Members of the interior design and architecture community from across Canada gathered at Portland Square in downtown Toronto on Oct. 29 and 30, 2025, to connect, learn, and celebrate the interior design profession at IDC’s 2025 Design Symposium.
The symposium was presented by Benjamin Moore, Ciot, Shaw Contract, and Teknion whose generous support helped bring the event to life.
Spread across two floors of the venue, this year’s event introduced dedicated programming tailored to both residential and commercial designers. Programming included keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops, design tours, and IDC’s annual Awards Celebration featuring the Value of Design Awards (VODA).
Keynotes That Inspired
Hamza Khan opened the symposium with Truly Human Leadership: Practical People-First Strategies to Unlock Performance, exploring how empathy and purpose can drive effective leadership and organizational culture.
On day two, cognitive neuroscientist Colin Ellard closed the event with his presentation, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Interior Design, examining how interior environments influence human emotion, psychological health, and wellness.
Engaging Panels, Presentations, and Workshops
Photo: Nick Wons
The 2025 program featured diverse and practical sessions across both commercial and residential tracks.
In the commercial stream, attendees heard from Teknion on Data, Action, Dialogue: Why Workplace Research Requires a Layered Approach, followed by a panel on Architecting the Modern Retail Experience: From the Shop Floor to the Customer’s Door presented by the Retail Design Institute. Jack Rusk of C.Scale and Ryan Bruer of Ha/f Climate Design delivered How Heavy is Interior Design? examining sustainability and embodied carbon within design practice.
Residential sessions included Stacey Cohen’s workshop, The Ultimate Resource to Building a Profitable, Thriving Interior Design Firm, and Benjamin Moore’s presentation, Fashion & Interiors: Common Threads That Shape Our Spaces by Sharon Grech, exploring parallels between fashion and interior design. Erin Jenner of inspirED learning lab led Designing for the Senses – Phenomenology in Practice, highlighting how sensory experience shapes spatial design.
Both audiences came together for Ciot’s panel, Surface Matters: Defining Natural and Next-Gen Engineered Stone, Tile and Wood Flooring Trends for 2026, highlighting key surface and material trends shaping upcoming projects, and for Ahmed Mekallach of MYTE Group AI’s workshop AI as Mentor and Thought Partner to Expand Your Business, introducing new ways to use AI to enhance clarity and creativity in design practice.
Day two continued with Lesley-Ann Noel of OCAD University presenting Research for Practitioners: Can Practitioners Add to the Body of Knowledge for Interior Design? which examined how design research can bridge practice, reflection, and social impact. Noel shared ways practitioners can apply inquiry-based methods to generate meaningful change across communities and cultures.
Loop Em In: Selling Circularity in Interior Design followed, led by Benjamin Errett and Kathy Seli of Green Standards. The session explored practical approaches to embedding circularity in design, encouraging participants to share strategies for building engagement and communicating its value.
The morning concluded with John Whitehead’s In Search of a Happier Workplace, an interactive session on improving communication and interpersonal skills using the SOCIAL STYLE model to strengthen collaboration and team dynamics.
Design Tours
Design Tour: BDP Quadrangle Studio
Attendees had the opportunity to join one of three design tours at The Well in downtown Toronto, including BDP Quadrangle Studio, a WELL Platinum-certified workspace centered on accessibility, inclusion, and wellness; RioCan, Indigo, and adidas, led by the Retail Design Institute Canada, showcasing immersive retail environments that connect food, culture, and commerce; and Warner Music Toronto, designed by Gensler, a hybrid creative hub that brings the brand’s identity to life through adaptable performance and work spaces.
Awards Celebration
Photo: Nick Wons
Each year, IDC celebrates outstanding members and their contributions to the interior design community. The 2025 Awards Celebration recognized recipients of the Value of Design Awards (VODA), Innovation Awards for industry partners, and the Innovation in Design Thinking Student Competition.
IDC’s Design Symposium was presented by Benjamin Moore, Ciot, Shaw Contract, and Teknion. The event’s program sponsors included Artopex, Caesarstone, Centura Tile, Crown Surface Solutions, Daltile, Euro Tile and Stone, Global Furniture Group, Keilhauer, Midgley Tecnica, Mohawk Group, Nienkamper, Prolink, Syllable Inc., and Tafisa.
Design firm sponsors were Arcadis, CIBC, HOK, Kasian, SDI Design, and Zeidler. Supporters included Azure, DesignTO, Elite Exhibitions, Next Home, and the Retail Design Institute. Canadian Interiors was the event’s media sponsor.
2026 IDC Design Symposium details coming soon. For more information, please contact communications@idcanada.org.
