London-based concept arrives at ICFF/NYCxDESIGN with panel featuring Winka Dubbeldam, Julie Lasky, Walter Craven, and John Crews
New York, NY- We are living through a crisis of personal privacy. Not just the data kind, but the human kind.
For decades, design has prioritized openness, density, and efficiency. The result is an environment optimized for visibility, but not for focus, recovery, or sustained thought. Privacy, once treated as a luxury or an amenity, is now emerging as something far more essential: a tool for human performance.
At this year’s NYCxDESIGN, Kabin Performance Sanctuary™ makes its U.S. debut with Design & the Crisis of Privacy, a panel and immersive experience presented with Shaw Contract. Installed at the Shaw Contract showroom in Union Square, the program brings together four voices shaping this conversation across architecture, design, and media.
Kabin and Shaw Contract convene architect Winka Dubbeldam, writer and editor Julie Lasky, Kabin founder Walter Craven, and John Crews of Shaw Contract to examine how privacy-first design is reshaping the spaces we inhabit—from offices and airports to schools, hospitality, healthcare environments, and the home. The discussion will explore not only the cultural consequences of constant exposure, but the growing body of evidence that environments designed for privacy can improve cognitive performance, reduce stress, and support more equitable ways of working. A short audience Q&A will follow.
Extending beyond the discussion, attendees are invited to step inside Kabin’s freestanding Performance Sanctuaries and experience privacy-first design firsthand. These immersive, multi-sensory environments are designed not simply as places to work, but as spaces to recalibrate. A forward-facing orientation protects visual focus, while shaded glass admits natural light and softens external distraction. Users can adjust lighting, sound, and airflow through an intuitive interface, or engage with immersive sound and videoscapes tailored to different modes of work. Amphitheater-inspired interior geometry directs sound toward the user while diffusing external noise. Considered materiality and ergonomic construction complete the effect, creating a space where the nervous system can settle and attention can return.
“These are not privacy pods in the conventional sense,” says Craven. “They are tools for focus and restoration — private places where people can think clearly, reset, and perform at their best.”
The data supports this. According to Kabin’s user research, workers who spend just 30 minutes a day in a Sanctuary report improved cognitive performance (88%) and reduced stress levels (82%) — even as workplace distractions remain a persistent obstacle to performance.
Manufactured in London using a combination of advanced technology and expert craftsmanship, Kabin is constructed from steel, wood, and fabric, and offered in a refined palette of finishes. Its modular system allows for updates and reconfiguration over time, minimizing waste and extending product lifespan. All materials are FSC-certified and produced through a reduced-waste process for construction and shipping.
This event also marks the U.S. debut of Kabin’s updated interface, including expanded language capabilities (currently 12 languages), the Kabin timer, new interior and exterior colorways, and upgraded Bluetooth and audio performance.
Kabin at NYCxDESIGN/ICFF New York, May 2026
Panel Discussion: “Design & the Crisis of Privacy”
Tuesday, May 19, 6–8pm | Shaw Contract Showroom, New York, 853 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10003
An evening conversation on privacy-first design strategies, the neurological case for sanctuary, and how architecture, materials, and culture can reclaim space for focus and well-being. Drinks served; audience Q&A to follow.
Speakers:
Winka Dubbeldam – President, SCI-Arc; founding principal, Archi-Tectonics Julie Lasky – Writer and editor, The New York Times
Walter Craven – Founder, Kabin Performance Sanctuary™
John Crews – Shaw Contract
Kabin Recharge Sessions
May 18 & 19, 11am–4pm | Shaw Contract Showroom, New York
Visitors are invited to step inside the Kabin Performance Sanctuary and experience its multi-sensory environment firsthand. Sessions are first-come, first-served.
About Kabin Performance Sanctuary™
Kabin is a multi-sensory performance sanctuary that creates genuine privacy wherever it is placed. Acoustic control, calibrated lighting, optimized airflow, and considered materiality combine to settle the nervous system, restore attention, and replenish energy in offices, airports, hotels, healthcare settings, and beyond.
Founded in London and now launching in the United States, Kabin represents a new category at the intersection of architecture, wellness design, and performance. Kabin.space
About Walter Craven
A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design where he studied architecture and sculpture, the Boston native moved to the West Coast after graduation. Settling in the Bay Area, he founded Blank & Cables, a furniture and home accessory line with products in the permanent collection of the SF MoMA. Walter has always brought a social perspective to his understanding of space, and beyond his furniture practice, he has revitalized a number of former industrial spaces in the city of Oakland into artist studios and other cooperative spaces. In 2019, he and his family relocated to London and Walter founded Kabin. When not designing, Walter restores and races vintage motorcycles.
About Winka Dubbeldam
Winka Dubbeldam is the founding partner of Archi-Tectonics NYC LLC (1994), a WBE-certified research-design studio with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Hangzhou. The studio’s award-winning work spans architecture, urbanism, and smart building systems. Recent awards include SARA award for London Solar House, Architizer A+, and CTBUH excellence awards for the Asian Games 2023 Eco Park & buildings and the RTF & AIA awards for 512GW Townhouse, New York. Since September 2025, Dubbeldam has served as Director and CEO of SCI-Arc. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, where she chaired the Department of Architecture [2013-23]. She currently serves as the External Examiner at the Architectural Association, London and on the editorial board of the PLAN Journal Italy. Archi-Tectonics 5th book “Monsters & Mutants, Explorations in the Architecture – Nature continuum” published by Park Books is coming out April 2026.
About Julie Lasky
Julie Lasky is a New York–based journalist, editor, and critic specializing in design and culture. She has held senior editorial roles including editor-in-chief of I.D. magazine and deputy editor of The New York Times Home section, shaping the conversation around contemporary design and the built environment. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Dwell, and other leading publications. Known for her incisive perspective on how design intersects with daily life, Julie continues to contribute widely across print and digital media.
About John Crews
John Crews is a Design Director at Shaw Contract, where he leads product design and development across education, multifamily, and government segments, with a focus on expanding porcelain and hard surface innovation in the commercial market. With almost twenty years of experience across residential and commercial flooring, he has held leadership roles including Vice President of Design & Development for Shaw’s residential division, leading award-winning product collections and new product category development. His work reflects an ongoing exploration of how material systems and visual language influence perception and experience within all spaces.
Media Contact
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jenny@starmapsagency.com
415.823.6771
