AIA UK Sustainability Series - Designing for People: Environmental Psychology and the Built Environment
Image credit: © Foster + Partners
Join us for a new Sustainability talk, examining how environmental psychology can help us design better places for people.
When: Wednesday 18 February 2026, 6:00pm.
Where: MillerKnoll Showroom, Floor 1, 20 St John's Sq, London EC1M 4AH
CES Credits - Estimated 1.0 LU/HSW for AIA Members
RIBA Members may count this activity towards their CPD recording requirement.
Speaker
Marta Saniewska, Environmental Psychologist, Foster + Partners
Description
No space is ever neutral — it shapes our health whether we intend it to or not. This talk will explore how environmental psychology can strengthen architectural and urban designs by grounding intuition in evidence. Drawing on case studies from Foster + Partners’ projects, it will demonstrate how research from psychology and neuroscience can inform decisions on materiality, spatial layout, and access to nature, and how these insights can be strategically integrated into the design process to create projects which reduce stress, support wellbeing, and improve user experience.
Speaker Bio
Marta works as an Environmental Psychologist in Foster + Partners' Urban Design Team. Within her role she applies psychological research to support architects in creating evidence-based designs. Her work spans across multiple scales and typologies – from healthcare and education, through public realm projects to post-disaster reconstruction masterplans. She holds a BSc in Psychology from Durham University and MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies from the University of Cambridge. She's a member of the British Psychological Society, Centre for Conscious Design, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, and an affiliate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Marta's professional interests lie in enhancing user wellbeing through design and communicating the role of the built environment in shaping public health.
Tickets
£3 - AIA Members
£10 - Non-Members
Spaces are limited. Sign up today!