A team of Perkins&Will researchers has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation to enhance their PRECEDE dashboard, an open-source tool that draws on federal data to identify and assess community health priorities within the U.S. by location.
PRECEDE, which stands for Public Repository to Engage Community & Enhance Design Equity, will help designers integrate and translate public health data into design decisions.
“We selected Perkins&Will’s proposal because of its focus on health equity at such a critical time. Their tool paves the way for a future of more equitable public health,” says S. Dawn Haynie, Ph.D., a research fellow for ASID. “It makes the traditionally complex contextual research about a specific site accessible to all designers, not just those with research expertise.”
The CDC estimates that a significant proportion of a person’s health is attributed to the quality of their environment, personal education, and any behavioral constraints that may be impacting their community. Designers have an opportunity to improve community health outcomes by designing according to these factors.
However, access to the nuances within this federal data is limited, thus making it more difficult for designers to integrate such information early in the design process, when diversity and inclusion are most effectively addressed.
Identifying this gap in data and practice, the team first developed a beta version of PRECEDE in spring 2022 in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Compared with similar public health-focused data visualization tools—most coming with limitations like not allowing the user to search by mailing address or not accounting for environmental factors—PRECEDE aggregates multiple sources into an easy-to-understand resource hub complete with best practices informed by successful case studies.
The research team first identified over 40 design-relevant health indicators that could be improved by interior design, such as obesity, diabetes, and asthma, in areas like material selection, ventilation, and circadian lighting.
“When we walk in the door, we bring our health conditions with us,” says Dr. Erika Eitland, director of Perkins&Will’s Human Experience Lab. “This tool allows us to use publicly available data to identify health priorities for our communities without having to ask invasive questions about individuals’ health.”
Using PRECEDE tool on projects
Case studies demonstrate PRECEDE’s ability to impact a wide range of project types and populations. For a Durham, North Carolina school, designers discovered higher-than-average breast cancer deaths in the area and responded with healthier materials to limit teachers’ and staff’s exposure to known harmful materials.
Similarly, at a national nonprofit’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, PRECEDE brought forward active workstations that encourage movement to mitigate the city’s high rates of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.
“This is a powerful example of how a multidisciplinary team from interiors to urban design and public health to architecture can de-silo research and support systems-level solutions,” adds Eitland.
Now, the team will continue to develop the tool outside of Excel using data analytics platform Power BI and an application programming interface that will retrieve data from their sources directly. Harvard Graduate School of Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wentworth Institute of Technology will act as academic partners throughout the process. The PRECEDE dashboard pilot will then be delivered to ASID Foundation in September 2023., after which it will make the rounds at conferences and within partnerships.
Joining Eitland on Perkins&Will’s awarded team are David Cordell, Amina Helstern, Tyrone Mashall, and Devika Tandon. The ASID Foundation Research Committee selected winning projects based on the significance of the study, innovation in research questions, strength of methodology, applicability of findings, and more.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Campus building gives students a taste of the business world
William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.
| Oct 13, 2010
Science building supports enrollment increases
The new Kluge-Moses Science Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College, in Charlottesville, is part of a campus update designed and managed by the Lukmire Partnership. The 34,000-sf building is designed to be both a focal point of the college and a recruitment mechanism to get more students enrolling in healthcare programs.
| Oct 13, 2010
Cancer hospital plans fifth treatment center
Construction is set to start in December on the new Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s $55 million hospital in Newnan, Ga. The 225,000-sf facility will have 25 universal inpatient beds, two linear accelerator vaults, an HDR/Brachy therapy vault, and a radiology and imaging unit.
| Oct 13, 2010
Apartment complex will offer affordable green housing
Urban Housing Communities, KTGY Group, and the City of Big Bear Lake (Calif.) Improvement Agency are collaborating on The Crossings at Big Bear Lake, the first apartment complex in the city to offer residents affordable, eco-friendly homes. KTGY designed 28 two-bedroom, two-story townhomes and 14 three-bedroom, single-story flats, averaging 1,100 sf each.
| Oct 13, 2010
Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.
| Oct 13, 2010
HQ renovations aim for modern look
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ renovations to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New York City headquarters will feature a reworked reception lobby with back-painted glass, silk-screened logos, and a video wall.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 13, 2010
Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library
The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.