Holistic design
NRU
May 23, 2018
Racheal Williams
As developers and architects look for ways to improve the marketability of a building, new research reveals the importance of design on mental health and community well-being.
Design firm DIALOG, in partnership with the Conference Board of Canada is set to release the results of a two-year study that measures the impact of a building design on the health and prosperity of its residents. The report, expected to be released in July, proposes a framework that architects, engineers, planners and consultants can use to ensure buildings are designed to address the well-being of its residents.
“We’re really trying to look at what are some of those critical factors that through the design of buildings, sights, neighbourhoods, are going to be really important conversation elements to have through the design process,” said DIALOG principal and urbanism group lead Antonio Gomez-Palacio.
Looking at five indicators-- social, environment, economic, cultural and political--this community well-being framework offers ways the development industry can tailor projects to the needs of its residents. This could include creating “spaces of socialization” in new buildings which, according to the research, help offset early onset dementia by approximately 10 years. These spaces also decrease teen suicide rates by fostering dialogue and community engagement, according to Palacio.
The report also recommends incorporating social programs that are of interest to prospective residents, into new buildings, as well as views and access to nature as a way to boost emotional, physical and mental health.
Empire Communities is already moving ahead with community well-being initiatives in two residential developments in Toronto--the Maverick and the Phoenix-- which are anticipated to open in late summer or early fall. These building owners will employ social architects to oversee social programs and encourage community living.
Located near King Street, between Blue Jays Way and John Street, the Maverick will feature a social club that will host tastings with the city’s top chefs, speaker series’, art show openings, musical performances and yoga gurus, to name a few.
The Phoenix at 251 Manitoba Street is geared towards millennials and will include programming spaces where residents can connect and learn about homeownership, employment opportunities and gain networking tips.
“The attention that we pay to our target market, it’s shifted. So instead of this mentality of building it and they will come, we’re really trying to flip the approach on its head and say who’s going to live there and what do they want,” said Empire Communities marketing vice-president Sue MacKay.
Urban Strategies has also been at the forefront of incorporating community well-being into its urban planning projects, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.
Partner Pino Di Mascio worked on the vision and master plan for both sites and stressed how the firm sought to reduce the stigma of mental health and normalize the physical environment through design.
“If you look at the history of how people with mental health issues have been dealt with or hospitalized it’s either in a very awful asylum-like environment...or it’s institutional. The sense of people having the ability to live a normal life is different because you ‘re putting them in an environment that says this is different,” said Di Mascio.
Urban Strategies proposed a new vision for CAMH that incorporated a number of smaller buildings into a campus-like environment, with internal road networks and public greenspace, surrounded by residential and commercial developments.
“This is something everyone is vested in so it’s a really powerful tool for creating common ground to inform these collaborative conversations that lead to truly impactful design,” said DIALOG principal and landscape architect Jill Robertson.
The Community Well-being Framework is slated to be released on July 18, 2018.
