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Shifting to Human Health-Centered Design H

BETH COCHRAN, WELL AP Student ASID

umans are innately programmed to be sensitive to their environments. It’s core to our survival and how we determine whether a place is one we want to seek out or flee.

And as any interior designer knows, an environment’s visual and felt cues can also trigger specific responses in our sympathetic nervous system. We can almost instantly sense whether a place is stressinducing or calming, welcoming or uninviting, a threat or healing, nourishing and joyful. And this has tremendous implications on human health.

In fact, much research has shown that the physical environment can have a greater impact on health and well-being than lifestyle and genetics. But this extends well beyond the visual aesthetics of a space. Healthy material selection, sound, thermal comfort, culture, and air quality, to name a few, have become integral components of spaces designed for human health and well-being.

Considering indoor pollutant levels can be two to five times higher than outdoor levels and that we spend 90% of our time indoors, prioritizing human health in interior design has become imperative––and it’s something many designers have started to incorporate into their programming.

Interior design’s role in human health

We’ve long perceived the impact the built environment has on humans and our wellbeing––evidenced by the notable movements throughout the history of architecture and design that spurred us to reevaluate the way in which environments are created. From the Arts and Crafts movement to the introduction of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and more recently, the development of health-centered certification programs such as WELL, Fitwel, and Living Building Challenge, there’s no doubt human health and the buildings we occupy are inextricably linked.

“We’re crafting mini worlds for people to live and work in and I think that has a certain responsibility to it and we need to rise to that,” said Gala Magriñá, WELL AP, designer and principal of Gala Magriñá Design. “Our spaces are another pillar of wellness that hasn’t been recognized in the same way that exercise and food have. Once we start creating intentional spaces for people to live and work in, I think it will have a very profound impact on the world.”

Indeed, interior design goes far beyond simply creating beautiful spaces. It shapes the way humans engage with and respond to the world around them.

“There’s an opportunity for us to go deeper,” Magriñá said. “To create more than these beautiful spaces for people and really tap into the energy, and the nurturing and well-being this space can provide.”

Angie Scott, Ph.D., a director and Community Concept Lead for the WELL Building Standard at the International WELL Building Institute, agreed that it’s important for designers to understand the full breadth of well-being and how they can positively imprint spaces to contribute to overall wellness.

“Understanding how we are impacted physiologically, psychologically, spiritually, and socially in our spaces is something that is very important for us to then be able to design spaces around that for people,” she said.

While many designers intuitively pick up on the needs of their clients and the space, certification programs like LEED, WELL, Fitwell and Living Building Challenge aim to provide frameworks to go deeper and achieve environments that are healthy, safe, sustainable, and equitable.

A look inside healthy building standards

The WELL Building Standard (WELL) was introduced in 2014 and has become a global benchmark for promoting health and well-being in buildings. It is administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and is the first standard focused exclusively on the impact buildings––and nearly everything in them––have on human comfort, health and well-being. Think of it as a roadmap for creating and certifying that spaces enhance, rather than detract from, human health and well-being.

In 2020, after years of collecting data, the IWBI launched WELL v2 which expanded from seven to 10 major impact areas called WELL Concepts and room for innovations as well as new beta features:

• Air

• Water

• Nourishment

• Light

• Movement

• Thermal comfort

• Sound

• Materials

• Mind

• Community

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