Healthy is the new wealthy.

The great 2020 transformation.

LET'S TALK

PEOPLE

We are living through a major shift in societal thinking. For more than 12 months, people have had the time to see and experience what effect spending more time in certain environments does to their bodies, mental health, and human relationships.

This psychological and behavioural shift is not something that can be undone. Thankfully, within the more forward-focused areas of thinking in the built environment, there has been a nascent wellbeing movement in recent years.

The rise in popularity of the WELL Building Standard and other similar wellbeing-focused building certifications serves as a harbinger for an industry-wide shift towards an increasingly user/occupier-centric approach, fuelled by research showing the impact of the spaces we inhabit on our health, mood, and productivity.

This shift is not just in building design, but also in the operation and management of built assets. At the same time, the rise in environmental monitoring and wearable technologies is creating better informed consumers and building users who can track the connection between indoor environmental conditions and how they feel or behave.

Beyond concerns for hygiene and viral transmission, the lockdowns of the last 12+ months have meant most of us now viscerally understand how the spaces we inhabit impact on our wellbeing and productivity.

Blurred lines

In 2021, collectively, we now have an evolved understanding of what constitutes a healthy building. It’s one that is shared across society and not restricted to the technical domain or built environment professionals. Out of necessity, air flow rates and ventilation options have entered into everyday conversations. Beyond concerns for hygiene and viral transmission, the lockdowns of the last 12+ months have meant most of us now viscerally understand how the spaces we inhabit impact on our wellbeing and productivity.

So what does this mean for design?

When designing homes we need to ensure they are more flexible and adaptable than ever. We need to be asking ourselves how easy it would be for people to reconfigure their internal spaces, or how they’ll use tech to manage their smart appliances and control their comfort levels. In a wider sense, residential developments must be designed to grow and evolve to accommodate different demographic groups.

For the workplace, the same principles apply (as is so often the case when considering design from the human perspective). Flexibility and adaptability is everything. In the short term, it’s collaboration and social encounters that people are likely to be craving and will respond most positively to.

Recent industry studies have also revealed that there are certain spaces in modern workplaces that greatly impact people’s performance, such as wellness zones, creative spaces, and private secluded areas.

The workplace will be the answer to what we can’t effectively achieve from home. Enhanced ventilation design and air quality monitoring in a mix of functionable spaces rather than a blanket design solution across the floorplate is paramount. As air quality becomes increasingly scrutinised, natural building materials and low VOC-emitting furnishings will also need to be catered for.

Another potential area of innovation is in the treatment of entrance areas and better integration of cycle access and cyclist facilities. This needs to be key in new commercial buildings as people adopt more active modes of travel.

Ultimately, as the lines between our indoor environments become ever more blurred, our homes and workspaces must be designed with multi-functionality and health & wellbeing at their heart. It’s a lesson everyone has learnt.