Healthier Humans

Forging healthier
generations

Health today isn’t just about illness. It’s about making health an omnipresent, multidimensional part of life. Mental wellness, food security, financial well-being, fitness, happiness, equity, purpose. They’re all interrelated. And together, they define what it means to live our best lives.

We’re not just designers for better health, we’re activists for better health outcomes. We infuse strategies for improving physical, mental and social well-being into every solution we design. We’re pushing to eliminate pervasive yet harmful materials from the building industry. And we’re partnering with leading healthcare organizations to revolutionize how medicine can and should work for everyone involved.

The world collectively has the knowledge to exponentially improve human health. Let’s all make it a priority.

Explore the ideas, people and projects empowering human health across our firm.

Strategies for beating burnout in the workplace

Burnout is a major issue across the workforce. But with the right strategy in place, design can help alleviate workplace burnout and empower employees to thrive.

Leading the basic needs transformation in higher education

See how colleges and universities are broadening their definitions of student support and expanding services to meet student needs.

Our clients are focused on health and wellness like never before. In higher education, the conversation has grown from cardio and weights to encompass mental health, counseling, food insecurity, social connections and more. We're creating new typologies of wellness buildings and at the same time, creating new ecosystems for how we deploy wellness across entire campuses.

Colleen McKenna, AIA, LEED AP Sports, Recreation and Wellness Director
While we need to support every child living with mental and behavioral health challenges, we especially need to focus on positive intervention around the age of eight. At age eight, children are learning critical developmental and coping skills that will aid them for the rest of their lives. That's why we conceived our Save the 8s initiative.

Stacey Root, AIA Health Practice Leader

Let’s stop creating cancer hospitals with cancer causing materials

How do we start creating cancer care centers free of carcinogens? Follow these steps.

The latest pediatric design solutions for our tiniest patients

Taking a deeper look at projects that share a common mission: providing safe, excellent care for our most vulnerable patients and their families.

The Latest Pediatric Design Solutions For Our Tiniest Patients

Human health matters

< 2/3

The Human Kinetic Journal shares that fewer than 2/3 of college students meet the recommended 150 weekly minutes of exercise.

We create recreation and wellness spaces, like Elizabethtown College's Bowers Center, that promote inclusivity and offer holistic student wellness resources.

The Bowers Center is a game-changing facility for students and staff designed to be as inclusive and inviting as possible. More than 45,000 people visited the building during its first semester of operation, an incredible feat for a small university with enrollment under 2,000.

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45%

The National Academy of Sciences reports that people with high exposure to green space are 45% less likely to develop mental health challenges than those with limited access.

This idea drove our design of Sheppard Pratt's new Behavioral Health Hospital—a nature-inspired mental health campus.

Creating a sense of belonging and community was paramount to Sheppard Pratt's new hospital, and drawing inspiration from the forest helped further this goal. Interior courtyards and exterior pathways offer a variety of opportunities for connecting with the nearby hills, hollows, creeks and wetlands while maintaining patient privacy and safety.

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20%

The Journal of American Medical Association indicates that cancer rates in India have increased by more than 20% year-to-year as recently as 2019.

We proudly designed Tata Medical Center in Kolkata to usher in a new era of cancer treatment for the country.

At the height of the pandemic, the hospital's second floor, which houses acute and critical care spaces, was used to treat COVID-positive cancer patients and staff members. Yogesh Jog, the leader of our Mumbai office, recently spoke with key media in India about how the building's flexible design accommodated this sudden change.

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Our actions

Every project is an opportunity to contribute to better health outcomes. But we know we have an important role to play beyond just project work. We're investing in research and programs to expand our understanding of human health and design's role in empowering physical, mental and social well-being for all.

Whole Child, Every Child: Pushing for equity in childhood

Our Whole Child, Every Child approach creates inclusive spaces for children of all abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Meet Dr. Ben Bassin, CannonDesign’s inaugural Innovation Fellow

Dr. Ben Bassin has joined Blue Cottage of CannonDesign as its first-ever innovation fellow. In this newly formed role, Ben will focus on health innovation within Blue Cottage of CannonDesign while also helping amplify CannonDesign's entrepreneurial culture.

Open Hand Studio

Open Hand Studio is our incubator for public interest design, providing pro bono or reduced-fee design services to those who would otherwise lack access to them.