Wold Architects and Engineers, a national leader in designing spaces in the education, healthcare and government sectors, has officially published results from a national survey, which explored how building design impacts Americans’ mental health and well-being.
More on the same would reveal that, conducted by Wakefield Research, the stated survey studied the importance Americans place on community facilities, and therefore, understood that thoughtful building design should be an early priority to significantly influence the health and wellness of both occupants and visitors over the long term.
Going by the available details, the survey findings talk to how building design goes far beyond aesthetics as people consider public environments having a direct relationship with the health, safety and sense of belonging of people in these spaces. You see, well over 86% respondents reported to believe that mental health and wellness must be a high priority factored into the design of community buildings. Beyond them, almost half the respondents said they would travel at least 20 minutes farther to spend time in a building they enjoy, emphasizing upon the role architecture plays in creating safe, inspiring, and connected environments.
“Building design has the power to shape communities and improve quality of life by creating spaces that support both functionality and well-being,” said Vaughn Dierks, CEO of Wold Architects and Engineers. “Many of the building types we work on have historically been seen as institutional or municipal, with the tendency for function to dominate how people may have thought about them. The State of Community Facility Design survey highlights a growing demand for community buildings that do more than meet practical needs – they must also inspire mental health and foster a sense of security and belonging.”
Talk about the Wold survey’s discoveries on a slightly deeper level, we begin from its claim of mental health being a design priority. To explain that, 86% of Americans are said to believe mental health and wellness should play a greater role in the design of community buildings, with younger generations leading the charge (91% of Gen Z and Millennials).
Next up, the report dug into how design influences engagement. Contextualizing that would be a contingent of 80% Americans who say that a community building’s design significantly impacts how likely they are to return, a sentiment which rises to a whopping 84% among city residents.
Another interesting detail picked on during the given survey is rooted in the way functionality and wellness go hand in hand. We get to say so because an estimated 90% of respondents said they want community buildings that integrate health, well-being and functionality, making up a trend which demands for wellness to be central to the design planning process rather than an afterthought.
The survey also discovered that many respondents find wellness amenities as a major plus in a property. In a more concrete sense, 55% of survey participants expressed a preference for community buildings with amenities that support well-being, such as cafés, green areas and community gathering spaces.
Among other things, we must mention that State of Community Facility Design survey was conducted between October 23 and November 2, 2024 and it took into account the responses of 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults aged 18+. Facilitated through email invitation and online survey, the survey’s acquired data was also weighted to ensure accurate representation. The margin of error for this research would be ± 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Operating out of St. Paul Minnesota, Wold Architects and Engineers’ rise up the ranks is largely orchestrated by providing a wide range of services for its predominately public-sector clients, including troubleshooting and problem solving for existing facility issues and new facility design. The company’s new construction projects, at present, include K-12 public schools, higher education, courthouses, public offices, fire and police stations, city halls, law enforcement centers and correctional facilities, hospitals, clinics, and senior living. Wold’s excellence on what it does can also be understood once you consider it currently ranks 31st nationally in the 2023 Building Design + Construction Giants 400 Report for A/E firm.