Founder of Carl Gustav Magnusson Design LLC and Primo Orpilla, Principal and CoFounder of Studio O+A. [SP3][SE3]
>Wednesday, June 12, 3:00-4:30pm IIDA Reception, McDonald’s Global Headquarters, 110 N. Carpenter St. Design Charette winners and interior designers will be celebrated.
Educational Seminars
Seminar sessions are priced at $65 each, if pre-registered by Friday, Jun. 7, or $75 each if registered on-site, subject to availability. All are being reviewed for continuing education accreditation for 0.1 CEU for designers, 1 LU for architects, and 1 LEU for lighting designers. Some will also qualify for GBCI hours toward the LEED Credential Maintenance Program or EDAC CEU credit for healthcare designers. The complete schedule, available at http://www3.ten31.co/neocon/?sem, can be filtered online by topics of interest. One new category this year is an educational design track for Wellness. There are 81 courses scheduled, including four added to the schedule for Sunday, Jun. 9. Some may already be sold out, but here is our selection from the many interesting seminars offered this year:
>Sunday, June 9, 9:30-10:30am Move Over Millennials: Are You and Your Firm Ready to Market to (and Employ) Gen Z? [Intermediate] Irene Williams, Owner and Principal of Msg2Mkt in Nashville, TN will identify the core characteristics of Generation Z—also known as “iGen”—born between 1996 and 2010. From vital statistics to identifiable mindsets, she will share insights and ideas to create cultural shifts and develop fresh messaging and marketing strategies to connect, welcome, and work with this next generation. [SU01]
>Sunday, June 9, 9:30-10:30am Play to Innovation: Exploring the Role of Play in Cultivating Innovation [Intermediate] From Perkins Eastman in NYC, Senior Associate Rebecca Milne and Architect Scott Fallick will share research into how and why play has been linked to higher rates of innovation across multiple settings and disciplines, as well as specific strategies that may be applied to create spaces that support and encourage innovative processes and results. [SU02]
>Sunday, June 9, 11:00am-Noon Strategies for Creating Visual Privacy and Confidentiality in an Open Office Environment [Basic] Presented by Radford University Professor and Department of Design Chair Dr. Holly Cline, Redford, VA, with Kate Rancourt, Design Manager at One Workplace in San Francisco, this session will discuss how and why privacy matters for employee satisfaction and retention and how to create a balance between collaborative environments and privacy. [SU04]
>Monday, June 10, 9:30-10:30am Design in a Time of Radical Change: Learnings from the Bay Area Tech Explosion [Intermediate] Increasingly intense demands of tech companies on designers mean accelerated project schedules, high costs, and high expectations. This seminar shows how the key partnership between designers and furniture designers can successfully collaborate with tech clients to deliver high performance, highly tailored, branded and styled workplaces. Presented by Gensler Design Principal Collin Burry and Herman Miller Vice President, North America A&D Sales Amy Storek [M101]
>Monday, June 10, 9:30-10:30am Co-Working: Novelty or Innovation? [Basic] Matt Gammel, Practice Area Lead – Interiors at Jacobs in Los Angeles will focus on the most commercially visible type of flexible office space: co-working, in both its origins and evolution. His presentation, questioning whether the co-working trend is meaningful enough to persist and change the status quo, will examine its effects on office design and occupancy strategy, as well as affected real estate functions, such as facilities management/technology, property management, asset services and landlord/ownership strategy. [M104]
>Monday, June 10, 11:00am-Noon What Clients Want: Essential Design Conversations [Intermediate] From offices to hospitality to retail, the spaces designers create are expected to do more than ever before. The expanded scope of these projects requires design professionals to draw on the fields of psychology, operations management, human resources, and sociology to offer an all-encompassing experience for each person who enters a space. In this session, IIDA CEO and Executive Vice President Cheryl Durst will join Robin Klehr Avia, Regional Managing Principal at Gensler in NYC, and Neil Schneider, Design Director at IA Interior Architects in Chicago, will offer an in-depth perspective on the expectations of the design client of tomorrow. [M107]
>Monday, June 10, 11:00am-Noon Outdoor Workplace Evolution [Intermediate] HDR San Francisco Interior Design Director and Practice Leader Leah Bauer and Assal Yavari, Associate Director, Facilities and Operations at Gilead Sciences in Forest City, CA, will share their story of the transformation of Gilead Sciences’ biopharmaceutical research campus in Silicon Valley. The data-driven design process, using tools rather than trends to inform decisions, included engaging, active workshops with end users. [M112]
>Monday, June 10, 1:00-2:00pm Irreducible Complexity’s Positive Environmental Impact [Basic] Industrial designer and design strategist Todd Bracher of Todd Bracher Studio in Brooklyn will discuss how efficient design can yield tangible returns on both investment and long-term sustainability throughout the product design and development process. Considering every aspect of product design, from product strategy, design and development, to supply-chain and manufacturing, this holistic approach guides efficient design and leads to reduced cost, optimized materials, healthier manufacturing processes, longevity of a product, and most importantly, minimized environmental impact. [M114]
>Monday, June 10, 1:00-2:00pm Design Empathy [Basic] Design Empathy is the phrase that sums up the design philosophy of creating better spaces for neurodiversity. The number of people with ADHD, autism, Asperger’s and other developmental delays has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. This seminar, presented by AJ Paron-Wildes, National A&D Manager at Allsteel in Oak Park Heights, MN, will show how to reduce barriers and create an optimal environment for people with neurological challenges, whether that is in the work environment, school, or therapeutic space. [M115]
>Monday, June 10, 2:30-3:30pm Biophilia in Workplace Design – Through Implicit and Explicit Applications [Basic] Lew Epstein, General Manager for Coalesse + Turnstone, Steelcase, in Grand Rapids, MI, and John Hamilton, Design Director for Coalesse + Turnstone, Steelcase, in Munich, Germany, will join Bill Browning, Partner at Terrapin Bright Green in NYC, to discuss how biophilia can have an impact on how we work. They will share insights on bringing the natural world into built spaces and also explore how color palettes and pattern applied to furniture and environments can convey a calming sense of the natural world. [M121]
>Monday, June 10, 2:30-3:30pm Worker Effectiveness and the Role of Place [Intermediate] Jan Johnson, Vice President of Design and Workplace Resources with Allsteel in Chicago, will share research findings that identify a series of scientifically-proven factors known to correlate to Knowledge Worker productivity. This is in addition to those first six shared in a NeoCon 2017 presentation. Some are “organizational management” factors, some are “environmental,” and some are “cognitive.” [M122]
>Monday, June 10, 4:00-5:00pm The Outdoor Office: The Next Big Thing [Intermediate] According to one recent survey, 87% of indoor workers consider themselves people who enjoy the outdoors but 75% of indoor workers rarely or never take time to work outside. Thanks to advances in technology and new products from designers and manufacturers, public spaces—whether they be parks, plazas, or indoor settings like hotel lobbies, cafes, or airports—are becoming workspaces. Paul Makovsky, Editor in Chief of Contract magazine in NYC, and Todd Heiser, Managing Director and Principal at Gensler in Chicago, will discuss the opportunities and challenges involved in designing outdoor workspaces. [M128]
>Monday, June 10, 4:00-5:00pm Adaptive Reuse as an Approach to Sustainable Design [Basic] Higher demand for space and increasing awareness of buildings’ life cycles, embodied energy, and waste streams have led to greater interest in repositioning existing building assets to save natural resources and to stimulate community growth. Haley Van Wagenen, Associate with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in London, will present examples of recent work from Chicago, San Francisco, and Milan to show the importance of adaptive reuse, the different forms reuse can take, and the resulting impact of projects within their respective cities. [M130]
>Monday, June 10, 4:00-5:00pm An Interior Designer’s Best Friend the Lighting Designer [Intermediate] From Stantec in Denver, CO, Senior Lighting Designer Rachel Fitzgerald and Interior Designer Katey Trepainer will discuss factors associated with successfully implementing lighting designs to create experiential spaces. Their presentation will focus on the importance of providing quality lighting solutions that touch on elements such as human perception, health, and wellbeing. Using case studies, they will also address how to create visual interest and develop successful details for a maximum wow factor. [M131]
>Monday, June 10, 4:00-5:00pm The New McDonald’s Headquarters: Now Serving Seamless Communication Technology [Intermediate] Last summer, when McDonald’s moved its global headquarters from Oak Brook, IL to downtown Chicago, consolidating a campus into a nine-story building was no small feat. All of the technology had to be integrated seamlessly, an extension of the design’s intent: to stimulate communication and innovation among employees and to be effortless and fun for all visitors. Neil Schneider, Design Director with IA Interior Architects in Chicago; Ross Cunningham, Principal and Director of Waveguide in Houston, TX; and Scott Phillips, Director, Corporate Real Estate for McDonald’s Corp. in Chicago, IL will talk about the project and the importance of pushing the boundaries of technology in our interiors, from conference rooms to restaurants. [M132]
>Tuesday, June 11, 9:30-10:30am Survival of the Fittest: Why You Need to Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable…Now [Intermediate] In this professional development seminar, Tomas Eliaeson and Jim Thompson, Design Principals at Little in Charlotte, NC, will offer insights into balancing the demands of the now with the musts of tomorrow. For organizations to survive, it’s becoming imperative to master current demands, while anticipating and planning for future innovation in an innovate-or-die world. [T201]
>Tuesday, June 11, 9:30-10:30am The New Face of Collaboration in the Tech-Enabled Office [Intermediate] Jennifer Busch, Vice President A&D at Teknion in Toronto, will talk about how workplaces can adapt to advancements in technology that create opportunities for collaboration in the digital space. Employees are increasingly opting to connect with their teams from their individual desks, utilizing web-based platforms for communication. This new scenario challenges our assumptions of what individual-focused work and collaborative teamwork look like, as well as how technology, space, and furnishings can provide support. [T204]
>Tuesday, June 11, 11:00am-Noon Directional Color – Design Trends: The Nesting Instinct [Intermediate] Color specialist and author Leatrice Eiseman of Eiseman and Associates in Bainbridge, WA will address both office and residential design, as offices are becoming more home-like and, with so many people working at home, home offices need to feel comfortable while still providing a space for productive thinking. The thoughtful usage of color and design, especially in line with directional trends, enters importantly into the equation. [T207]
>Tuesday, June 11, 11:00am-Noon Creating a Culture of Caring for the Caregiver: What We Can Learn from Corporate Workplace Design [Intermediate] Workplace designers who focus on knowledge workers must also acknowledge how work-related stress impacts employee satisfaction, wellbeing, and performance. For healthcare workers, the job-related stress is statistically higher than any industry, yet the workplace for the healthcare professional has generally not responded adequately to this crisis. From Corgan in Houston, TX, Vice President David Euscher and Senior Associate, Lead Interior Designer Stacey Brimmer will talk about healthy workplace design principles that can improve staff wellbeing and lead to improved patient care. [T209]
>Tuesday, June 11, 11:00am-Noon Learning and Earning: Why Higher Education and Workplace Environments are Colliding [Intermediate] In both higher education and the corporate world, people are exposed to learning, innovating, creating and fostering ideation in incubator environments with their peers and engaged industry partners. This session – presented by Julie Zitter, Associate Director, Commercial/Interior Design at Stantec in Austin, TX; Christina Eddy, Interior Designer at Stantec in Plano, TX; and Brad Robichaux, Associate and Senior Interior Designer at Stantec in Plano, TX – explores the parallels between progressive learning environments and workplace design while discussing how each can learn from the other to benefit all. [T212]
>Tuesday, June 11, 1:00-2:00pm Interior Design and #MeToo: Houston, We Have a Problem [Intermediate] Joan Blumenfeld, Principal at Perkins+Will in NYC; Cynthia Kracauer, Executive Director of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation in NYC; and Gabrielle Bullock, Director of Global Diversity at Perkins+Will in Los Angeles, will examine the current state of—and status of—women in the industry through the numbers. The presentation will also cover research that illustrates how social expectations, company culture, and individual behaviors can prevent women from becoming successful as leaders. [T215]
>Tuesday, June 11, 1:00-2:00pm Revelations and Calculations About Workplace Circulation [Intermediate] In today’s workplaces, circulation is regarded as a welcomed design element to facilitate connections, rather than its former mundane job to simply move people from elevators to offices to egress stairs. Yet many brokers, architects, designers, and facility managers are using 20th century circulation factors for 21st century workplaces. Cheryl Duvall, Regional Consulting Practice Area Leader at Gensler in Washington, DC, and Dudley Whitney, Workplace Strategist at Avancé in Annapolis, MD will discuss why circulation is often under appreciated and incorrectly calculated; and to anticipate the full benefits of tomorrow’s connective spaces. [T216]
>Tuesday, June 11, 1:00-2:00pm Net Positive Materials: The Future of Sustainability [Intermediate] Using the Living Product Challenge as a guide, James Connelly, Vice President Products and Strategic Growth at the International Living Future Institute in Seattle; Jane Abernethy, Sustainability Officer at Humanscale in Toronto; and George Bandy, Vice President at Mohawk in Calhoun, GA, will explore the latest advancements in regenerative design, life-cycle analysis, material transparency, and biomimicry in the advancement of sustainable materials. The Living Products Showcase: A Tour of NeoCon Healthy and Sustainable Products (TR7) will immediately follow this seminar. [T218]
>Tuesday, June 11, 2:30-3:30pm Friction in the Workplace: Has Ease Become Too Easy? [Basic] Presented by Studio O+A Founder Verda Alexander from San Francisco, this lecture will explore the idea of building resistance back into the work environment, making space that is less like a worker’s utopia and more like the psychological reality for which all working people need to be prepared. For 25 years workplace design has moved steadily in the direction of comfort. Have we gone too far? [T221]
>Tuesday, June 11, 2:30-3:30pm Designing with Carbon in Mind [Basic] Embodied carbon is a powerful tool that helps building industry professionals make informed product and system selection decisions, using quantified environmental impact information. Amy Costello, Sustainability manager at Armstrong Flooring in Lancaster, PA; Ken Sanders, Managing Principal with Gensler in San Francisco; and Karen Weigert, Senior Fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Chicago, will explain the basic carbon concepts that are entwined in the construction life cycle, together with best practices and tools to effectively leverage carbon. [T222]
>Tuesday, June 11, 2:30-3:30pm The Data-Driven Workplace: Emerging Tools for Workplace Programming, Design, and Operation [Advanced] This seminar will explore how design intuition and best practices are quickly merging with the world of big data and analytics. From Gensler Chicago, Co-managing Director and Principal Todd Heiser, Analyst Mitchell Bobman, and Design Strategist, Associate Theresa Broderick will discuss the growing ecosystem of data-driven workplace design tools and their effect on decision-making processes, as well as how data and insights are shifting the programming, planning, design, and operation of work environments. [T225]
>Tuesday, June 11, 4:00-5:00pm Give Me a Reason [Advanced] With 50% of employees always ready to leave and only 15% engaged in their jobs, today’s workplace needs designers who can offer a solution. Dean Strombom, Principal at Gensler Houston, and Sven Govaars, Principal at Steelcase ARC in San Francisco, will address how to design a work experience to foster engagement and performance and keep employee disengagement at bay. Because physical space, technology and culture all influence an employee’s experience, real estate, technology, and human resource functions must be in alignment to help re-engage and retain employees. [T228]
>Tuesday, June 11, 4:00-5:00pm Biomimicry, Biofab, and Circularity as Tools to RECKONstruct [Intermediate] This presentation documents three different approaches to sustainability and demonstrates the resulting design concepts and innovations. All of the panelists – Gregory Norris, Moderator/Director, Sustainability & Health at NetPositive Enterprise (SHINE) at MIT in Boston; Jane Abernethy, Chief Sustainability Officer at Humanscale in Toronto; Russell Fortmeyer, Associate Principal and Sustainability Consulting Practice Leader at ARUP in Los Angeles; and Russell Greenberg, Co-founder of Stickbulb and Founder of RUX Studios, Long Island City, NY – are directly involved in the RECKONstruct exhibit for the USA Pavilion at the XXII Triennale di Milano (www.reckonstruct.org). They will share how sustainable design principles require innovative solutions and demonstrate how a regenerative life cycle assessment evaluates the impacts of different design outcomes on topics including climate change, water depletion, and environmental health. [T229]
>Wednesday, June 12, 8:00-9:00am Conflicting Workplace Trends: A Framework for Solutions [Intermediate] While many sources offer information on workplace trends, the findings often appear to be conflicting and confusing. In this session, Ashley Dunn, Director of Workplace at Dyer Brown Architects in Boston, and Bryan Parker, National Real Estate, Workplace Design Sr. Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Tampa, FL, will present a framework for clear decision-making on workplace designs. Research and case studies will show how this framework can work to determine space requirements and operational needs; organizational goals of higher productivity, interaction, and innovation; as well as cultural implications and employee wellness. [W304]
>Wednesday, June 12, 9:30-10:30am Enhancing Design Value Through Measurable Goals [Intermediate] This professional development session addresses challenges including attracting new clients, exploring design options, and differentiating one’s own work products from those of the competition. Diving deeper, it stresses the relevance of grounding measurable design goals through the application of a memorable design/human behavior framework your clients can understand, as well as knowing the difference between information gathering and research, which can, in turn, improve decision-making and elevate design solutions. The presenter is officeinsight contributor Dr. Sally Augustin, Principal of Design With Science in LaGrange, IL [W307]
>Wednesday, June 12, 9:30-10:30am Designing for Impact: Accelerating the Human Experience [Basic] Presented by Amanda Carroll, Workplace Practice Area Leader and Principal at Gensler in NYC, this session takes a scientific design approach to accelerate clients’ ability to create impact in their workspaces, engage with their people, and interact with their communities. Examples include Google thinking about guest experience for their employees, United Technologies incorporating design elements for its future growth, Willis Tower and EQ Office re-imagining of an iconic space, and City Year creating a better experience now for generations to succeed in the future. [W310]
>Wednesday, June 12, 11:00am-Noon It’s a Pod World! How Modular is Changing the Way We Design [Intermediate] There is an increasing desire to deliver design solutions that are affordable, environmentally friendly, rapidly constructible, and easily changeable. Modular design responds to these needs and is being used with increasing frequency in healthcare, residential, retail, commercial, and hospitality design. Janet Kobylka, Senior interior designer at Workplace Solutions in Dallas, and Debi Fuller, Senior interior designer, BKM Total Office of Texas, Dallas, TX, will provide an overview of this rapidly growing market. [W314]
>Wednesday, June 12, 11:00am-Noon Mid-Course Correction: Using Data to Support Well-Being and Productivity Initiatives [Intermediate] When a client with well-defined business goals becomes an active participant in the design process, and the entire project team advocates for an EBD-approach to the process, objective findings can greatly enhance the design solution. Presented by Dr. Caren Martin, Principal, Martin & Guerin Design Research, Minneapolis, MN; Bruce Cornwall, Director of Design and Campus Planning, LHB Architects and Engineers, Inc., Minneapolis, MN; and Amy Arnost of Space Strategies, Plymouth, MN [W316]
>Wednesday, June 12, 1:00-2:00pm Is Mobile Work Here to Stay? Workplace Strategy Trends Based on a Longitudinal Global Study [Intermediate] Dr. Gabor Nagy of Haworth in San Francisco will offer insights into mobile work trends across the past decade. This seminar examines business drivers, types of work and workplace options used, participations across organizations, length and formality of programs, implementation factors and barriers, values and benefits, as well as management policies, work practices and metrics for measuring success. [W319]
>Wednesday, June 12, 1:00-2:00pm A Future Wave of High-Design in Healthcare [Intermediate] Presented by Elizabeth Von Lehe, Design and Brand Strategy Principal at HDR in NYC and Mohammed Ayoub, Design Director at HDR in NYC, compare American healthcare design with that in the Middle East or Asia, “and you find another world, where healthcare experiences look and feel more like hospitality design. What is design overseas getting right that we’re missing?” [W321]
Tours
New this year, NeoCon in partnership with IIDA will offer NeoCon attendees a selection of designer-led tours featuring some of the latest and most innovative spaces in Chicago. The International Living Future Institute will also lead a tour at NeoCon to showcase manufacturers that have had the courage to dream big and achieve some of the first certified Living Products. Most of the tours are already sold out; as of this past Friday, registration was still available for three: C.H. Robinson Chicago, Hotel Essex, and the ILFI tour. Please visit https://www.neocon.com/programming/tours-workshops for more information.
>Monday, June 10, 10:00am-Noon LinkedIn Chicago with Liz Potokar, Senior Project Designer, Gensler, 525 West Monroe St. (Shuttle service from The Mart to the tour location will leave at 9:30am.) Since completing a significant 40,000sf expansion last year, Gensler has designed an additional 40,000sf expansion that will be freshly completed in early June. With an interconnecting stairway, amenities, and an open creative office, LinkedIn is focused on having a dynamic workplace infused with its brand story and closely connected to the energy of Chicago. This project relates to LinkedIn’s core values of highlighting opportunity, growth and connection. [TR1]
>Monday, June 10, 2:00-3:30pm C.H. Robinson Chicago with Julie Engstrom, Senior Technical Project Designer, Vocon, 515 W. Webster Ave. (Shuttle service from The Mart to the tour location will leave at 1:30pm.) Vocon’s tenant fitout for C.H. Robinson evokes a warehouse loft with exposed structure & utilities, metal mesh railings, and exposed concrete floors. The 4-story center atrium with open metal stairs serves as a ‘town square’ for the company, making the space visually and physically accessible throughout. The open office with 1800+ seats was fitted out entirely with sit-to-stand desks for flexibility; all seats have daylight and views. Amenities include a conference suite, training, café, serving kitchen, and roof terrace with city views. [TR2]
>Tuesday, June 11, 10:00am-Noon Willis Tower Catalog and Environmental Systems Design, Inc. (ESD) with Gensler Principals Todd Heiser and Jim Prendergast, 233 S Wacker Dr. (Shuttle service from The Mart to the tour location will leave at 9:30am.) Willis Tower is an urban destination in the heart of downtown, delivering the best experiences of life and work to residents and visitors of Chicago. This tour, led by Gensler, will give a glimpse into “Catalog,” the new, five-levels of dining, shopping, and immersive experience at the base of the tower. Then it visits the new amenity spaces at the tower’s transfer floors before heading upstairs to ESD. A new headquarters for this engineering company, the space seamlessly integrates a professional service company with a living lab for engineers. [TR3]
>Tuesday, June 11, 1:00-3:00pm Hotel Essex with Chris McDonough, Principal, Gettys Group and Lindsey Pickle, Project Designer, Gettys Group, 800 S. Michigan Ave. (Shuttle service from The Mart to the tour location will leave at 12:30pm.) One of Chicago’s historic landmark buildings, the original 14-story Essex Inn was designed by A. Epstein and Sons. The building’s exterior architecture, including the steel and glass façade and the iconic rooftop “Essex Inn” sign will be restored and retained. The interior renovation and redesign of the historic Hotel Essex is led by Chicago-based design firm The Gettys Group and is influenced by the original hotel’s Mid-Century Modern roots. [TR4]
>Tuesday, June 11, 2:30-4:00pm Living Products Showcase: A Tour of Neocon’s Healthy and Sustainable Products. Exact times are subject to change; detailed information will be sent to registered attendees in advance of the tour date. The Living Product Challenge empowers manufacturers to create products made of truly safe materials, informed by biomimicry and biophilia, and manufactured in factories powered by renewable energy and designed to foster worker and community health and happiness. The International Living Future Institute, which is the driving force behind the Challenge, will lead this tour at NeoCon to showcase manufacturers that have achieved some of the first certified Living Products. Showroom visits will include 3Form/LightArt, Carnegie Fabrics, Humanscale, Metroflor, Mohawk, Tarkett, and Teknion. It complements, and will immediately follow, the CEU Seminar “Net Positive Materials: The Future of Sustainability”. [TR7]
>Tuesday, June 11, 5:00-6:00pm TAO Chicago with Linda Daniels, Associate, Rockwell Group and Kevin Lee Yi, Interior Designer, Rockwell Group, 632 N Dearborn St. (Shuttle service from The Mart to the tour location will leave at 4:30pm.) TAO Chicago is Rockwell Group’s 15th collaboration with TAO Group. Working within a historic 1892 landmark in downtown Chicago, the design maintained the structure’s soaring brick-walled spaces, arched windows, and special geometry and sight lines, adding TAO’s Asian-influenced DNA for the four-level restaurant and nightclub. [TR5]
>Wednesday, June 12, 9:00-11:00am McDonald’s Headquarters with Global McDonald’s Design Group, 1035 W Randolph St. (Shuttle service from The Mart to the tour location will leave at 8:30am) In 2018, McDonald’s opened its centralized, global headquarters in the emergent Fulton Market district. The new headquarters is reflective of McDonald’s innovative culture and brings together all employees, from the president to Hamburger University trainees, under one roof. The building was developed by Sterling Bay and designed by Gensler, with IA Interior Architects and Studio O+A leading the interior design and buildout. [TR6]