Due to her leadership thinking, Elina is regularly invited by industry bodies to participate in steering meetings, inspire audiences at public events, participate in industry or social debates, contribute in research work and is a frequent contributor to articles on design, wellbeing and sustainability. Significant industry contributions include the 2014 WGBC report ‘Health Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices” and a 2014 Feeling Good Foundation white paper ‘Wellbeing Matters: assessing views on the impact of the built environment on wellbeing.’
Elina is the Co-Founder of Grigoriou Interiors, one of the UK’s most forward-thinking design and sustainability studios. Elina
is passionate about designing beautiful interiors that ensure the wellbeing of people and the environment; her extensive knowledge of human-centric design is complemented by an eye for aesthetics and in-depth sustainability know-how.
An industry expert on wellbeing in interiors, Elina works to raise awareness of best practice in designing for wellbeing and sustainability in the built environment. Since 2011, Elina and her team have been developing A Better Place - a new wellbeing evaluation framework for interior environments. Aimed specifically for the fit-out sector, it is the first system of its kind to consider all aesthetic design characteristics and places users at the centre. A Better Place provides clients and their designers with clarity on how to harmonise their occupied spaces with the needs of employees and owners while supporting wellbeing and enabling productivity. Because good design is a good investment, A Better Place also provides a framework for evaluating return on investment.
Wellbeing [and sustainability] projects include designing ‘The Base’, Virgin Atlantic’s £20m cabin crew training centre in Crawley; Huckletree’s first co-working branch in Clerkenwell; Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ most sustainable stand saving €200,000 in annual operating costs; supporting GVA Grimley, Derwent London and Virgin Management achieve SKA Gold for their London offices; and conducting a wellbeing evaluation study for a major British retail landlord’s shopping centre management suite.
In her personal time, Elina is a Tutor at the School of Philosophy & Economic Science in London.
On a personal note she likes: critical thinking, kindness and inclusivity, design in all forms, visiting galleries, experiencing real culture, caring for animals, listening to music, reading fabulous philosophy books, protecting the natural environment, swimming for hours in the Serpentine throughout the year, dancing, studying Practical Philosophy, collaborating with people and being part of teams, flowers.
Don’t go there: un-reasoned conversations, pollution and waste of resources, malfunctioning IT equipment, January weather, boring industry exhibitions, “because we have always done it like that” mentality, people that are out to cut costs without thinking of the human and natural capital impacts, clients who don’t understand that ‘design’ is a process of good thinking and de-risking.
Motto: Get Excited & Make Great Things Happen!