Spotlight on Architecture and Community Development
Key opportunities, recent trends, the latest research and companies to watch
Building H puts out a regular newsletter that shares new research, recent developments, glimpses of the future, and diverse perspectives related to the intersection of health, everyday life, and innovation. Periodically, we pull back from the flow of regular stories to focus on a particular topic and synthesize across recent developments (this spotlight on social connection was our first). For this edition, we teamed up with Samir Khanna to produce this spotlight on architecture and community development. We hope you find it valuable and please let us know what you think. We’re also interested in nominations for other topics — along with ideas on partners to engage in producing them.
- Steve Downs
So much of health depends on our behaviors and what we’re exposed to, and those in turn are shaped by the places where we live, work, learn and play. The environments created by our homes, our workplaces and our schools expose us to air of varying quality and safety, different amounts and types of natural and artificial light, soundscapes, and views that affect our health directly or influence how we feel. The architecture and design of these spaces shapes our activities, prompting us to be active or sedentary, social or isolated, and influencing how we eat and sleep. They beckon us to stay in or encourage us to get out. These buildings exist in context and where they are sited also has influence. Do neighborhoods encourage interactions with neighbors or do they prioritize privacy? Are homes within walking or cycling distance to green space, transportation, shopping and other activities or must one use a car? The location of homes relative to workplaces often determines the transportation mode used for commuting.
I. Key Opportunities
The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced a re-examination of many assumptions about where we live, where we work and the designs of those environments. As we look to the future, with an ever increasing understanding of the many ways architecture and community planning can influence health and well-being, we see opportunities to capitalize on that knowledge, and on emerging technologies, to design for health — with intention.
Most fundamentally, and quite generally, there is an opportunity to approach the designs of residences, workplaces and schools with a bias toward health, with an intention to facilitate or even induce a set of healthy behaviors. How might, for instance, the layout of kitchens and other home living and storage spaces optimize around cooking with fresh foods and having social meals? How might we integrate indoor gardening into our meal planning? How does an apartment complex or a housing development design for easy social interaction and the building of meaningful relationships. How would you design an apartment that encouraged you to leave it and get outdoors? How might new smart home technologies bring about any of these changes?
Buildings can also capture some of the benefits associated with being outdoors by bringing the outdoors in. Natural solutions — actual plants, windows with views of greenery, and natural sunlight — are great, but studies are showing that even watching images of nature (on a screen, or, as discussed below, through VR) can be beneficial. Advances in programmable LED lighting are creating opportunities to mimic the natural experience of sunlight throughout the day, helping us to align better with our circadian rhythms, be alert when we’re supposed to be alert, and sleepy when we’re supposed to be sleepy.
Smart home technology offers an opportunity to facilitate better sleep. As more and more of a home’s systems — heating and AC, lighting, sound and entertainment, even scent — can be controlled, programmed and even algorithmically driven, they could be optimized, for example, to create the conditions for healthy sleep. What would it look like to put an apartment on “bedtime mode?”
Finally, public health advocates have been saying this for many years, but it bears repeating: dense, walkable communities make it so much easier to lead a healthy lifestyle, facilitating more physical movement, social interactions, and time outdoors.
II. New Research Findings
Here are a few interesting findings from the past year.
Exercise and engage: take a walk.
People are spending more time in and around their neighborhoods than ever before. Walking is a common way to exercise. In a recent study of neighborhoods in Alberta, Canada, researchers found a significant relationship between neighborhood walkability measures and key fitness measures.
As we noted in our last special edition, Spotlight on Social Connection, getting out for a walk is also good for communities. This particular study analyzed the walkability of various cities across the US. Researchers found walkability of a city to be a key factor in determining the upward social mobility and sense of “belonging” of its residents.
Changing your environment can change your outlook.
“Living at work” feels like an increasingly common occurrence, how can it be improved? This proof-of-concept study tested if varying combinations of environmental conditions in a simulated open-office environment would affect the experience of its occupants. The study keenly suggests that our experience is holistic and found that changes in office environmental conditions affect occupants’ environmental satisfaction and their workday experience.
Looking for levity? Consider something leafy.
Supplant that dreary work environment with something a little more lively. This study analyzed physical responses to three versions of biophilic design in simulated open and enclosed office spaces using virtual reality. Researchers found that biophilic interventions produced lower levels of physiological stress indicators and generated higher creativity scores.
The winds of change are coming through HVACs.
When and if a return to the office happens, landlords may consider improving ventilation. This study compared the economic and environmental costs of increased ventilation with subsequent health benefits and productivity gains. Increased ventilation offers tangible health benefits and reduced absenteeism for occupants. Hopefully, better ventilation practices will be more common as we head towards a post-pandemic world.
Upon the return to work, building owners may also consider utilizing this meta-analysis of occupant health/sustainable building rating systems to breakdown each system’s strengths and weaknesses.
III. New Developments and Trends
Good morning roomie!
A single-family house is likely beyond reach for those earning a median salary, especially for those living in areas with large populations.
Diana Lind, author of Brave New Home, comments on the growing range of housing types that go beyond the classic “American Dream” of a single-family home. This includes more people seeking out co-living arrangements, and also questioning the role of home ownership in wealth creation.
“Living at work” is an opportunity to make the home healthier and reimagine the home office.
In spending more time at home than before, rethinking how to engage with our homes in a more holistic sense has taken on higher priority. These articles help evaluate what type of plants to consider, which ergonomic office chairs might be right for you, and how soft form furniture can create a healthier place to live and work. In this interview Emily Anthes, author of The Great Indoors, offers some insights into making our homes healthier in the pandemic era, focusing on ventilation and bringing the outside in. (You can also read Steve Downs’s interview with Emily on Building H’s Medium page.)
Coworking companies like Common, are also embracing the “living at work” dynamic and recently launched a Request For Proposals to establish a “Remote Work Hub” — a home-office complex that would involve living units and space for remote workers.
How we gather outside will be more highly considered.
The pandemic has inspired cities to shut down streets and reimagine how citizens experience and interact outside. Barcelona has announced a 21-street region that would recapture road space and feature extensive tree planting, support for active transport modes and public recreation spaces.
Similarly, Oakland initiated a “Slow Streets” program which closed a handful of streets to through traffic so that people could bike or jog while safely social distancing. In response to feedback, the city has since updated their program to include “Essential Places” so pedestrians in low-income areas can move around safely as well.
Paris has been actively progressing towards the concept of a “15 minute city” which emphasizes distributed, self-sufficient neighborhoods that are walkable, bikeable and supported by public transportation. The slower pace of life and renewed emphasis on neighborhoods have won over fans in Barcelona, Detroit, London, Melbourne, Milan, and Portland.
The city of Baltimore alongside Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and other partners developed 10 concept designs for enabling people to gather safely in public spaces.
The office becomes a consumer product.
Prior to the pandemic, Joseph Allen and John Macomber, authors of Healthy Buildings outlined 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building and the considerations that commercial landlords should keep in mind to ensure people stay healthy. Many of their suggestions are based off of the 3–30–300 rule, which states that on average, companies spend $3 in utilities, $30 in rent, and $300 in payroll per square foot per year. In Healthy Buildings, Allen and Macomber suggest that real estate developers focus on the productivity of their occupants rather than utility cost.
Post-pandemic, the office will become more of a consumer product and building owners will have to get creative. Partnerships to have healthcare providers onsite, such as Convene + Eden Health for telehealth and in-person visits, are a step in the right direction.
Ideas previously put forward like working outdoors in parking spots may become a viable option. Co-working spaces like Second Home in Hollywood are blending indoor and outdoor to create workspaces where health and well-being are front and center.
Watch closely here as co-working spaces create additional health and well-being centric functionalities in their spaces.
Tech may be part of the solution, but privacy and equity will remain key issues.
In researcher and strategist, Anja Jamrozik Otto’s words, “we increasingly live our lives both online and in a physical space, but there are some important differences… The digital world is designed to be super reactive. And I think we’ve come to expect that the physical world isn’t… [in the physical world] You can’t iterate. You can evaluate how it works after the fact and learn from it for the next product, but you should front-load all of that research into understanding how people are going to use that space and whether they will benefit from it. “
With tech companies involved, privacy will naturally become a growing concern. This could look like Sidewalk Labs’ project in Toronto running afoul of local activists, who questioned the way the project would hand citizen data over to Google. It could also manifest in taking what might be one step too far inside the home, such as Amazon announcing an indoor flying drone camera.
Access to sensors that guarantee clean air and improved ventilation may be offered as a perk for luxury apartment buildings. Alternatively, low-tech solutions based on biomimicry may be just as effective.
IV. Companies to Watch
Between the home and the office there’s a broad swath of companies tackling various issues at this intersection.
Air quality and air filtration are crowded markets, Awair and Molekule are two favorites in these respective categories. There are a few companies bringing more plants into your life including The Sill and Leaf & Clay. If you’re searching for a reasonably priced ergonomic chair, Branch Furniture may have a solution for you. F.lux will also help reduce eye strain while you’re working from your device. Community developer Culdesac is building pedestrian- and bike-friendly environments to facilitate more casual interactions. And both Delos and Veev are infusing homes with smart controls — with health and well-being in mind.
In the commercial market — FirstBaseHQ is provisioning supplies for remote teams, Density.io monitors how many people are coming and going from office spaces, and Comfy ensures that your office workspace temperature/lighting is customized to you. View, effectively Transition lenses for windows, recently announced plans to go public.
State of Place works with cities to plan for healthy, equitable spaces, using micro-scale urban design data, predictive analytics and simulations.
V. Further Readings
Dive deeper on how healthy buildings can drive improved productivity by checking out Joseph Allen’s lab, ForHealth.org. Companies are adjusting to the ‘live at work’ environment and providing benefits ranging from chairs and computers to their employee’s rent.
Suggested book/blog reads for 2021 include:
- The Great Indoors by Emily Anthes expounds upon the science of how indoor — and outdoor — spaces influence our health.
- Healthy Buildings by Joseph Allen and John Macomber reviews how indoor spaces drive performance and productivity and also suggests that commercial landlords focus more on occupant health.
- Rethinking Real Estate by Dror Poleg outlines how real estate developers and entrepreneurs can prepare technology’s impact on real estate use, operation, and valuation.
- Minding Design by Anja Jamrozik Otto is a blog that applies research to design in both the built world and digital world.
