Insights


Designing WELL for an indoor generation

Americans spend approximately 90% of their lives indoors. Many of us sit eight hours a day at a desk, staring at a screen that degenerates eyesight, in a manufactured environment that tricks our body out of its organic cycles. All the while, we’re sitting on furniture and encountering finishes that alter our DNA and the genetic makeup of our future children. As we plan for the welfare of an indoor generation, wellness is the standard we should measure ourselves against.

The WELL Standard Initiative was created to help designers, owners, and operations personnel work together to address and prioritize factors that promote human wellness. WELL’s ten core concepts are: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community. Each covers specific health intents through preconditions or optimizations. These tools can drive design whether or not clients pursue certification.

As the suicide rate on college campuses continues to rise, architects should be doing everything in our power to mitigate stressors in the built environment

Healthcare facilities have some of the lowest workplace satisfaction scores and highest professional burnout rates. Electric light quality, mindful nourishment opportunities in the form of dedicated eating space design, restorative placemaking, and proper ergonomics can help the daily workflow of people in these environments. Across industries, today’s workplace fosters sedentary behaviors—behaviors linked to premature mortality. These behaviors can be counteracted through intentional design. Interventions include active commuter support (in the form of elements like bike racks and employee showers), active furnishings (sit to stand desks and dynamic workstations with balance boards or treadmills for instance), drinking water access within walking distance of all occupied areas, and exterior walkways.

Environmental sustainability has been a major driver of design for the past 20 years. An epidemic of shortened lifespans for many demographics from past generations—despite better technology and standard of living— is pushing research on human sustainability to the forefront. Community development and population help initiatives will be the next wave for design, regulation, and innovation. Many of the initiatives designed to help humans flourish, can also benefit our environment. While the LEED certification program provides avenues to lessen a building’s impact on the environment, WELL looks at improving a building’s impact on its inhabitants.

Everyone deserves healthy buildings; ones that promote systems that keep us well and facilitate opportunities to live our lives to the fullest. This includes happiness and satisfaction. Research is providing new insights on how buildings can nurture and sustain us. Technology is readily available that can improve the quality of our air, water, and light. WELL Initiatives can help create environments that fuel our bodies, keep us moving, inspire our best work, and enable proper rest, help people thrive.