Can Your Building Make You Sick? The Importance of Health in Architecture
As an architect, I have seen first-hand how the design of a building can impact the health and well-being of its occupants. At UTA Architects, we specialize in healthy building design and can attest to the benefits it can provide.
Have you ever walked into a building and felt uncomfortable, stuffy, or sick? It’s not just in your head. Poor building design can lead to a variety of health hazards, including poor air quality, mould, sick building syndrome, noise and light pollution and even chronic disease. On the other hand, healthy building design can promote better indoor air quality, natural lighting, and acoustic control, leading to improved health and well-being for building occupants.
Recent scientific research has shown that the impact our environment has on our energy levels, allergies, health conditions, sleep, stress levels and even hormone health is much greater than has previously been thought.
In this article, we will explore the concept of healthy architecture and why it matters. We’ll discuss some of the health hazards associated with poor building design and explain how healthy building design can positively impact the building occupants. We’ll also offer tips on what types of features any health-promoting buildings should incorporate.
Buildings affect our wellbeing at home, at work, while on holidays and at social events. So if you’ve ever had a hunch that a specific building might impact your mood or energy levels, you may not be far off the mark.
At UTA Architects, we believe that healthy building design is crucial for the people who own and inhabit these spaces, as well as for various businesses, government organisations, and the environment. We provide feasibility studies, strategic advice, and design services to help clients achieve the best possible outcomes for their buildings. Join us as we explore the importance of healthy buildings and their benefits.
What is healthy building architecture?
Wellness architecture is an approach to building design that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of building occupants. It involves creating indoor and outdoor environments that are conducive to improved human health and happiness. Some of the key principles include:
- Indoor air quality: Healthy building design prioritizes indoor air quality by using proper ventilation (natural, artificial or hybrid), minimizing air pollutants, and reducing the use of harmful chemicals. We have written more here: Take Control of Your Air Quality.
- Natural lighting: Comfortable levels of natural lighting should be utilised, as it has been shown to improve mood, productivity, hormone health and sleep quality. Glare and overheating should be avoided. Artificial lighting should also be carefully designed to ensure that it does not negatively impact circadian rhythms or cause eyestrain, and that it’s appropriate to the type of user and the type of space. Flicker from electric light sources should be minimised and the colour temperature kept near daylight levels (6500 K). Occupants should be encouraged to spend time outdoors in the morning and indoor daylight quantity should be maximised. CRI colour contrast should be designed suitable for the intended use.
- Acoustic control: Healthy building design minimizes noise pollution, which can cause stress and disrupt concentration. Noise generated outside and inside buildings, as well as noise transferred by structure and noise from equipment are all to be considered and mitigated through material/ product selection and detailing. Acoustic landscapes may be considered also where relevant, e.g. sounds of nature.
- Thermal comfort: Indoor temperatures should be designed comfortable and suitable for intended use of each space, to ensure overall wellbeing. People who lead fairly active lives can find variation in temperature more enjoyable, while those more sedentary will require higher room temperatures to stay comfortable. Building temperature should not fall beyond a certain level (e.g. 18 degrees Celsius in the UK) to prevent excessive moisture levels and mould formation.
- Non-toxic materials: Healthy building design avoids the use of materials that may contain harmful toxins, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde and various others. Human activity can unfortunately also create much air pollution, through cosmetics, fragrancies, cleaning products and even cooking, etc. Regular ventilation is key but reduction of pollution at source is even more effective.
- Spaces that encourage activity: Active furniture, encouragement to move around and work from different areas, exercise initiatives, good end-of-journey facilities (e.g. showers and storage for bicycles), etc are just some typical ways to achieve this.
- Water quality: Healthy architecture prioritizes water quality, ensuring that it is free from harmful contaminants and best possible quality. Building interior design can also incorporate drinking water points and graphics to prompt awareness of the benefits of good hydration.
- Social and culturally-intelligent spaces: Healthy building design considers the social and cultural needs of building occupants, creating spaces that promote social interaction and inclusivity.
- Spaces for all abilities: Healthy buildings include features that accommodate the needs of individuals with different abilities, including physical limitations and neurodiversity.
- Spaces for mental wellbeing: Mental wellbeing can be promoted by providing quiet areas for reflection, spaces that offer privacy, high quality lighting and acoustics, carefully considered colour schemes, views out, etc. Specific requirements of different mental health conditions may also need careful consideration.
- Inspiring and beautiful spaces: Healthy building design incorporates inspiring and beautiful design elements that promote a sense of wellbeing and creativity.
- Living plants, greenery and biophilia (nature-mimicry): These can be considered both within the building interior and exterior spaces, and have been shown to speed up recovery times and reduce the need for painkillers in hospitals.
- Buildings’ effect on the subconscious mind: The atmosphere of a space, including what is visible within the peripheral vision, is among the aspects that can be considered.
- Architecture for a healthy planet: Wellbeing of humans and the planet go hand-in-hand. Therefore a healthy building design will always be both human-centric and planet-centric.
By incorporating these principles, among others, we can create spaces that promote health and wellbeing of the occupants while also minimizing negative impacts on the environment.
In contrast to the standard architectural approach, which may prioritize aesthetics over health, healthy building design takes a more holistic and strategic approach to building design, considering the human-made environment in a more thorough and fundamental way.
By prioritizing the health and wellbeing of building occupants, healthy architecture can have a positive impact on both individuals and the environment. In the next section, we’ll explore the health hazards associated with poor building design and how healthy building principles can help mitigate these risks.
Can buildings make you sick?
Poor building design and maintenance can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes, including headaches, allergies, fatigue, poor sleep, poor concentration, moodiness, etc. On a more serious note, buildings can also cause respiratory irritation, chronic disease (including cardiovascular conditions), hormone imbalance and in extreme cases even premature death.
Children’s mental and physical development can be affected by buildings. Anyone with mental or physical challenges is at greater risk to be affected. Carefully-considered design for health and wellbeing is most critical for sleeping spaces, care environments, schools, hospitals and other spaces for vulnerable populations.
One common health hazard associated with poor building design is poor indoor air quality. Indoor air can contain a variety of pollutants, including dust, toxic particles, allergens, viruses, mould and various chemicals (e.g. from cleaning products, new materials, fire retardants, etc). Poor ventilation and air circulation can exacerbate these issues.
Another health hazard associated with poor building design is exposure to toxic materials. Many materials used in new or newly refurbished buildings, such as paints, carpets, fire-retardants and adhesives, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other harmful chemicals that can cause a variety of health problems, including headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. In addition, exposure to asbestos and lead-based paint, which were commonly used in older buildings, can lead to serious health issues such as lung cancer and lead poisoning.
In addition light quality, temperature, water quality, acoustic design, atmosphere, spatial arrangements etc. can also either have a positive or a negative effect on how we feel.
Finally, poor building design and maintenance can contribute to the spread of infectious diseases. Poor sanitation can also contribute to spread of disease.
Fortunately, careful design can help mitigate these risks by incorporating design principles, methodologies and project management strategies that prioritize the health and wellbeing of building occupants.
Well-designed buildings will create a context for people and societies to be fully empowered to feel their best, perform their best and be mentally and physically energised.
In the next section, we’ll explore some of the ways that healthy building design can improve health, promote overall wellbeing and trigger other benefits.
How healthy building design can improve health and provide other benefits
One way that healthy building design can improve health is by promoting physical activity. Buildings can be designed to encourage movement and activity, such as by incorporating stairs instead of elevators, installing active furniture (e.g. standing desks and walking treadmills), creating a variety of work spaces (e.g. quiet space for focus, sleeping pods, social and collaboration spaces, lounge space), utilising management protocols such as meetings outdoors, etc. By encouraging physical activity, buildings can help reduce the risk of chronic health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Another way that healthy building design can positively contribute to human lives is by promoting mental wellbeing. Buildings can be designed to create spaces that promote relaxation and comfort, reduce stress, and improve moods. This can be achieved by careful spatial design and material selection but also by incorporating natural elements such as sunlight, fresh air and greenery, as well as by designing and engineering a high quality lighting scheme, acoustics, ventilation, materials, views out, water filtration, etc. Aesthetic and atmospheric qualities of the building are important also, to lift ‘the human spirit’ and to inspire us.
In addition, healthy building design can help improve productivity and reduce absences from work. This can lead to increased job satisfaction, better retention of staff, reduced stress, and overall healthier and more collaborative work culture.
Buildings with certified health credentials attract a higher return on investment; and property buyers and developers are now increasingly starting to demand these credentials.
Healthy building design and wellbeing architecture therefore have benefits to anyone involved with buildings and the construction industry: building funders and developers, businesses, employees, government-organisations, construction companies, residents and other end-users.
Finally, healthy building design must also contribute to a healthier planet by incorporating ‘green’ design principles. It is critical that architects raise awareness of design and project management methods that promote sustainable living and environmentally-friendly design, including net zero carbon, zero waste, supply chain management systems (e.g. material passports), etc.
Conclusions
There are many ways buildings can, unfortunately, make you sick and this article is only a very brief introduction into these. The importance of health in architectural design is currently still underappreciated, although it has started to rapidly gain attention in the recent years.
Well-designed and cared for buildings have the potential to enhance your moods, productivity, energy levels, quality of sleep, fitness and ability to relax, while also helping prevent acute and chronic illness.
By incorporating design principles that prioritize human health and wellbeing, architects and design teams can play a part in building better health, happiness and prosperity for current and future societies.
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