Addressing Health Equity through Design: A Case Study

While an interest in healthy building has been steadily increasing, COVID-19 has elevated health equity as a priority across architecture, engineering and construction initiatives, as evidenced by the recently launched WELL Health Equity Initiative and the LEED Safety First: Social Equity in Pandemic Planning Credit. This paper outlines preliminary findings from an exploratory case study on how a hybrid elementary school/ YMCA can support health equity through design and affiliated programming. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program, the research focuses on exploring how the uniquely designed environment of an elementary school impacts the physical, mental, and emotional health of students, staff, and the greater Southeast Raleigh community. The case school was designed through a highly participatory approach, engaging a health equity lens early in the process to address the needs and wants of an often-overlooked community. This paper outlines findings from initial surveys that aimed to better understand not only the effectiveness of healthy design strategies, but also how the design of this unique environment has impacted aspects of equity in the context of physical and mental health. Opportunities for increasing health equity through built environment design will be outlined and recommendations will be provided to expand future research in this discipline.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.110.45

Volume Editors
Robert Gonzalez, Milton Curry & Monica Ponce de Leon

ISBN
978-1-944214-40-1