Surface Design Show announces details of speaker’s programme

The Surface Design Show has announced the final details of its speaker’s programme for the 2026 edition of the show. Featuring a range of topics with some of the most innovative voices in industry, the schedule includes an impressive list of industry names including Michelle Ogundehin, Katie Treggiden, Liz Bell, Tim Gledstone, Giles Miller and Justine Fox.  The main stage is designed by Design Command using acoustic surfaces, soft textures and gentle light, with furniture supplied by Table Place Chairs. The design treats silence not as absence but as an active design language, exploring how materials can shape space while creating a pause for visitors to reflect and feel inspired amid the show. The programme will consist of 21 presentations from over 50 speakers spanning the full breadth of the design industry.

New for 2026 is the Workshops stage, with a table designed and built by U-Build who will also be joining SDS26 as an exhibitor. Created off the back of feedback from the design community, this stage gives visitors a chance to get hands on with materials in guided workshops. From jewellery making from recycled materials through to introductions to concept and in development materials.

Tuesday 3^rd February – Main Stage

This year’s show kicks off with the opening night debate. Award-winning journalist, comms strategist and author of Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure, Katie Treggiden (pictured), will take to the Surface Design Show Main Stage with an insightful perspective on waste – the idea that it’s not a fact, but merely a category. If we can categorise used objects and materials as waste, surely we can recategorise them as exciting new raw materials. She will then chair a lively debate with panellists, Dean Connell; Creative Director of I-AM.D.C, Izzy Kelly; Furniture Designer and Creator at Fallen Furniture, Emer Gillespie; Founder at Spark & Bell and Sara Howard; Circular Ceramic Designer at Sara Howard Studio, exploring whether waste is indeed the raw material of the future or whether creating new demand for waste streams is part of the problem.

From 19:15 – 20:00 Siobhan Murphy of Interior Curve, Emily Wheeler of Furnishing Futures and Charlotte Beevor will discuss Designing for Joy. Exploring how design can actively foster wellbeing, comfort, and a sense of safety. Through discussions of healing homes, creative reuse and a more expressive, maximalist approach to colour, materiality and layering, the session highlights how thoughtful design choices can restore dignity, agency and genuine joy.

Wednesday 4^th February – Main Stage

On Wednesday 4^th February the programme will feature a full lineup on both the Main and Workshop stages. Starting with Material Choices for a Healthy Home running from 10:30 – 11:15 and moderated by Liz Bell from the British Institute of Interior Design who will lead a panel comprised of Gail Race; Founder of Gail Race Interior Design , Jennifer Hamilton; Founder & Creative Director of The Vawdrey House and Mathew Freeman; Founder of Freeman Studio to discuss how the materials we choose affect our personal health.

Matt Robb; Marketing and Media Manager at the Stone Federation Great Britain will lead a discussion on Natural Stone: Understanding Process, Perfecting Design running from 11:30 – 12:15 with panellists Giulliana Giorgi; Architect at Allies and Morrison, Róisín Lafferty; Founder & Creative Director at Róisín Lafferty and Tim Gledstone; Senior Partner at Squire & Partners exploring the sustainability and design potential of natural stone.

Hospitality by Design: Materials, Trends and Innovation will be running from 12:30 – 13:15 will explore how surface design shapes the hospitality experience, led by Design Insider’s Alys Bryan and featuring panellists Poppy Kearns; Project Leader at Blacksheep, Matt Nadilo; Associate Design Director at BLINK Design Group and Sara Rossellini; Co-Founder and Creative Director at Shepherd&.

Vanessa Champion; Founder and Editorial Director of the Journal of Biophilic Design will host Grant Gibson; Co-Founder of Material Matters, Nigel Oseland; Founder of Workplace Unlimited and Nina Woodcroft; Founder of Nina+Co to discuss how biophilic material choices improve environmental performance and human well-being in Designing With Life in Mind: A Biophilic Guide top better surface material choices (13:30 – 14:15).

Navigating Neurodiversity (14:30 – 15:15) will dive into how workplace design is evolving for diverse thinking. Hosted by Guy Stanley; Podcast Host and Creative Director at Space by Stansons_ with panellists Michelle Ogundehin; Writer, Author, Brand Consultant & TV Presenter,  Alexander Matthams; Associate Inclusive Environments Consultant at Buro Happold, Paula Rowntree; Head of Workplace Design at Lloyd’s Banking Group and Tim Hatton; Principal – Senior Interior Designer at HOK.

From 15:30 until 16:00, visitors will be able to view an intimate chat between Zoe Allen; Founder of Artistic Statements and Giles Miller; Director at Giles Miller Studio about Designing Emotion: Art, Materiality and Public Spaces which will explore the emotional impact of art and surfaces in public interiors.

Materials with Meaning will run from 16:15 – 17:00 with keynote Olivia Aspinall; Founder of Do Not Go Gentle discussing reframing materials as carriers of story and context rather than just digital or fast-moving commodities.

Hamish Kilburn; Owner and Director at Kilburn Communications will host this year’s Surface Design Awards 2026, which will take place from 18:00-19:00 and will see the winners of each category receive an award designed by Revive using their RE-CD material, made with 100% recycled CDs without the use of harmful resins or binders.

Wednesday 4^th February – Workshop Stage

This year’s Surface Design Show encourages visitors to get more hands-on with its workshop stage sessions, a new feature at the show the workshops on offer include Make Art Not Waste with Carmen Wochner; Associate Director of Materials and Information at TP Bennett, Material Literacy 101 with Olivia Aspinall; Founder of Do Not Go Gentle and Demystifying the Myths of Maximalism led by Siobhan Murphy; Interior Designer at Interior Curve.

Thursday 5^th February – Main Stage

The final day of the show follows themes of future technologies, AI and the circular economy. Hamish Kilburn; Owner and Director at Kilburn Communications moderates a panel including Guy Ailion; CEO and Co-founder of Mattoboard and Partner at KSR Architects & Interior Designers, Jessica Morrison; Senior Associate at GA Group, Robbie Reid; Associate and AI Lead at Jestico+Whiles and Ruud Belmans; Creative Director at WeWantMore on the use of AI as a collaborator in architecture titled Intelligent Futures: AI-Driven Innovation (10:15 – 11:00).

Adaptive Reuse and the Art of Transformation will be led by Anna King; Founder of Informare and feature panellists Caroline Olah; Founder and Creative Director at REDDIE, Chiara Cantilena; Senior Associate at LOM and Tim Bowder-Ridger; Principle and Partner at Conran & Partners on the discussion of reimagining historic buildings and salvaged materials taking place from 11:15 – 12:00.

Justine Fox; Founder of Studio Justine Fox will host a discussion on Colouring Circularity from 12:15 – 13:00 with participants Emer Gillespie; Founder of Spark & Bell, Emily Taylor; CEO and Co-Founder of Sages and Scott Campbell; Co-Founder and Managing Director at Surface Matter to discuss how colour choices impact material reuse and the circular economy.

Materiality and Inclusion (13:15 – 14:00) with Sophie Harper; Editor at Hotel Designs will take a deep dive into how the industry can ensure materials and designs are accessible to everyone.

Sally Angharad; Lecturer and Trend Consultant and Stephen Westland; Professor of Colour Science and Technology at the University of Leeds will discuss the interaction of human intuition and AI in creating colour palettes in the session Chromatic Intelligence at 14:15-14:45.

Harsha Kotak: Founder of Women in Office Design and Co-Founder of the Sustainable Design Collective will be joined by Anja Schellenbauer; Company Director at John Robertson Associates, Dave Bell; Head of EcoClear, Joanna Knight; Co-Founder of The Sustainable Design Collective, Manasi Melon; Senior Sustainability Designer at TP Bennett and Phil Towle; Sustainability Lead at The Furniture Practice to debate whether we should set our focus on maximising existing materials over finding new sustainable ones in their session Searching for the Holy Grail from 15:00 – 15:45.

Thursday 5^th February – Workshop Stage

The morning session Getting Out of Your Own Head With Colour will be led by Justine Fox; Founder of Studio Justine Fox and will involve an interactive hands-on session exploring the ideas around the way we design colour for others.

The Green Grads will take over the Workshop Stage on the final afternoon of the show, focusing on sustainable innovation from the next generation of designers. The first session is titled Weave a mini art work with textile waste. Green Grad Claire Malley is bringing card looms and a stash of denim offcuts recycled textiles and yarns. She will be asking people to consider how waste fabrics can become art for interiors assisted by another Green Grad Martha Lawton participants can try weaving exploring scale, colour and texture.

Explore bio-materials and make your own memento is the second session Green Grads Mobina Rajabimoghadam and Yahvi Duggal will offer fascinating insight into the new world of bio-materials sharing their expertise and bringing samples of their materials made from food waste such as eggshells, banana peel and avocado pits. With their guidance participants can transform these into their own creations, exploring the potential of these wonderful new materials.

To read the full speakers programme, please click on the link: https://www.surfacedesignshow.com/2026-programme

Registration for the 2026 Surface Design Show is now open, click here to register: LINK