Jessica Betterridge

Designing for sustainable wellness is about designing the new generation of education facilities with an understanding and consideration of positive mental health concepts. The concept of this design is to integrate the new office of Environmental Programs teaching building with biophilic principles and wellness design approaches. This design approach should improve on the overall mental health and performance of the diverse user while they are teaching and learning.

This building complex is designed to cater for the projected growth of the facility and the university. Innovative classroom design was explored throughout the project. The re-evaluation of complementary teaching methods has also been considered when designing the learning spaces of the building. Community and group learning spaces were placed throughout the building to reduce the isolation that some students experience while studying at university, fostering a stronger wellbeing culture at group and individual levels.

This project also has large focus on integrating Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD) principles into the building. Specifically, an extensive shading system was designed for the façade and is designed to respond to the specific site conditions. The integration of these ESD strategies resulted in improved energy efficiency and lower embodied energy for the design.