Archinect - News

Archinect's 2023 (100% anonymous) Mental Health Survey

2023-09-27T08:08:00-04:00

It's been a little over three years since we last surveyed the architecture community about our collective mental health. In preparation for World Mental Health Day on October 10, the Archinect team seeks to check in with our audience and learn more about how our community is doing. For this special news article, we're reaching out and asking our readers to share their input and comment on how the last several years have impacted issues on mental health.

We've discussed mental health and workplace issues extensively in the past, and as we slowly reach the last quarter of 2023, we want to check the pulse of our community. Our survey asks questions that aim to help our team learn more about how architects, design professionals, students, and educators have handled and are handling the stressors related to the architecture industry.

Previously on Archinect: Mental Health in Architecture (October 2022)

Our overall goal is to use the information gathered to help guide and inform upcoming...

Goettsch Partners' tiered office tower 'is the healthiest in Chicago'

2022-12-02T09:14:00-05:00

Goettsch Partners (GP) has completed an office tower that it claims is the healthiest in Chicago. Called 320 South Canal, the 51-story structure is the latest in a series by the same team that focuses on tenant health and wellness.

Image © Nick Ulivieri Photography

The 1,740,000-square-foot tower features a conference center, fitness center, restaurant, to-go market, bank, a cocktail lounge in an adjacent structure, as well as parking for cars and bicycles. It also includes a privately owned public park called The Green. The development team of Riverside Investment & Development, Convexity Properties, and Clark Construction also delivered Chicago’s Bank of America Tower in 2020 and the 150 North Riverside office building in 2017. All three projects are certified or precertified LEED Gold, WELL Platinum and WiredScore Platinum.

Image © Nick Ulivieri Photography

320 South Canal hosts a range of design strategies that aim to improve occupant wellbeing, including advanced air monitoring ...

International WELL Building Institute CEO Rachel Hodgdon on the rise of building health ratings

2022-08-29T14:16:00-04:00

The adoption of WELL Certification during the past eight years has been nothing short of incredible—the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has just crossed the 4 billion mark for square footage enrolled to pursue WELL Certification, which means more than 36,000 spaces in more than 120 countries, serving more than 17 million people every day.

Rachel Hodgdon, President & CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and former U.S. Green Building Council Knowledge SVP and Center for Green Schools Director, shared with Multi-Housing News that the institute is currently in development of a single-family residential certification and will soon debut its new WELL Equity Rating, which Hodgdon says is “designed to empower organizations to create places where everyone can feel welcome, seen, and heard.”

Previously on Archinect: New WELL Performance Rating aims to recognize smart, healthy buildings

She also commented on the rise in green building certifications across all building types that has been recorded since the pandemic, providing statistics that support the organizational tide change that the updated rating systems are meant to engender.

“Not only has the WELL Health-Safety Rating been hugely popular, with 2.8 billion square feet enrolled since its launch just two years ago, but we are also finding that most of...

'Healthy buildings' rise amid COVID-19, suggesting a healthier future

2020-12-16T17:40:00-05:00

...architects have been working with the International WELL Building Institute, an organization that’s developing standards for healthy buildings and is now run by Hodgdon. Since the pandemic, the Institute has been registering more than a million square feet of real estate a day in its certification program, putting buildings on the path to wellness.

A new article by WIRED's Sonner Kehrt explores the long term effects of 'healthy' design. "Over the past several months, the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a surge of interest in the role that indoor environments—where we spend 90 percent of our time, even in a normal year—play in our health," writes Kerht. "Suddenly, developers and CEOs are realizing that incorporating health concerns in a building’s design isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity," she continues.

The piece goes into the long-term benefits of the new interest in safer buildings, the importance of interior environments on mental health, and some remarks from a handful of architects working towards these goals.

USBGC seeking input on the future of LEED

2019-07-15T19:25:00-04:00

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced a call for proposals to solicit feedback and concepts for the next version of LEED certification standards.

According to the announcement, the organization is looking to expand and improve upon its recently completed suite of LEED v4.1 rating systems. Aside from focusing on lowering carbon emissions and improving energy and water efficiency ratings like previous editions of the LEED certification guidelines, LEED v4.1 makes an appeal to the growing building wellness movement by also emphasizing "health and well-being of the people who live, work, learn and play in these buildings, cities and communities every day."

Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC explained in a prepared statement that LEED v4.1 "has allowed us to become more agile and adaptable to incorporate real-time feedback so that we can realistically raise the bar on the marketplace."

Ramanujam added, "Building on this success, we are excited to enga...

Snøhetta's Outdoor Care Retreats offer respite to patients at Norway's largest hospitals

2019-01-07T19:19:00-05:00

Hidden in lush forests that are within walking distance from two of Norway’s largest hospitals, the Outdoor Care Retreat is a group of secluded wooden cabins that offer patients a relaxing space to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of nature. Designed by Snøhetta on behalf of the Friluftssykehuset Foundation, the cabins let patients get a break from rigorous treatment routines. Plus, a change in environment can help long-term hospitalization feel a little more manageable.

The Friluftssykehuset Foundation initiated the Outdoor Care Retreat project and developed it with the Oslo University Hospital's Department of Psychosomatics and CL-Child Psychiatry and Snøhetta. The Norwegian Minister of Health and Care Services opened the first Outdoor Care Retreat at the Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet last June. A week later, another Outdoor Care Retreat opened near the Sørlandet Hospital Kristiansand in southern Norway.

Outdoor Care Retreat in Kristiansand. Photo © Ivar Kvaal.

Outdoor Car...

Activetecture: 10 athletic spaces for your Friday inspiration

2018-06-01T09:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Sports!.

↑ London Stadium in London, UK by Populous

↑ Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague, Netherlands by FaulknerBrowns Architects; Photo: Hufton+Crow

↑ ‘Human Rights’ Sports Centre in Strasbourg, France by Dominique Coulon & associés; Photo: Eugeni Pons

↑ Squashbusters Center Expansion in Boston, MA by Merge Architects; Photo: John Horner Photography

↑ Hayden in Long Island City, NY by SLCE Architects; Interior Architect: JG Neukomm Architecture; Photo: Scott Frances

↑ Jaransanitwong Archery Club in Bangkok, Thailand by Archimontage Design Fields Sophisticated; Photo: Beer Singnoi

↑ GLP I-Park in Xi'An, China by More Design Offic...

Ten Top Images on Archinect's NEW "Sports!" Pinterest Board

2016-08-12T15:43:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the NEW board Sports!.

↑ Regent Park Aquatic Centre in Toronto, Canada by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA)

↑ Gymnasium Regis Racine in Drancy, France by Alexandre Dreyssé Architectes & Sébastien Muller; Photo: Guillaume Clement

↑ Stadium in Mersin, Turkey by Bahadır Kul Architects; Photo: Ket Kolektif

↑ Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, UAE by Benoy; Roof material supplier: Euramax Coated Products

↑ Multipurpose Pavilion in Viana do Castelo, Portugal by Eduardo Souto de Moura; Photo: Joao Morgado - Architecture Photography

↑ Neudorf Sports Hall in Strasbourg, France by ATELIER ZÜNDEL CRISTEA; Photo: Sergio Grazia

↑ Palo Verde Library / Maryvale...

Architecture offers new prescriptions for building health

2011-11-11T18:56:18-05:00

... the enthusiasm in Cape Town for architecture that excites and enlightens people about health is especially rewarding. “We've never seen anything like this anywhere,” Farrow says, about the notion of wellness being trumpeted so loudly through architecture.