What is it to be purpose-driven? What is a mission-based business? Now in our 20th year, DRAW has been defining our focus as Positive Impact Design for nearly a decade.
The care and attention our team brings to each project, community, and client interaction is something that took us years to clearly identify and communicate. We see the following 5 key elements as critical to doing good work.
- Community impact
- Aesthetic impact
- Resource impact
- Economic impact
- Spatial impact
Positive Community Impact
We start with our Clients, who want to achieve Positive Community Impact. Their inherent knowledge is key to understanding how any project can be successful. What are the cultural, social factors, and historic events that have shaped this place? Who are and how can we better support the diverse communities that will interact with the development? This always starts with listening – what we call Leading by Listening. We love to learn from you!
A recent example of this is how we engaged with the Heroes Home Gate Executive Director, Joel Bailey and his team to discuss the specialized needs of his clients, unhoused veterans. We also studied the surrounding community’s mix of housing and scale of buildings in which their new, innovative facility was to be built. Taking guidance from their board, we came up with a solution that blended two house fronts connected by a welcoming porch.
The finishes were chosen through trauma informed design best practices – warm wood finishes, calm colors. We also used filtered lighting with plenty of support from the sun and opportunity for indoor/outdoor connection. Finding the right balance of privacy, security and also community connectivity was incredibly important. Program spaces such as a library, yoga room, gym, movie theater and gaming room all provide choices for inhabitants to engage with one another, health and wellness programs and activities.
One resident recently told me what a wonderful experience it’s been living there at Heroes Home Gate. He recounted how much he enjoys the library. Then he shared how he was able to sit with other veterans and watch a military movie on the 4th of July – all of them together. It brought him to tears. I was so touched and happy to be able to hear his story and know that we helped provide a place for him and others to feel comfortable, safe and honored for their service.
Positive Aesthetic Impact
Our clients care about good design and value how timeless elegant solutions can be. They want to feel uplifted and inspired by their surroundings. We work tirelessly to help achieve and coordinate all the details that go into a building because we show how much we value and care for our clients and the buildings’ occupants through this work.
Our clients at Synergy Services were recognized for their commitment to great design as Cornerstone Award winners and also AIA KC Merit Award winners this past year. What they do is live-saving work. Synergy Services supports and helps to heal families recovering from domestic violence and abuse- all ages, all walks of life – each client is met with unique care. This requires program spaces that support specific situations and needs.
We received feedback from a resident recently that shared how beautiful their new apartment is and how much that means to them. Another testament to beauty being good for the soul!
Positive Resource Impact
Each DRAW project starts with aligning Client priorities and stakeholder input, and this includes environmental considerations. What are the operational needs and energy efficiency goals? Is the team interested in passive or active solar power? How do we consider material resources and sourcing? How are we considering water usage and conservation potential- usually a low first cost and high payback. We align with what the Client prioritizes with regulatory requirements to clarify how long-term impacts of the building are balanced with early and smart design decisions.
Then we look at potential- can we achieve net zero impact? What does being climate neutral or regenerative look like? How do walking trails integrated into a development impact health and wellness?
On the boards, is Youth Haven, a transitional home for young families. The client continues to push the limits of how a building can support young lives with their path toward healing, education, counseling, and community. The campus consists of land that has not been fully activated, including an oversized parking lot, but an assessment of rainwater and stormwater movement along the natural topography supports native plantings on a sloping site. These underutilized areas, designed to absorb water, will be designated walking and bike paths for the residents. The paths eventually loop back to a playground area behind the building where residents can move, play, and interact with joy. This has been the outdoor strategy—to create positive impact with stormwater management while supporting the health and fitness of the residents.
Positive Economic Impact
Well-designed buildings have a positive effect on property values, business activity, and drive economic growth. But we also know our clients have budgets – and it is our goal to be good stewards of those financial resources.
Construction is a high-cost endeavor, and Clients need a partner that they can trust to navigate financing processes, manage cost estimates and keep scope and expectations aligned. We do this through pricing exercises at key milestones and partnerships with our construction team, who have boots on the ground and real-time data as pricing and supply chains fluctuate.
Positive Spatial Impact
Finally, we also define spatial impact as separate from aesthetic impact because it’s about the quality of the placemaking. We’re called DRAW Architecture + Urban Design – a nod to Solomon Architecture + Urban Design – my first place of employment, now Mithun. The lessons I learned there from one of my mentors, Daniel Solomon, were so seminal.
What is the experience at the sidewalk? How does the pedestrian walking beside the building, that might never see the inside of the building, have a nicer walk with their dog because of the placement of our building, the landscape and windows?
How are we creating places for gathering, impromptu and planned?
What are the proportions of the street and how do they filter sunlight and reduce wind speeds? The space between buildings is as important as the buildings themselves.
All of these 5 areas of focus for DRAW that we have distilled over the years are now reflected in the definition of Design Excellence released by the AIA. We honor and appreciate this important work by AIA National to promote a holistic approach to design.
