The Neurodiversity Toolkit provides strategies for evaluating and implementing design solutions in the workplace, to support the spectrum of neurological needs found within society. Support for Neurodiversity responds to the reality that we’re all wired differently. Through strategies that provide choice, flexibility and variety, environments can accommodate the diversity of people. Just as the varying... Read more »
The methodology presented in this report is developed to assist refurbishment projects in the early stages to establish a sustainable retrofit strategy. Through an analysis of the energy efficiency, life cycle carbon and cost of various retrofit measures, the method can give guidance on what measures should be pursued in a project and which ones... Read more »
Considering the increasing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Architecture and Urban Design, in this Innovation Incubator we explore how AI can be leveraged to provide environmental analysis and trained to assist Perkins&Will in creating sustainable urban design proposals. Specifically, we propose to create an AI model to automate and speed up initial environmental analysis... Read more »
Through ongoing conversations with manufacturer’s representatives focused on material health and embodied carbon, it became evident that take-back programs for materials such as carpet and ceiling tile were not apparent to project teams, leading to a gap in the circular economy. This project employed a series of surveys completed by building owners, general contractors, and... Read more »
This research incubator explores the concept of flexible streets championed by leaders in the planning and mobility industries, including our own colleagues at Nelson\Nygaard, to establish a “flex street” definition that planners and urban designers can use to communicate with communities and local officials. In establishing this flexible street definition, we looked to recent street... Read more »
Researchers in the Process Lab have developed the Design Optimization Toolset (DOTS), a user-friendly, freely accessible generative design plugin for Rhino Grasshopper. DOTs allows designers to interactively develop design alternatives that reconcile project-specific constraints with the geometric complexity of architectural forms. Perkins&Will designers have applied DOTs in space planning, site parcellation, massing, and urban design... Read more »
The rise of telemedicine during the pandemic proved that a new care model was an unstoppable force in Healthcare which generated extensive data that deserves examination to understand its effect on the built environment. Innovations and solutions are needed to provide comprehensive medical care experience on par with physical encounters and consider lessons learned from... Read more »
The Bus Map Design Guideline project provides an empirically informed design guide and template for bus map production, one of Nelson\Nygaard’s core capabilities. By surveying map viewers and producers on the broad goals and specific practices common to bus map design, we identified key audience priorities and preferences that map designers should take into account.... Read more »
Lab building embodied carbon is significant, due to intensive structure, finishes, and MEP systems. Recent projects are experimenting with designs uncommon to labs: CLT structure, wood cladding, demountable partitions. But no resource collects these into a common framework for evaluating their carbon benefits. Low Carbon Labs evaluates (3) choices for (14) different building systems within... Read more »
Moisture performance in building assemblies affects building indoor air quality and integrity. Building on Perkins&Will’s implementation of WUFI for hygrothermal analysis, we propose a parametric workflow and extension of WUFI that allows architects to explore different wall assembly permutations specific to their project and check for potential moisture and mold issues. The back-end process of... Read more »
The Bus Delay Analysis Tool (BDAT) is a set of software and analysis procedures Nelson\Nygaard has been developing for our transit agency clients. Through the Innovation Incubator we developed the new and improved Project & Treatment Module, which enables our clients to sketch bus transit speed & reliability improvements. Additionally, using the tool to document... Read more »