From August 6-7, industry experts from a wide range of fields met at the Lake Nona Medical City in Orlando, Fla., to discuss health and wellness in the built environment. The two-day summit, comprised of plenary panels and breakout group sessions, encouraged exploration of how interiors and architecture can promote positive health outcomes in various settings.
The summit began with a guided tour of the Lake Nona Medical City, a cluster of healthcare and bioscience facilities located within a 650-acre health and life sciences park. Participants were shown around Lake Nona’s innovative design, which has become one of the nation’s top hospitals, universities, research institutions, and health and life science companies.
Opening remarks were made by Alexander Chan, associate director of National Strategy for the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, who introduced the hopes for the future of wellness design across the country, reminding attendees that “clinical care is only 20 percent of health.”
The three main panels were entitled, “What is the Future of Intelligent Homes and Communities?,” “Health, Safety, and Welfare versus Health and Wellness,” and “Integration of the Disciplines: Is Integrative Design the Key to Health and Wellness Success?”
After the second and third plenary discussions, participants broke into three small groups to further the discussion on challenges, barriers, and constraints in wellness design to achieve integration of health-oriented design solutions. These small groups allowed interdisciplinary communication and examination of real-world issues surrounding the creation of spaces for wellness from the perspectives of both the user and the designer.
Dr. Whitney Austin Gray, PhD, LEED AP, who serves as the executive director of research and innovation at Delos, as well as on the International WELL Building Institute’s Advisory Council, was a co-leader of one of the small groups, during which she mentioned the four leading health issues that have implications for design professionals, which can be found on the following pages.
