Susanne Brandherm brings a different perspective to the Best of Architecture Summit 2026, hosted by Callwey.

What makes a space somewhere people genuinely enjoy arriving and staying? Hotels are often seen as a model: they bring together atmosphere, hospitality and service to create a distinctive experience. This is why we so often ask what the office can learn from the hotel.

At the Best of Architecture Summit 2026, Susanne Brandherm of brandherm + krumrey intends to turn that perspective around. The office does not need to become a hotel. As a place for working and spending time, it has its own identity and qualities that go far beyond a welcoming atmosphere. It is a place for collaboration, exchange and shared development – and a space where corporate culture becomes tangible in everyday life.

What if learning could work both ways? What if hotels could also learn from offices – from the ways spaces encourage encounters, bring together different needs and build a sense of belonging over time? The essential question is not which design features can be transferred, but what spaces should do for the people who use them.

In her opening talk, Susanne Brandherm challenges the familiar comparison between hotels and offices. Rather than focusing on the staging of a workplace, she looks at the interplay of spatial quality, use, processes and identity. This is where the potential for mutual learning between the two worlds lies.

She will then join Elena de Kan (Director Workplace Design & Consulting, Steelcase) and Dr. Sandra Breuer (Founder of loop – Creating Places) for the panel “Checking into the Office: What Workplaces Need to Learn from Hotels”. Together, they will explore new perspectives on places where people work, meet and want to spend time.

The Best of Architecture Summit creates an opportunity to exchange ideas about the future of architecture and interior architecture – and how different disciplines can learn from one another.