Commercial Contract & Healthcare Studio

Since we are designing for healthcare, it is important for us as designers to create a space that promotes health and wellness in the employees. Today’s leaders are taking an interest in the holistic wellbeing of their employees, from a physical, cognitive, and emotional standpoint. Steelcase’s article “ How to Make 2017 Healthier at Work ” focuses on five key ways we can promote healthy environments within the workplace. Get on your feet Sitting for such long periods of time is dangerous to your health, so Steelcase suggests getting up every once in a while. Take a quick walk around your office, visit others, simply stand and stretch. If you can, change to a standing desk so you can change your posture throughout the day. Get moving, seek out nature It has been proven that nature helps refocus, reset, and lessen stress, so it is very important to be exposed to it throughout your workday. Take quick breaks to walk outside, do laps around the parking lot, or even take...

This week, I decided to do a little research on Steelcase’s Casper product since the use of glass wall systems is evident in all of our clinic designs. In their article “ Casper Cloaking Technology: Privacy + Transparency ”, Steelcase describes the pros and cons of glass walls, as well as discusses how you can use Casper to your advantage. In the corporate world, there are many times where employees want to be completely visible and open to others while the information they are working with has to stay private. This sort of situation leads to a lot of workplace tension, which inspired Steelcase to develop a new technology that gives people transparency and confidentiality simultaneously. The thoughtful design and development of Casper has left customers thrilled about new design opportunities in the workplace. I have seen this product work its magic a couple times, but when we saw it again at Interiors for Business this past Tuesday, I was reminded why it is such a fant...

Wellbeing is always an important topic, especially when it has to do with healthcare. However, when we design for healthcare we tend to put a majority of our focus on the patient, which isn’t a bad thing, but it does leave the clinicians lacking. Steelcase discusses this issue in their article “ Taking Care of the Caretakers: Clinician Privacy ”. There are two main design factors to consider when creating a space for clinicians – designing for privacy and designing for wellbeing.   Clinicians' Hub - Collaboration and Focus Space Designing for Privacy While it is important for clinicians to have a space to communicate effectively with patients and co-workers, it is equally important for clinicians to have a more private space so they can focus on specific tasks. Most healthcare environments do not provide private spaces for clinicians, so they tend to forfeit their own wellbeing by refusing to take breaks and allowing their time to be interrupted. Designing for Well...

At this stage of our NEXT projects, we are making furniture choices for our clinic, experimenting with possible furniture arrangements, and beginning to think more seriously about material choices. I decided to find an article that focuses on how design choices can positively affect the people in your space – Steelcase’s article “ Restoration Office ” does just that. Unlike what the name suggests, this article covers many basic design ideas to promote wellbeing, not just ideas for the office. Natural Color Palette Steelcase researchers discovered that the presence of nature in the workplace could lead to healthier outcomes for the people who work there. These biophilic design elements lead to emotional, cognitive, and physical wellbeing, as well as overall productivity, happiness, stress reduction, learning, and healing. Because biophilic designs lead to such positive outcomes, we should focus on designing our interiors in such a way as to trick the brain into thinking it is...