The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Architects Foundation announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with architecture firm HOK under which HOK will facilitate focus group activities in partnership with the AIA’s Design and Health Research Consortium, which works to advance university-led research in the area of design and health.
Under the agreement, the AIA and HOK will work with the consortium on its key priority: identifying and developing practice-focused opportunities for funded research, publications and tools in the area of design and public health.
The goal of the collaboration is to help members conduct research that can be translated into practice by architects and be beneficial to people.
“HOK is a bridge to the client community,” said Suzanna Kelley, FAIA, AIA’s Managing Director of Strategic Alliances and Initiatives. “This first collaboration with the private sector is designed to inform consortium members what their ultimate client – the public – needs from their groundbreaking basic research into how design can help improve public well-being.”
The new partnership will leverage HOK’s global network of architects and clients to support translation of existing research—and build the case for more practice-focused research going forward. Findings from the focus groups will be documented and used to help the Consortium universities direct their health research towards a more targeted, client-based approach. The goal of this new partnership is to help Consortium teams further understand how research can be used in architectural practice, and to further the conversation with the Consortium’s public health partners. Focus groups will occur for the next year, concluding in May of 2017.
“We look forward to facilitating focus groups for these institutions and our multidisciplinary design partners in architecture, interiors, landscape, planning and engineering—as well as our clients—in the effort to focus the next generation of research on this important issue,” said Anica Landreneau, Associate AIA, LEED AP, HOK’s director of sustainable design. “HOK and the AIA seek to promote the understanding and application of critical ideas, research outcomes and evidence that sustainable design truly will improve human health and wellness, in addition to ecological health.”
The focus groups will occur at or near the Consortium universities (full list can be found here). These meetings will document the findings of these important conversations. The partnership with HOK provides the AIA and the Foundation with a unique opportunity to engage a respected architectural firm with significant reach on a domestic and global scale. It also helps the AIA fulfill its primary mission of facilitating holistic, synchronous and multi-scale solutions that can empower its members to address a wide range of areas connecting design and public health.
The memorandum of understanding calls for the parties to document and summarize focus group feedback for a broader audience, including the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health ASPPH the Consortium Network and participants. The agreement also calls for establishing a process for providing AIA Continuing Education for architect members at each focus group event.
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
Rutgers students offered choice of food and dining facilities
The Livingston Dining Commons at Rutgers University’s Livingston Campus in New Brunswick, N.J., was designed by Biber Partnership, Summit, N.J., to offer three different dining rooms that connect to a central servery.
| Apr 12, 2011
Retail complex enjoys prime Abu Dhabi location
The Galleria at Sowwah Square in Abu Dhabi will be built in a prime location within Sowwah Island that also includes a five-star Four Seasons Hotel, the healthcare facility Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and nearly two million sf of Class A office space.
| Apr 12, 2011
Luxury New York high rise adjacent to the High Line
Located adjacent to New York City’s High Line Park, 500 West 23rd Street will offer 111 luxury rental apartments when it opens later this year.
| Apr 12, 2011
College of New Jersey facility will teach teachers how to teach
The College of New Jersey broke ground on its 79,000-sf School of Education building in Ewing, N.J.
| Apr 12, 2011
Mental hospital in Boston redeveloped as healthcare complex
An abandoned state mental health facility in Boston’s prestigious Longwood Medical Area is being transformed into the Mass Mental Health Center, a four-building mixed-use complex that includes a mental health day hospital, a clinical and office building, a medical research facility for Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a residential facility.
| Apr 12, 2011
Miami courthouse design does justice to children and the environment
Suffolk Construction broke ground recently for the Miami-Dade County Children’s Courthouse, a $328 million project the firm has a 30-month contract to complete.
| Apr 12, 2011
Long-awaited San Francisco center is music to jazz organization’s ears
After 28 years, SFJAZZ is getting its first permanent home. The San Francisco-based nonprofit, which is dedicated to advancing the art of jazz through concerts and educational programs, contracted local design firm Mark Cavagnero Associates and general contractor Hathaway Dinwiddie to create a modern performance center in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood
| Apr 12, 2011
Entrance pavilion adds subtle style to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
A $13 million gift from the Otis Booth Foundation is funding a new entrance pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. CO Architects, Los Angeles, is designing the frameless structure with an energy-efficient curtain wall, vertical suspension rods, and horizontal knife plates to make it as transparent as possible.
| Apr 12, 2011
BIM Grows Up: Separating Hype from Reality in a 3D World
While BIM adoption still lags in both design and construction, some enterprising owners, architects, and contractors are unlocking the potential of this dynamic technology.
| Apr 12, 2011
Metal cladding: Enhancing design with single-skin panels, MCMs, and IMPs
Single-skin metal panels, metal composite panels, and insulated metal panels can add both aesthetic and functional value to your projects, if you use them correctly.
