SUPER ARCHITECTURE
Daylight +Health
Dr. Terri Peters
September 2017

SUPER ARCHITECTURE
Putting people first – how can buildings make
us better?

Kennedy Cottage, 1897 Saranac Lake NY

Photo: Saranac Lake Laboratory Museum

Ninette Sanitorium, Manitoba 1910

Herzog & de Meuron, New North Zealand Hospital rendering, 2014.

Herzog & de Meuron, New North Zealand Hospital rendering, 2014.
PEOPLE =
ENVIRONMENT!

”the extra benefits we get from climate adaptation: the blue,
the green, the health, the active and the social.
In short: all that makes life in the city worth living”
SLA Architects Copenhagen

Suburban living reimagined: average daylight factor of this
Active House is 3.3% much higher than the typical 2% using
triple glazed windows and skylights
Architects: Superkul, Image: Velux Canada

People first: architectural quality, daylight, experience
Architects: Superkul, Image: Velux CanadaArchitects: Superkul, Image: Velux Canada

When our buildings & our environment are better, we are too.

Emotionally supportive architecture - MGA, photo Ema Peters

Non-clinical, playful spaces, MGA, photo Ema Peters

Innovative wood construction MGA, Ronald McDonald House, Vancouver Canada 2014

What is a care environment? MGA, photo Ema Peters

MGA, photo Ema Peters

Inspired by Vernacular- MASS Design Group, photo Iwan Baan

Maternity Waiting Village, Malawi, MASS Design Group

Maternity Waiting Village, Malawi, MASS Design Group

‘Lo-fab’ MASS Design Group, photo Iwan Baan

Passive strategies - MASS Design Group, photo Iwan Baan

arch
The evidence for colour and texture - Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo: Dianna Snape

Daylight -Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo: Dianna Snape

Placemaking , Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo courtesy Lyons

Street level views Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo courtesy Lyons

Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo: Ethan Rohloff

Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo: Ethan Rohloff

MGA, photo Ema Peters
EMOTIONALLY SUPPORTIVE

MASS Design Group, photo Iwan Baan
LIGHT + LOFAB

MULTISENSORY
Lady Cilento Hospital, Photo: Dianna Snape
MULTI-SENSORY

Herzog & de Meuron, New North Zealand Hospital rendering, 2014.
FUTURE DESIGNS?

?

Social Sustainability is “a process for creating sustainable,
successful places that promote well-being, by understanding what
people need from the places they live and work.
It combines design of the physical realm with design of the social
world – infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social
amenities, systems for citizen engagement and space for people
and places to evolve”
(Woodcraft et al 2012)
DESIGN FOR
SOCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY
A framework for creating thriving
new communities
Saffron Woodcraft with Nicola Bacon, Lucia Caistor-Arendar &
Tricia Hackett. Foreword by Sir Peter Hall.

What does Social Sustainability
look like?

PurposefulnessStructure
Orientation
Ownership
Identification
Aesthetics
Beauty
Contact
Privacy
Play
Varied
Experiences
Purposefulness
Orientation
Ownership
Aesthetics
Contact
Privacy
Play
Experiencessocial
sustainability
living environment
for
personalisation
landmarks
hierarchy
order
multisensory
accessible
walkability
human scale
public and
private
defined spaces
limit noise
mix of uses
access to
nature
gardening spaces
meeting areas
employment
play integrated
multisensory
visual cues
customizable
environment
architectural
quality
materials
local control
different ages
Peters “Social Sustainability in Context: Rediscovering Ingrid Gehl’s Bo-miljø” Architectural Research Quarterly (ARQ) 2016

Research Directions in Social Sustainability
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Social Sustainability
beyond disciplinary borders – who covers people?
Human Dimensions of Green Building
Let the social carry the environmental
Better frameworks for evaluating sustainable buildings
Better data: Pre-Occupancy and Post-Occupancy
Monitoring Performance:
Feedback on Occupant + building well-being

PERFORMANCE?

1. Designed vs Measured

Standards vs Comfort

3. story vs experience

From Green to Super? How do we get there?
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Social Sustainability
Beyond disciplinary borders – who covers people?
Human Dimensions of Green Building
Many challenges are social not technical – do we know why
buildings don’t perform as expected?
Better frameworks for evaluating sustainable buildings
Better data: Pre-Occupancy and Post-Occupancy Evaluations,
evidence based design - better starting points
Monitoring Performance:
Feedback on Occupant + building well-being

SUPER ARCHITECTURE
Putting people first – how can buildings make
us better?