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ACTIU Berbegal y Formas, S.A.
Blog / Inspiration / Regenerative spaces: designing the future from life and wellbeing
Regenerative spaces: designing the future from life and wellbeing

Regenerative spaces: designing the future from life and wellbeing

OCTOBER 2025
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4 minutes
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In the prestigious setting of Jesus College, University of Cambridge, the Future Spaces event, organised by Layrd Design, took place. This two-day event brings together international professionals in design, architecture, workplace strategy and innovation to explore how the environments we inhabit and use are evolving towards more sustainable, hybrid and wellbeing-focused models.

Within this framework, Actiu participated actively with Gustavo Valbuena, Director of Strategy and Innovation, who led a presentation in which he explored how global trends and human needs are shaping a new way of conceiving the workspace.

Gustavo Valbuena, Strategy and Innovation Manager at Actiu

"The future cannot be guessed: it is designed from empathy. Only by understanding the real needs of people can we create spaces that will remain relevant tomorrow." - Gustavo Valbuena, Future Spaces 2025

The era of "permacrisis": context and opportunity

We live in a time of constant transformation. Trade wars, digital disruption, climate crises and new ways of working place us in a state of continuous change that redefines our priorities and the way we inhabit spaces.

Instead of resisting it, we must understand its signals. At Actiu we sum it up in one powerful idea: the future is not something that arrives, it is something that is designed. This vision drives us to design resilient, sustainable and flexible spaces, capable of adapting to the complexity of the present without losing their purpose: to improve people's lives.

The Economy of Life: Well-being as a Strategy

Among the most decisive trends is the Life Economy, which proposes putting wellbeing at the centre of all business and design decisions. The question is no longer whether spaces are sustainable, but whether they are regenerative: do they contribute more than they consume? Do they promote health, connection and creativity?

From this perspective, the design of future spaces is conceived as a living ecosystem. Under the Life Friendly Spaces model promoted by Actiu, environments are designed to take care of people, the planet and productivity, integrating wellbeing, sustainability and emotion in the same strategy.

Inclusion and longevity: designing for all lives

The Silver Economy will be one of the great forces of the next decade. By 2030, the number of people over 100 will multiply, opening up opportunities to design intergenerational products and spaces.

Added to this reality is the growing attention to neurodiversity and mental health, two key factors in the new paradigm of inclusive design.

The spaces of the future must be empathetic, accessible and emotionally sustainable, integrating all people without distinction. It is no longer enough for them to be functional: they must reflect human diversity and favour environments where each individual can feel part of a whole.

Digital convergence: technology with purpose

Digital Convergence is transforming the relationship between technology and well-being. Artificial intelligence, automation and robotics are redefining work and personal environments, but the real challenge is not technical, but human: to use technology to amplify the life experience, not to replace it.

In this scenario, the design of hybrid and digital spaces becomes a priority. Places must connect the physical and the virtual, creating environments where talent, creativity and health can flourish.

Smart, connected spaces not only improve efficiency, but also strengthen the sense of belonging and emotional well-being of the people who live in them.

Life Friendly Spaces: a new way of understanding space

At Actiu we promote Life Friendly Spaces, a model that integrates sustainability, inclusion, wellbeing and technology under a single purpose: to create spaces that are compatible with life.

This approach redefines the way we conceive the design of future spaces, understanding every environment as an opportunity to regenerate the planet and strengthen the human bond.

It is not just about designing furniture or functional environments, but about cultivating a culture that inspires, connects and regenerates.

Reference voices

The event also featured a line-up of renowned speakers who enriched the dialogue:

  • Sophie Schuller (Neuroarchitect, TU Eindhoven) addressed how built environments affect health, stress and cognition.
  • Jonathan Rush (Director of Lighting at Hoare Lea) explored the role of light in the emotional and functional well-being of spaces.
  • Dr Heather Wray (Circular Economy Researcher, TNO) focused on circularity, green materials and regenerative urban infrastructure.

This kind of diversity in the panel of speakers underlines the interdisciplinary and international character of Future Spaces, which amplifies the relevance of Actiu's intervention: to be present in this dialogue is to reaffirm that the company is committed to being among the "thinkers of tomorrow" in workplace and spaces.

Designing relevant futures

The lesson from Future Spaces Cambridge is clear: designing the future is not about predicting what will come, but about shaping what we need as a society.

Cambridge was the ideal setting to remind us that innovation does not start with technology, but with people. And that the spaces of tomorrow will be, first and foremost, spaces for living.