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
| Aug 11, 2010
Florida mixed-use complex includes retail, residential
The $325 million Atlantic Plaza II lifestyle center will be built on 8.5 acres in Delray Beach, Fla. Designed by Vander Ploeg & Associates, Boca Raton, the complex will include six buildings ranging from three to five stories and have 182,000 sf of restaurant and retail space. An additional 106,000 sf of Class A office space and a residential component including 197 apartments, townhouses, ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Restoration gives new life to New Formalism icon
The $30 million upgrade, restoration, and expansion of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles was completed by the team of Rios Clementi Hale Studios (architect), Harley Ellis Devereaux (executive architect/MEP), KPFF (structural engineer), and Taisei Construction (GC). Work on the Welton Becket-designed 1967 complex included an overhaul of the auditorium, lighting, and acoustics.
| Aug 11, 2010
Best AEC Firms to Work For
2006 FreemanWhite Hnedak Bobo Group McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Shawmut Design and Construction Walter P Moore 2007 Anshen+Allen Arup Bovis Lend Lease Cannon Design Jones Lang LaSalle Perkins+Will SmithGroup SSOE, Inc. Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. 2008 Gilbane Building Co. HDR KJWW Engineering Consultants Lord, Aeck & Sargent Mark G.
| Aug 11, 2010
High-Performance Workplaces
Building Teams around the world are finding that the workplace is changing radically, leading owners and tenants to reinvent corporate office buildings to compete more effectively on a global scale. The good news is that this means more renovation and reconstruction work at a time when new construction has stalled to a dribble.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Business Management
22. Commercial Properties Repositioned for University USE Tocci Building Companies is finding success in repositioning commercial properties for university use, and it expects the trend to continue. The firm's Capital Cove project in Providence, R.I., for instance, was originally designed by Elkus Manfredi (with design continued by HDS Architects) to be a mixed-use complex with private, market-...
| Aug 11, 2010
Nurturing the Community
The best seat in the house at the new Seahawks Stadium in Seattle isn't on the 50-yard line. It's in the southeast corner, at the very top of the upper bowl. "From there you have a corner-to-corner view of the field and an inspiring grasp of the surrounding city," says Kelly Kerns, project leader with architect/engineer Ellerbe Becket, Kansas City, Mo.
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA Course: Historic Masonry — Restoration and Renovation
Historic restoration and preservation efforts are accelerating throughout the U.S., thanks in part to available tax credits, awards programs, and green building trends. While these projects entail many different building components and systems, façade restoration—as the public face of these older structures—is a key focus. Earn 1.0 AIA learning unit by taking this free course from Building Design+Construction.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM adoption tops 80% among the nation's largest AEC firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 survey
The nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction companies are on the BIM bandwagon in a big way, according to Building Design+Construction's premier Top 50 BIM Adopters ranking, published as part of the 2009 Giants 300 survey. Of the 320 AEC firms that participated in Giants survey, 83% report having at least one BIM seat license in house, half have more than 30 seats, and near...
| Aug 11, 2010
World's tallest all-wood residential structure opens in London
At nine stories, the Stadthaus apartment complex in East London is the world’s tallest residential structure constructed entirely in timber and one of the tallest all-wood buildings on the planet. The tower’s structural system consists of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels pieced together to form load-bearing walls and floors. Even the elevator and stair shafts are constructed of prefabricated CLT.
| Aug 11, 2010
Integrated Project Delivery builds a brave, new BIM world
Three-dimensional information, such as that provided by building information modeling, allows all members of the Building Team to visualize the many components of a project and how they work together. BIM and other 3D tools convey the idea and intent of the designer to the entire Building Team and lay the groundwork for integrated project delivery.