WELL has given us a proven set of tools to add to our toolbox, and interior designers are responsible for implementing a forward-thinking design. As an industry, we have sustainable knowledge and available technology used as a guide for future design projects. More than ever, it is time to adapt and work with the real estate sector to impact human health through responsible design. As a starting point, we should ask ourselves how our design allows people to thrive in the built environment. Then work on layering on what we can do to reduce our global footprint by minimizing water, energy, waste, materials, and toxins in our built environment. By honing in on these critical elements, we can identify ways to create a healthier setting for occupants inside a building.
We spend 90 percent of our lives inside, but naturally, we have innate physiological responses to nature as humans. One of WELL’s features, Nature and Place, can be awarded to projects by creating a biophilic design framework. Scientific studies have shown that the ability to be surrounded by nature has aided in reducing stress and positively impacts the mood and comfort level of occupants in a building. This feature can be easily incorporated into interior design universally through environmental elements, lighting, and space layout.
Written by our very own Kara McGuane, IIDA, NCIDQ, Senior Interior Designer