In April 2020 it became clear that greatly increased testing was needed to control the spread of the Coronavirus. Under this reality, which brought to the surface strong racial and income disparities in healthcare, our incubator focused on answering the following question: How can we develop a testing solution that is quick and cost-effective to... Read more »
This publicly available website allows K-12 school stakeholders to quickly access evidence-based strategies for reopening and keeping K-12 schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our response focuses on risk mitigation, educational adaptation and health promotion, which creates a holistic framework for schools dealing with the direct and indirect consequences of COVID-19. The findings of this... Read more »
As extended reality technologies become better, more seamless, and more available, our virtual space and physical space will tend to merge into one hyperreal space. When this hyperreality emerges, it will fundamentally transform our human habitat at every scale. This transformation doesn’t have to be a bad thing! Ubiquitous XR activation may actually improve the... Read more »
This research project proposes both an expanded set of “socialized” metrics to complement the physical neighborhood metrics typically used for TOD projects, and a new data visualization methodology for extracting and visualizing neighborhood metrics consistently and dynamically. With the addition of socialized metrics, designers will be better equipped to have conversations with clients and stakeholders... Read more »
Much work needs to be done to address inequities in our society and our built environment. This study is an initial attempt to consolidate indicators regarding social equity in order to re-focus and re-frame our design process by providing measurable targets for social equity. As part of the report a relatively exhaustive literature review of... Read more »
Perkins and Will is at the forefront of innovation and technology in Architecture, and to keep this trajectory we must look forward into market innovations and emerging technologies. This project analyzes a patent-pending shading technology for its ability to increase performance of buildings in multiple locations in comparison to standard shading strategies. This patent-pending technology... Read more »
For decades Perkins and Will has been analyzing workplace performance, understanding how organizations utilize their space, how they work, collaborate and socialize. The amount of data gathered through observational studies (Space Utilization Studies – SUS) stands at over 4 million observations, 54,000 workstations, spanning 15 countries and 21 business sectors. This study is the results... Read more »
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) incites innovation by re-framing our understanding of building materials within the context of their ecological sources and impacts. Of these impacts, embodied carbon is a primary contributor to global warming. Most building materials’ embodied carbon emissions occur before a product leaves its manufacturer’s gate. These emissions can be measured and reduced... Read more »
Perhaps the most prevalent workplace theme today is employee health and well-being, addressed by such design considerations as clean air, access to light and views, amenities, social spaces, and choice. Intersecting this trend is the continual rise of a dispersed, mobile workforce. This project proposes a new workplace model: The city, our client, becomes a... Read more »
Personal objects in the workplace have a proven positive impact on morale, productivity, and creativity. But in the ‘free address’ workplace, real estate is at a premium, and design teams are challenged to find a personal storage solution that feels personal. We believe new tools should complement this new work style, so we developed an... Read more »
Robotics, mass timber, and parametric design are all key technologies that are underutilized in construction. To fully take advantage of these new technologies requires a rethinking of the entire process from design to construction. The Greenbuild Pavilion represents a new construction workflow, in which a digital parametric model is communicated directly to a robot fabricator.... Read more »
