DAY 1 • TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER • 14.35 – 15.15
Panel discussion: Neurodesign myth-busting: Misconceptions about inclusive design
A fast-paced, expert-led session challenging common assumptions about neuroinclusive design.
From colour and lighting to sensory environments and spatial planning, this discussion separates evidence from misconception - offering practical clarity on what truly supports diverse users and what may be overstated or misunderstood.
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Challenging common myths around colour, lighting, and sensory design. How neuroinclusive design does not need to mean bland!
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Where well-meaning design decisions can unintentionally create barriers
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Balancing simplicity, stimulation, and user preference in real environments
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Real-world examples of what works - and what doesn’t - in practice
Guy Kornetzki, Lighting Consultant, GKLD
Ariane Sanders, Founder, Sonda Studios
Guy Kornetzki
Guy Kornetzki started in Lighting age 17-years old, as a stage lighting technician and made his way through to becoming a designer.
He worked in theatre, opera, dance and concert lighting for some 20-years before transferring to architecture in 2007. Since then, projects worldwide include super-prime residentials and developments, hospitality, workplaces, facades, landscape, public realm and masterplanning.
Guy has worked for various award-winning lighting design consultancies over the years and collaborated with some of the biggest names in architecture, interior design, construction and project management.
Guy is a great believer in inclusive design, collaboration, and empowering people to feel welcome and achieve their best.
Ariane Sanders
I’m a multi-award-winning interior designer and spatial storyteller specialising in sensory-led and neuroinclusive design. With over 13 years of experience in workplace design, I founded Sonda Studio on the understanding that everyone experiences and processes spaces differently. To create environments that better support the way people think, feel, function, and connect within the built environment and truly help them thrive.
My approach to design is rooted in the understanding that we experience spaces through our senses and nervous systems, not just visually, and that the environments around us can either support or hinder how we regulate, focus, connect, and feel.
I am driven by my own lived experience of being neurodivergent and struggling within workplace environments, I’m passionate about helping create spaces that better support people who experience overwhelm, sensory stress, and cognitive fatigue.
I work with businesses and design teams to create environments that reduce unnecessary cognitive load, support a wider range of sensory needs, and help people feel more regulated, engaged, and connected within the built environment.