{"id":650,"date":"2025-10-02T10:38:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/2025\/10\/02\/workplaces-that-energise-inspire-and-tell-a-human-story-judges-reveal-what-makes-an-award-winning-entry-at-the-workspace-design-awards\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T10:38:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:38:58","slug":"workplaces-that-energise-inspire-and-tell-a-human-story-judges-reveal-what-makes-an-award-winning-entry-at-the-workspace-design-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/press\/workplaces-that-energise-inspire-and-tell-a-human-story-judges-reveal-what-makes-an-award-winning-entry-at-the-workspace-design-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWorkplaces that Energise, Inspire, and Tell a Human Story\u201d \u2013 Judges Reveal What Makes an Award-Winning Entry at the Workspace Design Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What makes a winning workplace design? According to the judging panel of the brand-new <b>Workspace Design Awards<\/b>, it\u2019s not just about glossy finishes and clever layouts; it\u2019s about people, culture, and stories that bring workplaces to life.\u00a0<\/p><p>Launching at <b>Workspace Design Show <\/b>(Business Design Centre, London) on <b>25 February 2026<\/b>, the Workspace Design Awards will celebrate the very best in completed workplace projects and innovative concepts. From <b>Office Design of the Year<\/b> to <b>Sustainable Workplace<\/b> and <b>Best Retrofit<\/b>, the awards spotlight real-world impact and spatial excellence, judged exclusively by senior occupiers, developers, and project managers.\u00a0<\/p><p><b>What the judges are looking for:<\/b>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li>\u201cA clear purpose and compelling narrative, with originality and killer imagery.\u201d \u2013 <b>Paula Rowntree, Head of Workplace Design, Future Workplace, Lloyds Banking Group<\/b><\/li><li>\u201cCreativity that brings culture to life, reflecting the personality of the organisation and its people.\u201d \u2013 <b>Sue Glew, Programme Director, BT<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cStories that sweep us from vision to ribbon-cutting \u2013 with honesty, humour, and human impact.\u201d \u2013 <b>James Saunders FCIOB, Global Projects Director, Arcadis<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cSpaces that energise, motivate and make people feel seen and inspired.\u201d \u2013 <b>Korn\u00e9lia Kiss, Global Workplace Transformation Lead, Sanofi<\/b><\/li><li>\u201cHonesty, creativity, and a touch of bravery \u2014 if it makes us smile, nod, or even debate, it\u2019s a winner.\u201d \u2013 <b>Lewis Barker, Director, Workplace Services EMEA, ServiceNow<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cAesthetics matter, but function, inclusivity, wellbeing and biophilic balance are what make a workplace truly work.\u201d \u2013 <b>Steve Wright, Director of Workplace Design &amp; Change Management, GSK<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cSpaces that are human-centred, not ego-centred \u2014 balancing function with flair and sparking joy every day.\u201d \u2013 <b>Diego Henriques, Global Director Workplace, Facilities &amp; Real Estate, Reckitt<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cWorkplaces should be inviting, flexible and sustainable \u2014 the kind of places people want to commute to.\u201d \u2013 <b>James Stratford, Head of Workplace, AXA XL<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cDesign that truly works for people \u2013 supporting wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, with genuine sustainability impact.\u201d \u2013 <b>Sarah Audsley, Independent Workplace Professional<\/b>\u00a0<\/li><li>\u201cThe best designs treat people as the real building material \u2014 culture, behaviour, and belonging matter more than shiny gimmicks.\u201d \u2013 <b>Jennifer Bryan, Founder, ABChange Consultancy<\/b><\/li><\/ul><p><b>Key Dates<\/b>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Entries open: 1 September 2025\u00a0<\/li><li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Entry deadline: 17 October 2025\u00a0<\/li><li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Shortlist announced: 6 January 2026\u00a0<\/li><li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Awards Ceremony: 25 February 2026, Business Design Centre, London\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><p>Entry is <b>free<\/b> and open to architects, interior designers, design consultancies, fit-out companies, occupiers, developers and workplace strategists for projects completed between <b>1 January 2023 \u2013 30 October 2025<\/b>.\u00a0<\/p><p>For guidelines and submission details, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/workspaceshow.co.uk\/awards?actioncode=&amp;utm_source=media-partner&amp;utm_medium=release&amp;utm_campaign=WDSL26-AP-AwardsRelease-JudgesTips&amp;utm_content=\">https:\/\/workspaceshow.co.uk\/awards<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What makes a winning workplace design? According to the judging panel of the brand-new Workspace Design Awards, it\u2019s not just about glossy finishes and clever layouts; it\u2019s about people, culture, and stories that bring workplaces to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,16,14,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-industry-news","category-press","category-show-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/megamultisite.divcomstaging.co.uk\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}