Designing with Wellness in Mind
Inside the DNA of Hart Howerton
Designing with Wellness in Mind
Inside the DNA of Hart Howerton
HOLLYWOOD PARK, INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA
“Health is the state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” — The World Health Organization
WILLOW VILLAGE, MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA
‘‘Green” is still hot in the world of architecture and beyond. But you’ve probably noticed a new player has emerged to join environmental sustainability initiatives at center stage: health and wellness.
Just as business priorities have shifted globally as companies take pains to become more eco-friendly—whether its Starbucks’ creation of “green stores,” Google’s green supply chain management practices, or Nike’s line of sustainable products—there’s now an equivalent push to find ways to bring greater health and wellness benefits to clients, customers, employees, and the general public.
As just one example of where wellness has become king, corporate wellness programs have become ubiquitous as organizations in seemingly every industry use health and wellness related perks—from fitness centers and massage services to meditation and mindfulness classes—as a competitive advantage to woo top talent.
It’s clear that figuring out how to make people feel better and live longer, healthier lives has become not just a “nice to have,” but a true business imperative.
EDGE ON HUDSON, SLEEPY HOLLOW, NEW YORK
Wellness Design Ascends
“A recent article in Architect, the Journal of the American Institute of Architects, calls designing for health and wellness “The Next Great Challenge.”
“Metropolismagazine recently explained, ‘‘How New Wellness Standards Are Reshaping Architecture.”
“The Architect’s Newspaper elaborates on the industry-altering effect of these changes, noting how ‘Wellness design is spreading across hospitality architecture and beyond.”
“A recent article in Architect, the Journal of the American Institute of Architects, calls designing for health and wellness “The Next Great Challenge.”
“Metropolis magazine recently explained, ‘‘How New Wellness Standards Are Reshaping Architecture.”
“The Architect’s Newspaper elaborates on the industry-altering effect of these changes, noting how ‘Wellness design is spreading across hospitality architecture and beyond.”
A major point echoed in these industry think pieces and others is that there’s emerging popular interest in—and evidence behind—how our surroundings affect people physically, psychologically, and on other levels that affect health and wellness. While the focus on wellness design is a new way of looking at achieving better health outcomes for residents and visitors to particular places and spaces, the concept behind this approach has its roots in history.
As far back as the late 19th century, the Victorians solved public health crises through improved physical design of place and infrastructure. Visionary architects and planners of that time period recognized the critical role the design of buildings and communities play in improving health for everyone who lived and worked there. It’s much the same today, as forward-thinking industry players in architecture, urban planning, and other industries move the conversation to the next level based on the current, expanded understanding about how design influences health and wellness.
Framing the Dialogue
As a leading design firm, Hart Howerton has been a pioneer in these discussions through our Healthy Living initiative, which grew out of our partnership with the University of Virginia’s (UVA’s) Center for Design and Health. While related principles have guided our firm’s work for 50 years, it was in 2012 that we teamed up with UVA to begin digging more deeply in to the specific influence of physical space and place—from smart location and sustainable development to mixed uses and nature integration—on health and wellness outcomes. The result of our efforts was the publication at the end of 2014 of Designing the Healthy Neighborhood, the core component of our collaborative “Designing for Healthy Living” research . This work outlines nine basic tenets that are critical to designing neighborhoods and other ecosystems for healthy living.
LAKE MINNEHAHA WATERSHED, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
YELLOWSTONE CLUB, BIG SKY, MONTANA
These principles were determined based on UVA’s extensive research review that confirmed the effectiveness of each design principle in facilitating healthier communities. Since the publication of our Healthy Living research, Hart Howerton has increasingly emerged at the forefront of the wellness design conversation, and our involvement has continued to escalate in leading discussions and furthering the dialogue on these topics nationally and globally. The result of our input has triggered growing interest from the architecture, medical, and business fields about the best way to use health outcomes as an influencer in designing physical places.
As our influence in wellness design has increased, our network has also amplified to incorporate connections with key players such as Mayo Clinic, the WELL Living Lab, Delos, and many more. We’re approaching the design of healthier places in an integrated, holistic way, engaging with thought leaders across diverse fields and backgrounds—from healthcare and finance to developers and policy makers. Our clients benefit from access to this extended brain trust of knowledge about how particular designs can create avenues for improved long-term health and wellness in our buildings, neighborhoods, and communities.
ASSEMBLY AT NORTH FIRST, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
PALMETTO BLUFF, BLUFFTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Our core business has always been, and remains, Designing Complete Environments™ with a focus on environmentally responsive development. Yet our participation on the front end of the Healthy Living initiative expanded our expertise in these areas to include the health and wellness outcomes of applying specific design ideas and principles to our buildings and spaces. The ideas behind Healthy Living have captured the imagination not just of the architecture world, but have reverberated far beyond. Figuring out the best way to craft health-promoting built environments is also of great interest to city planners, public health officials, healthcare providers, and other health advocates and community leaders.
Wellness design has created a paradigm shift not only in how architects, landscape architects, and planners design and execute buildings and communities, but also in influencing requirements for real estate development throughout the nation and even internationally. An increasing number of environmental and social governance policies are emerging—particularly for portfolio investors who invest in buildings that not only consider green standards, but now increasingly contemplate wellness standards for the people who occupy the buildings.