Expert Insights

Figuring Out What's Right And Good For Business

The social, economic and psychological drivers for what we call the Great Resignation phenomenon are many, and the complexity of why people leave their jobs can be unpredictable. The pandemic taught us that working from home can work. Many in leadership are driving people back into the office for “cultural reasons.” But for many, working from home is a benefit they do not want to give back.

Visible Culture Creates an Engaged Workforce

A recent survey of senior living workers indicated that 90% of leadership reported high or elevated levels of stress, and 80% of caregivers and hourly employees are facing critical levels of burnout. We know there are a lot of challenges contributing to these numbers, many of which require systemic economic, political, and social shifts well beyond the scope of what an individual provider or community can address.

Evolving Your Flywheel for Deferred Maintenance

Facility managers are challenged with managing limited financial resources while addressing the constant depreciation of their assets. Annual funding for general maintenance, preventative maintenance, and renewal and replacement is often insufficient to cover an organization’s yearly maintenance needs.

Change Continuum Loop | Part Two

In my previous blog Part One : Change Continuum Loop, I discussed the various phases employees and workplaces undergo when changes occur. In this second blog installment on the Change Continuum Loop, I’ll be discussing how our teams can help support you and your organization through workplace changes.

Think Big When Designing Small-Scale

Behavioral health continues to receive increased attention from patients, health systems, the media and government. The challenge of providing safe, accessible, dignified, and affordable mental health in Milwaukee County has been a longstanding issue. The need for a new behavioral health crisis center remained a community need. Milwaukee’s Mental Health Emergency Center (MHEC) was envisioned as a micro-hospital crisis center.

Change Continuum Loop

Since an organizational change effort aims to create strong adoption with the people delivering results, it is necessary to implement change management in parallel with the design of new work and workplaces. To build a solid and impactful change management process, we must first understand the patterns and influences of change on individuals and within teams at work.

Value Engineering

Value Engineering (VE) is a means of reconciling scope and budget to arrive at a base value that aligns with the priorities defined by the owner. Value engineering has always been important, and in a time when construction industry costs have risen three times the rate of our normative long-term increases, it becomes even more so. Value engineering is most effective as a budget planning tool where design alternatives and associated costs are examined early in the design process.

A Cultural Workplace Maturity Model

None of us knows how long the pandemic will continue to bounce. While natural attrition in the workforce is logical, losing people at the rate of The Great Resignation is damaging. Through caring and diligent study of your cultural evolution, your work process agility, your technology interfaces, and your brand equity, you can achieve much today to embrace the changes that are currently happening to you instead of for you.

How Better Design of Career and Technical Education Spaces Can Engage Students

When we think of school curriculum, we often envision traditional core classes like English, math, science and social studies. But what about all the other classes that expose students to non-traditional career or post-education paths?

What I Learned on Sabbatical

I had been employed for 35 years without pause in the design consultant industry. In June of 2021, I separated from my job without an immediate plan to acquire a new job. I called my unemployment a sabbatical, which brought light to what seemed like a possible dark time.

High Performance Building Design: Sustainable or Just Smart Design?

Sustainability can sometimes be a dirty word in the built environment. For some, it elicits negativity with thoughts of over-budget projects and difficult checklist requirements. However, high performance building design (HPBD) can maximize every dollar of a capital budget and help an organization better compete.

Why K-12 School Capacity Matters

Over the last 30 years, school spaces and classrooms have evolved. More flexible spaces and classrooms are now needed to support these programs; this need can decrease the capacity of a facility without any change to the size of the school.

Designing Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive K-12 Schools

The environments where students spend the majority of their waking hours should support all facets of development, which is why it is critical to create educational spaces that embrace all students, reflect our society and foster diversity, equity and inclusion.

Taking a trip to the moon: 5 questions with a CNA

Jennifer Sodo and Charlie Robertson's join in conversation over Roberson's time spent during his architectural schooling as a certified nursing assistant working with older adults.

Creating a Sense of Home

As an Interior Designer in the living studio of EUA, Nicole Conner has worked on a wide variety of projects including senior living, multifamily and mixed-used projects. She sat down with Jennifer Sodo to share more about her unique path to interior design – from her fine arts background to her own experiences with nursing homes.

Accessibility and Functionality: Bathroom Design for Older Adults

Bathrooms are spaces we all use frequently, and we have well-established standards for their design. But when it comes to laying out bathrooms for older adults, the design considerations become much more complicated.

Purpose Podcast Series

EUA's Green Bay office (formerly Performa) partnered with Gut+Science, a weekly show with the nation’s greatest leaders and CEO’s, on a sub-series of podcasts.

What's the Best Way to Return to Work? It All Depends

Even before the pandemic, companies were taking closer, more objective looks at how to improve employee engagement within the workplace. Now, this topic is magnified as leaders determine next steps for their businesses. Here are a few suggestions to help determine what modality of work - in office, work or hybrid - will be the most effective for your company and lead to the highest level of employee satisfaction.

From Shopping to Seniors: Re-Energizing Malls with Active Living

Across the country, shopping malls face an uncertain future. The pandemic has highlighted or even accelerated the decline of many malls as consumers turn to the convenience of online shopping. Retail and the experience economy are certainly not dead, but many of these suburban meccas of shopping show fewer signs of life year after year. What if the solution to revitalizing these sites lies with our aging population?

Reasons to Invest in Health Care Employee Retention

Stress and burnout are not new phenomena in the healthcare industry and consistently contribute to challenges with workforce shortages. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated pressure on care providers, with physical and mental repercussions causing more to consider making career changes.

Does Height Matter: Determining the Best Clear Height for Your Industrial Project

Are you wondering what clear height is best for your facility? Building a 'right-sized' building has a life cycle cost and economic benefit to your company. By taking the time to figure that out at the beginning of the project, it allows for the best value and design solutions.

The Closing Window of Influence to Re-Shape the Healthcare Industry

EUA’s Healthcare Studio recently hosted a virtual Advisory Board event and focused on the unsettled issues facing leaders of the Healthcare industry as the country emerges from the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. While it has impacted and disrupted healthcare payments, consumer choice and alternative means of care delivery, the window of influence will ultimately be closing and the final decisions shaping the future of healthcare have yet to be made.

The Ripple Effect of Leading with Curiosity – a Conversation with Heather Turner Loth | Podcast

Heather Turner Loth spoke with the Wellness Council of Wisconsin (WCWI) on their “Changing the Narrative of Employee Wellbeing with WCWI” podcast. Heather discussed the intersection of the workplace environment and employee wellbeing, and how these concepts should be strategically connected to make the employee experience better.

How Change Management Supports Employee Well-Being Efforts

Change can be hard, but it can also be healing. As a society, we’ve found ourselves unable to avoid change and are facing new realities to the way we live, work, and play as a result of a global pandemic. Virtually everyone has been touched in some way, shape or form.

The New Face of College "Seniors" – the University Based Retirement Community

Today’s seniors are not kicking back and retiring peacefully – many of them are seeking new opportunities to provide meaning and excitement in their later years. Growing numbers of seniors are seeking opportunities for part time work, learning new skills, volunteerism, and even political involvement. What better place to find all these options than at a university?

Educational Master Planning

Educational facility master planning is a crucial tool for Districts to decide what to do and what not to do with their facilities. At the end of the process, the goal is to establish an elegant solution for the District with the greatest opportunity and flexibility given all short- and long-term costs.

Designing for Patient Access to Improve the Care Experience | Podcast

In this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast, we’re joined by Kristin Dufek, president of EUA, a leading architecture, interior design, and master planning firm located in Milwaukee. Kristin’s here today to talk about designing for patient access to improve the care experience.

Small Scale, Big Solutions: Five Current Trends in Micro-hospital Design and Operations and What the Future May Bring Renee Kubesh, AIA, CDT, EDAC, James Hutchinson, MBA, RN, CEN and Olivia Fritts PhD, MS

Micro-hospitals, also known as neighborhood or community hospitals, have been around for over 15 years and have become a major part of the healthcare conversation in the last decade. In short, they are fully licensed, 24/7 hospitals with footprints that are a fraction of a traditional hospital and equipped to respond to almost any medical issue, including critical care.

Providing Spaces for Youth to Thrive

Operation Fresh Start (OFS), a local non-profit organization serving Dane County, Wisconsin, strives to support these youth as they transition to adulthood and achieve self-sufficiency. Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of working with them as they renovated and relocated to a larger space that support their continued growth.

Designing for the Hybrid Workforce: The Importance of Well-being, Community, Effectiveness, Adaptability and Inclusivity

Productivity and engagement are both critical factors to a business; productivity is an important element in an employee’s performance, and engagement correlates to longevity and a desire to stay with an organization. Moving forward, how will organizations, and specifically the office setting, support employee productivity and engagement?

Embrace Disruption Instead of Forced Reinvention

Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic brought major disruptions to all industries, with health care being no exception. EUA Healthcare Studio Director + Expert Paul Stefanski touches on the healthcare industry's disruptors that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and how that will affect healthcare design as a whole.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Imagine a building that can learn about the people who pass through it, studying their preferences and responding to them almost like a living entity, even self-regulating to harness efficiencies. These buildings already exist and are called smart buildings; they are facilities not just of the future but the present.

Build New or Renovate

During our long-term facilities planning work with school districts, a key threshold question is often asked: do we build new or renovate? At EUA, we never answer that question for our clients. Rather, through deep listening, engaging stakeholders and analyzing data, we help school district leaders find the answers that best fit their individual circumstances.

Key Considerations in Designing Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities

Keeping classified information secure is paramount to aerospace and defense companies, especially when working with government contracts. A truly successful SCIF project should address three key design considerations.

Hit the Brakes: Rethink Learning + Learning Environments

“Can you just pull over for a minute?!” Have you ever been on a road trip and gotten to a point where you weren’t sure if you were going in the right direction? You are speeding along, and things start to look different, strange, not what you expected or, they become familiar because you passed this way an hour ago. We are at a point where we need to pull over for a minute to figure out where we are going.

Enhancing Employee Well-Being Is On More Than Just HR

As companies adapt to a post-COVID world, many are moving towards a focus on employee well-being. In addition to HR policies, the built environment can help support wellness in multiple ways.

How I spent the pandemic: Learning something new, of course.

When we all suddenly found ourselves working from home last year and no longer commuting to and from the office, I got back about two hours every weekday. Some of it went to work, some to leisure activities, but a fair bit went to research and learning – learning more about what it is we, as learning environment architects, planners and interior designers, put our heart and soul into: exceptional school design.

A Lack of Density Does Not Equal a Lack of Need: How Rural Health Has Largely Gone Overlooked

According to the National Health Council, rural areas cover over 90 percent of the nation’s land area but contain somewhere around 20% percent of the total population (about 60 million). This underserved and remote population has gone unnoticed for far too long.

Ageism Senior Living Expert Contributor

In a world where we are bombarded with instant news feeds and ubiquitous social media, discrimination in many forms seem to be ever present. One of these that has rarely been in the headlines is ageism.

Finding the Right Space for Your ASC

“So, can it be done?” A healthcare client asked me this question after we surveyed a building they were considering for a new specialty care procedure center and clinic. The building was in the exact location they were looking for and it was the perfect size. There was just one hang-up: it was a car dealership and auto shop.

Senior Living + Care: A Family's Guide to Understanding the Options

Choosing the right senior living facility and care for you or a loved one can be an overwhelming process. As care providers and environmental designers in the senior living and care professions we have an intuitive sense not only of the options available to seniors in our communities but also the myriad of services, payment options and social ramifications specific to each housing and care service type.

Community Impact Through Facility Improvements

Through my work as an architect, it is a gift to work on building projects that I know will be impactful and valued by our community at large for years to come. This past year I worked on such a project.

How Free Address Can Support a Hybrid Work Environment

The potential for a hybrid workforce poses a challenging real estate equation. Enter the Free Address workplace.

Do We Stereotype Aging?

Why the de-emphasis on “aging?” We are moving away from stereotyping aging, age-restricted communities and the negative connotations of aging.

Embracing Change

The era of identical square classrooms where students sit in perfectly aligned rows of desks while teachers stand and lecture at the front of the classroom has faded. As districts expand their educational goals we find the “cells and bells” method of school design no longer supports these directives.

Resilient Design is Good Design: Making the Case for Adaptable Design Strategies throughout the Workplace

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a disruptor for how the business world views office space, provoking designers to re-envision their approach towards workplace planning.

Establishing Your Students' Educational Foundation

I believe the foundation of life is much like a structural building foundation, as both need to be strong to succeed.

Will students today have the skills for jobs tomorrow?

I challenge us to ask ourselves, can we create a better connection between future job market needs and setting students up with the skills and knowledge needed to be successful? Is there a correct balance between soft skills and technical skills?

Four Tips for Using VR Effectively in Architectural Design Presentations

A follow up to "The Benefits of Virtual Reality in Architecture Design," here are four tips to get the most out of design presentations when using VR

Preparing for the Unexpected: Our Leadership Transition Lynsey Grace

As I headed into 2020, I had no idea how much change the year would bring. I had big vacation plans, new career goals and whispers of two principal-level retirements at our firm (Rick Burkett and Michele Ponicsan). But pandemic impact aside, the retirements still moved forward, so here are some of the lessons I learned planning for a leadership transition.

Three Take-Aways from 2020 for Improved Employee Well-Being in 2021 + Beyond

Businesses who make purposeful decisions around ways to support an employee’s well-being through the built environment, can see significant positive impacts on an individuals’ physical and mental health. As Expert Contributor on Workplace Environment, Policy, and Design, Heather Turner Loth shared her 2020 well-being take-aways with WCWI members.

A Lean-Led Design Approach to Senior Living

In these unprecedented times, Senior Living Communities more than ever need to find ways to maintain the health and safety of their residents and staff while maintaining a sustainable business. Lean-led design offers insight into how operators can provide more value using fewer resources, resulting in the highest quality of life and experience for everyone involved.

Libraries Present New Senior Living Opportunities: A win for everyone

One of the most important first steps for developing any new senior living community is identifying a viable project site. There are many key metrics which go into site considerations from target market area, neighborhood, community, tax incentives and land development costs to name a few. Aging libraries may present the opportunities developers have been looking for.

The Benefits of Virtual Reality in Architecture Design

Published in the Colorado Real Estate Journal's Healthcare & Senior Housing quarterly issue, this article discusses the benefits of virtual reality in architecture design.

Infusing Sustainability into Architectural Design: Five Strategies That Can Reduce the Impact of Healthcare Buildings on the Environment

When most people hear the word ‘sustainability,’ with architecture their focus immediately goes to visible building components such as green roofs or solar panels, and their assumption is that sustainability costs a significant amount of ‘extra’ funds.

Well Buildings for Senior Living: Design Making a Big Impact on Healthy Environments

There is little question that the buildings in which we work, live, shop and play have an impact on many aspects of our existence. This impact can be so subtle as to be unnoticed, but no less impactful, or can be so overt as to force us to a point where we want to exit the structure. What makes a building a “well” building?

Stories Behind the Design: Verona Area High School

Chris Michaud, the Designer of the new Verona Area High School, shares his insights and inspiration behind the design of one of Wisconsin's largest and most innovative high schools

Transforming An Urban Neighborhood

EUA is helping transforming the East Washington Corridor in Madison, WI through several projects, including Arden, a high-end, mixed-use development

How to Plan for Future Outpatient Shifts: Advisory Board Presentation Insights and Predictions

EUA recently hosted a virtual presentation and discussion with the Advisory Board entitled, “Planning for Future Outpatient Shifts,” which takes a deeper look at what may be head of the healthcare industry and how to prepare.

3 Ways Workplace Design Supports a Culture of Trust + Empowerment

EUA’s Heather Turner Loth shares why trust and empowerment is the key to creating a lasting value proposition, and in turn employee retention.

Why Conduct A Construction Feasibility Study? S+T Expert Contributor

However you are planning to emerge from 2020, whether expanding, shrinking, moving or remodeling, an effective approach is to start by having a professional construction feasibility study prepared. The physical needs of your business, your plant, your laboratory, and your office are always changing, but probably never more than this past year. Most companies are moving ahead to develop plans and capital budgets for next year.

How to Make a Lasting First Impression with Lobby Design

In so many settings—from museums to schools to the workplaces—lobbies play an important part in creating a first and lasting impression for visitors. With the right approach and intentional design, lobbies can communicate brand, illustrate a company’s story, engage employees and clients, ultimately impacting a company’s performance.

Designing for the Evolving Insurance Industry Landscape

Insurance Industry Design Experts Renee Riviere and Jen Singson reflect on the evolving landscape of this industry, including what they've noticed as unique and how design is re-shaping the enterprise.

Maintaining Privacy in Open Office Setting Requires Creativity

Published in the Colorado Real Estate Journal's Building Dialogue, this article discusses the importance of maintaining privacy in open office settings, especially in light of COVID-19.

Digital Health Past, Present, Future: The State of Digital Strategy Among Health Systems

With the future of healthcare and digital health on the forefront of everyone's minds this article is focused on the past, present and future of digital health and its impact on the state of digital strategy among health systems today.

Guide: Design with Lasting Impact EUA Workplace Studio Experts

We know the workplace will never be the same. The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented. So where do we go from here? Our goal is to provide support, guidance and leadership as you transition back to your post-pandemic workplace.

Should We Stay or Should We Go: Making the Decision on Renovating vs. Building New

When helping clients take on the challenge of site selection, Senior Project Designer Troy Jacoby recommends to keep these 5 things top of mind.

5 Opportunities to Improve Lobby Design in Response to Pandemics Workplace Studio Experts

If the design of building lobbies can more adequately control infection, preventing it from progressing beyond the lobby and making the space feel clean, then the building will be a healthier place in which to live, work, learn and heal.

Safe and Secure Schools

Safety and security are at the forefront of all environments that we design, and this is never more important than when we’re creating spaces to serve and inspire learners. While the conversation on safety and security today is dominated by “active shooter” events, the reality is there are multiple risks that our students face each day, such as bullying, natural disasters, sexual misconduct, sickness and many more.

How Research Changed My Priorities in Medical Clinic Planning and Design

To answer the building orientation question we used cove.tool to study the impact building orientation has on energy use in a medical clinic. We used a “typical” design and cove.tool energy modeling to see what the pEUI would be for eight building orientations in Southeast Wisconsin. The results were surprising and somewhat of a relief.

Pandemic Considerations for Health Facility Design EUA Healthcare Studio Experts

As we continue to support clients with their healthcare facilities, our healthcare team is looking ahead to how design will be impacted by the current COVID-19 pandemic response. We know our clients will need to anticipate future disruptions and patients are anticipating changes in the way they receive care once they return. Our team of healthcare designers and planners has been looking at ways our clients may ask us to design differently in the future.

How Senior Living Communities Can Increase Profit by Partnering and Sharing Resources

Senior living is built on community and finding strength in numbers. For communities that are nonprofit, there can be many cost-saving benefits of partnering and sharing resources.

Free Address as an Unexpected Workplace Strategy in a Post COVID-19 World Workplace Environment Expert Contributor

Sharing a work setting seems counter-intuitive when thinking about spreading germs, but with Free Address it can actually be easier than ever to keep the workplace clean and ready for your employees.

COVID-19 Immediate Response for Healthcare Facilities EUA Healthcare Studio Experts

Our healthcare team continues to support clients with their healthcare facilities by taking a detailed look into immediate design changes that can help healthcare facilities in managing their COVID-19 responses.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen the steady rise of neighborhood hospitals, also known as micro-hospitals, across the country. Drawing from recent experience, we have identified several unique propositions neighborhood hospitals give to existing healthcare systems.

How SSM Health is Leading the Way to Wellness with WELL Certified Buildings

Facilities are valuable tools that aid in recruiting and retaining talent, especially for healthcare workers who have very demanding jobs. When looking for ways to create a better workspace and in turn improve their patient experience, our client SSM Health engaged us to deliver their WELL vision to the built environment.

Design Considerations for K12 Facilities Post Pandemic Learning Environments Studio Experts

We recognize that school districts are faced with many uncertainties and change as the pandemic evolves. Our number one goal is to be there offering the support, guidance and leadership that people expect from EUA.

How Workplace Design May Change Following the Pandemic EUA Workplace Environment Experts

While COVID-19 has forced many to work from home, we still see the physical workplace playing a vital role in fostering culture and providing a place for innovation and connection among coworkers. We see changes across the entire landscape of office types, with some specific areas of focus.

How School Leaders Can Engage Stakeholders During a Global Pandemic

Engaging stakeholders virtually can be a tricky thing to do, here are some great techniques and easy online based forums that can make your engagement sessions not only successful but extremely productive.

Return to Work Guide

We recognize that our clients are faced with many uncertainties and change as the pandemic evolves. Our number one goal is to be there for our clients offering the support, guidance and leadership that people expect from EUA.

Tell me more…How To Get More From An Interview To Find The Best Team

As decision makers, choosing the best team to complete a project for your organization can be a daunting task. Read on to learn some tips from our interviewing staff on what questions should be asked during the interview process.

Curating an Experience Through Environmental Branding

As an Interior Designer, people often ask me what's in, what's out and what definitely shouldn't be missed in their office design. While there are many factors and trends to consider, my essential recommendation is the same – don’t skimp on environmental branding.

How to Determine If Your Lab is the Correct Size S+T Lab Expert Contributor

If you are a front-line workers in healthcare, research or manufacturing facilities, by now you are likely "getting by" in your current space amidst COVID-19, while keeping a wish list of things you'd like to change.

Loneliness For the Elderly in the Time of Pandemic Senior Living Expert Contributor

Regardless of pandemics, isolation and loneliness can be a part of everyday life for the elderly and can have devastating effects on their physical and emotional health. Read on to see how architecture and design can help combat loneliness in our elderly population.

Recommendations for Future Health Facility Design

National Nurses Week was a timely occasion for EUA to virtually host our annual presentation and discussion with the Advisory Board. This installment was entitled "A New Focus for Health System Facility Strategy." Guiding our discussion was Miriam Sznycer-Taub, a Senior Consultant with Advisory Board’s Health Care Industry Committee.

Sustainability at Home: Small Changes Form New Habits

Here are some sustainable habits to implement while working from home to improve your daily routine.

5 Questions to Approach Workspace Design in a Post-Pandemic World

As companies are preparing for the day they welcome employees back to the office, many leaders I have been talking to want to know, “should our workplace design and layout change, and what are the short and long-term modifications I should make?”

After the Curve Flattens: Healthcare Readiness Considerations

I could only wish that this pandemic was like a real roller coaster with a finite end and the choice to take another ride (or not). As we flatten the curve and approach the top of the hill, I think it will be very important to pause, look around and remember what we saw.

EUA Design Experts on How Workplace Design May Shift After COVID-19 EUA Workplace Design Experts

EUA brought together seven workplace designers from our Milwaukee, Madison and Denver offices over a remote discussion from their homes to talk about workplace design following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Changing Senior Living Design Landscape Senior Living Expert Contributor

As we consider our charge as designers of safe senior environments, here are some of the design changes that will emerge to protect our senior residents.

COVID-19 Spotlights School Impacts EUA Learning Environment Expert

COVID-19 is shedding light on the ways school districts meet crucial – often overlooked – needs for their community beyond the classroom.

Telemedicine: Here Comes the Sun

Not only is telemedicine a convenient platform to receive healthcare, it has come in handy as an efficient way to deliver care without exposing staff or patients to COVID-19.

Disruption Fuels Creation: Evaluating Bottlenecks Today for Future Improvements S+T Lab Expert Contributor

Working in a laboratory or healthcare facility during a pandemic? How can your space be improved to to be more efficient?

Home Learning Spaces: Will COVID-19 Create Memorable Learning Moments?

With the majority of students learning from home and parents the substitute teacher, the learning space at home is a critical aspect to memorable learning moments.

Senior Living: Keeping Connected Through our Shared Crisis Senior Living Expert Contributor

Though it may be difficult to visit our loved ones in time of crisis, here are a few ways to remain connected.

Design Considerations for Turning Vacant Patient Rooms into Surge Space

Swing or surge rooms can put healthcare providers in a unique position to be able to provide care when certain events require additional patient care spaces with short notice of high demand.

How Design Advisory Groups Require More Than One Color

In a world that is increasingly dominated by virtual rather than human contact, our job of connecting to our clients in a personal way is increasingly important.

The Journey of a Leader: Don't Stop Believing

I didn’t start my career intending to become the Vice President at a large architectural firm, and certainly couldn’t have predicted the steps that led me here, but I am very grateful for all of it. Here are five things I've learned about leadership.

Myth Busters | Why You Shouldn’t be Afraid of Purchasing a Historic Building

Why fear historic buildings when there are many benefits to reusing them?

Wellness Is More Than A Gym

Wellness initiatives in Senior Living are influencing many communities. Explore a few strategies to elevate wellness through the built environment.

The Trifecta Benefits of Innovation Centers: Customers, Employees and Brand

Companies all over the world are producing the next generation of products using leading edge technology.

Under One Roof, New Opportunities in Senior Living Senior Living Expert Contributor

It’s no secret that brick and mortar retail stores are struggling to stay afloat, but what if these buildings can be repurposed into senior-focused uses?

Q+A Session with Industry Leader

Recently EUA’s Jen Singson spoke with John Miles, Global Business Leader - Electric Vehicle & Battery, about how Rockwell Automation’s (RA) new Electronic Vehicle Innovation Center, designed by EUA was changing the way they do business. Here is their conversation.

What You Should Know When Developing Your School Referendum Budget

The importance of communication throughout each stage is critical to keep stakeholders on the same page about budget, resulting in a carefully planned project.

An Unbalanced Equation: How the Drive for Low Cost Services is Impacting Healthcare Organization Growth

EUA recently hosted an Advisory Board presentation on The State of Our Services Lines: Modernizing Strategy for the New Economics of Care. What are the major healthcare trends to watch?

5 Tips for a Successful Phased Healthcare Renovation Project Healthcare Environment Expert Contributor

As a Project Architect, I enjoy helping clients transform their healthcare environments like we’re on a home makeover show. It takes quite a bit longer than a 1-hour episode to show the results of the transformation, but the reveal is just as impactful.

In the Spotlight: Benefits of the On-Stage/Off-Stage Model of Care

Recently, we have seen more and more of our clients transitioning from a traditional, linear model of care to an on-stage/off-stage approach which better separates patient from caregiver spaces.

The Rise of eSports: Designing for a New Audience

In the last ten years, the gaming industry has seen an incredible revolution. No longer are video games just an annoying hobby of your teenage kids – it’s now taking over as a nine to five job. Having worked on a couple eSports projects now, it’s clear that a new, contrary market has emerged.

Move Over Stress: An Engaged Workplace is Set to Perform

Take a moment to ask yourself an honest question, do you feel stressed?

Designing for Everyone (Really) Universal Design Expert

While designing UW-Whitewater's newest residence hall, which opened this fall, we became students ourselves as we learned how to go beyond minimum accessibility requirements to design with truly everyone in mind.

Law is Constant, But Lawyers Are Not: Designing for the Next Generation Law Firm Expert Contributor

“The world has seen more change in the past five years than the past 30 years.” When you consider this statement in the context of law office design, it is exceptionally relevant.

Becoming a Provider of Choice Through People-Focused Design

At a recent ACHE regional conference, the WIU team presented the new Ambulatory Surgery Center and Clinic as an effective example of people-focused healthcare design.

Capitalizing on the Possibilities in Healthcare Brand Standards Post Acquisition

While the exterior establishes the overall brand visibility and presence, the interior can make the largest impact on the comfort and experience of staff, patients and their families.

Defining Success: The Value of Evidence-Based Design in Healthcare Healthcare Environment Expert Contributor

Each project has a unique definition of success. Evidence-based design can help ensure design solutions are tailored to a client's goals and vision.

So, You're Going On A School Tour

The planning process for new school facilities takes months, even years which usually includes a school tour or two (or three!) of newly constructed or renovated school buildings. These tours can easily overload the senses...so, what should one be looking for during a school tour?

Project Team Chemistry: 3 Ways to Get it Right from the Beginning

Getting team chemistry right from the beginning is key to ensure a smooth process throughout a project. Here are the top three team chemistry catalysts believed to be impactful for an AEC project team.

Top Takeaways from Lean In Design Forum - Innovation & Collaboration Lean-led Design Expert

Sparking Inspiration: Insights from 2019 Lean In Design conference. How we can carve out time to cultivate innovative ideas, collaboration and results?

How Can Schools Solve for Full-Day Kindergarten? Break Out Your Klotski Puzzles!

With full-day kindergarten becoming the new norm, how are schools able to accommodate the additional students? Here are five cost effective ways to change your school without completing new construction or a major renovation.

Designing for Diversity: Creating Inclusive Workplace Environments

How can we be different together and design workplace environments to support those differences?

Embarking on the Leadership Adventure

Moving from individual contributor to leader of a group can challenge our sense of self, but also open us up to new ways of bringing value to our teams and our organizations.

Key Considerations for Behavioral Health Inpatient Unit Design

When I started working with SSM Health on projects for the St. Mary’s Madison campus, the hospital was just wrapping up a new, 28-bed Behavioral Health inpatient unit.

The Facility Impact in Creating a Provider of Choice by Elevating Patient and Staff Experiences

Healthcare design can affect both your patients' and your staff's experiences. By focusing on creating environments that can positively affect the experience, healthcare systems can better attract, retain and engage with their communities.

Quality Design: Be Bold, Human and Smart Workplace Environment Expert Contributor

Quality design begins with a bold premise. “I want a place where Picasso would like to paint.” This statement exemplifies the attitude of today’s CEO’s who recognize the significance of a well-designed work environment.

RACI to the Rescue: Improving Team-Based Decision Making Learning Environments Expert Contributor

One of the most valuable things about using the RACI Matrix is that it provides groups with a platform to have honest discussion and come to agreement about each person’s role or roles on a project.

Memory Boxes As Community Building Tools Senior Living Expert Contributor

More than a display, memory boxes can serve as personalized, helpful tools within Senior Living environments for residents to remember themselves and learn about others, while also functioning as a wayfinding aid.

Want to Save Money on Your Next Project? Let’s Focus on Energy!

Investing in an energy efficient building creates a more comfortable space, positively impacting occupant satisfaction, performance and ultimately costs. Focus on Energy's Design Assistance Program will allow you to do just that.

Elevate Your People’s Potential Through an Engaged Workplace

Companies with higher levels of employee engagement equate to higher profitability, higher productivity, lower absenteeism and lower turnover. What if the work environment could be the differentiating factor in elevating your people’s potential?

A Millennial and a Baby Boomer Walk Into A Bar...: How Mixed-Use Developments are Increasingly Becoming Intergenerational Chris Gallagher, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

While most basic needs generally stay the same, demographics, preferences and lifestyles do not. More and more, we are seeing two different generations--Millennials and Baby Boomers--gravitating towards similar lifestyles.

Mock Trial: How Experimenting with Visual Mock-Up Tools Can Enhance Senior Living Design Senior Living Expert Contributor

Everyone learns a little bit differently. In order to design a senior living community that truly meets the needs of its residents and staff, it's important to not only hear different voices but allow them to experience the design in different ways.

The Battle for Talent: Workplace Wellness Is the Gamechanger

With the US labor force projecting low unemployment rates, it is crucial that organizations invest in attracting + retaining the best talent. What if wellness in the workplace was the gamechanger to setting your company apart for prospective talent?

What’s in the Way of a Highly Effective Workplace? Workplace Environment Expert Contributor

Companies crave talent that makes a difference – enhancing culture and thinking smarter to achieve innovation. The workplace is a complex ecosystem and very often stress is a symptom of an ineffective workplace and by tuning into the conditions that impact individual and team success, we can identify necessary changes to align place with worker needs.

Increasing Human Connection Through Architecture

"Hey Siri, can architecture effect human interactions?" As today's workforce becomes increasingly digitally connected, it seems that people are longing more and more for true human connection. Through intentional design, we can help foster communication and collaboration, while still meeting the needs of people desiring their individual space.

Back To The Future: The Value of Historic Schools in 21st Century Learning

Often the temptation with schools (or really any building) is to believe that newer is better. But I don't buy that. Sometimes the best answer for a school system and community is to preserve and protect what they already have. Although historic preservation isn't the right solution for everyone, it's worth not writing off.

Charting the Course

Success can be, and often is, measured in many ways. Success for me covers the spectrum from having fun, to creating learning spaces that students don’t want to leave. Set expectations will chart the course and get you started down the path to a successful project.

Time for a new lab! Now what?... S+T Expert Contributor

Deciding to expand, renovate or build a new lab is an exciting, big opportunity – it’s also a lot of work and something that many scientists have never done. Who should they call first? What can they do to facilitate the best process to guide the expansion and protect themselves from making mistakes?

Healthcare Trends to Act On in 2019

This November, as the weather started to turn toward winter, EUA invited The Advisory Board to give their “State of the Union” presentation to our healthcare clients, as well as our entire group of healthcare design professionals.

Why I Choose Distributed Leadership

Senior Project Manager Abie Khatchadourian explores the differences between a traditional, top down leadership approach and distributed leadership.

The Battle for Talent: Top 5 Gen Z Factors That Drive the Workplace

With the understanding that generational traits and values differ, and given that Gen Z is the first generation to grow up in a wireless world, how will Gen Z’s life experiences swing the pendulum of workplace design?

The Right Mix: Design Considerations for Emergent Care Settings

Perhaps it’s the millennial in me, but after relocating to the Midwest, it took me over two years and four visits to urgent care before I finally selected a Primary Care Physician (PCP). As a new patient, urgent care became my point of care for its ease of access and affordability, and I’m not alone in this choice.

More Than Just an Internship: How a Design Experience Reinforced a Firm-wide Culture Liam Norman

This summer, the interns at Eppstein Uhen Architects participated in a design charrette that generated creativity, helped the group bond, and illuminated what it means to work at a supportive and enthusiastic firm.

Move Over Ikea: The Rise of Minimalist Scandinavian Design

While at NeoCon this year, I noticed a deepening appreciation and more widespread popularity for the minimalist inspired Scandinavian design, and with that, hand crafted materials. People are increasingly gravitating towards not just the visual simplicity, but the purity of the process often associated with these elements.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: The Actual Cost of New S&T Spaces S+T Lab Expert Contributor

Each project has a unique set of circumstances that are important to consider before beginning a design. Being aware of the right type of project for you (i.e. renovation versus new build), your construction variables, and the total estimated cost of your project will save you a lot of time, money and headache down the road.

Fixer Upper: University Science Building Edition

As an architect, sometimes we get to create buildings from scratch and sometimes we've given opportunities to get creative with existing spaces. Either way--challenge accepted!

How Design Can Foster Trust in Clinician and Patient Interactions

Today's patients want transparency and comfort from their providers. With so many options in healthcare, what are you doing to create positive outcomes for your patients and health system?

Living Lean: How I Applied Lean to My Morning Routine Lean-led Design Expert

Getting out of the house in the morning on time with everything you need for your day is a challenge everyone can relate to. After working with Lean in healthcare facility design for eight years, I asked myself if it was possible to apply those same principles to my personal life. The answer is “yes you can!”

Why I Love the WELL Building Rating System – It Builds Healthy Habits WELL Building Expert Contributor

It is exciting to sit down with an owner and brainstorm all the ways we can make the building design more sustainable or support the well-being of the occupants, but the challenge is how to do it in a meaningful way that supports real change that leads to healthy habits.

Patients Are Disrupting Healthcare

At a recent Healthcare Facilities conference, I attended a presentation by Sean Keathley and Gina Bleedorn from Adrenaline Agency on Digital Disruption in the Healthcare industry. They were captivating speakers and I found the topic to be fascinating. In today's world, disruption can be seen as a buzz word, but whatever we think, it's here.

Care Staff Shortages Senior Living Expert Contributor

We have all read the gloomy articles regarding the critical shortage of professional care staff generally and, more specifically, its impact on care staffing for the elderly. There are numerous reasons for this shortage, some of which are controllable and others which are not. The reasons for this crisis are simple to recognize but the solutions may not be.

Most Likely to Succeed Learning Environment Expert Contributor

EUA's Learning Environments studio hosted a viewing of the film "Most Likely to Succeed."

Are You Teaching + Learning in a Space or Place?

How the physical learning environment supports improved outcomes for students and staff. Bob Vajgrt discusses how educational spaces should be designed to directly support the teaching and learning happening in the space.

Workplace Design that Maximizes Your Real Estate Investment

An office is just an office, right? But what if it’s not? What if it can be more? What if you could actually make your real estate work for you? Turns out, you can.

The Tipping Point: Will Talent Stay or Will They Go

I think it’s safe to say that it’s every company’s goal to attract and retain the best and the brightest. But with so much fierce competition for talent and the length of time people are staying at jobs decreasing, how do companies set themselves apart and give their employees incentive to stay?

Taking Ego Out of Design

What makes a successful architectural project? Before getting into specifics, like what materials should be used, or even what the project should look like, it’s critical to first look at the bigger picture of what we want to be true in the end. Here’s the catch—it’s not the same answer for everybody.

A Caregiver's Perspective on Long-Term Care Settings

Understanding how older adults live, sleep, eat, socialize and receive care are not only critical aspects to the design of long term care environments, but they are the foundation to an excellent community for the aging.

A Brand Worth Believing In

In our social media saturated culture, the number of followers a brand or company has is crucial. But the real question is, is it worth following? Worth believing in?

Workplace Design: Any Way You Want It

We’ve all heard that being healthy comes from the inside out. I’ve found that this mantra applies not just to the human body, but the corporate workplace as well. In order to better serve our clients, we as employees need to be in a good mindset ourselves.

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change”: Revitalizing Your Senior Living Community–A Step-by-Step Guide Senior Living Expert Contributor

Revitalizing your community’s environment, keeping ahead of trends and making sure you communicate improvements to your client base will provide benefits for your market competitiveness, residents and staff.

Responding to Change: Understanding the Challenges in Outpatient Facility Expansion

Today’s healthcare organizations exist in a rapidly changing landscape. Patient consumerism, demographic shifts, healthcare reform, and private payers are all putting tremendous pressure on organizations to evolve in order to survive.

Outside the Curriculum: The Effect Environment Has on Learning

Do you think that a room can affect a student’s grades? Let me put it this way, do you think that the quality of the learning environment effects learning? If you answered “yes,” you are not alone.

Use it or Lose it

As I tour existing schools everyone asks for classroom space but then I ask them if those cabinets full of holiday decorations are a necessity. Do they need 42 chairs in the room if there are only 23 students?

Experience your building design before you break ground

Picture this: a client meets with the design firm they have entrusted to create their new headquarters. They’ve spent countless hours and resources to ensure employees will have a space that is comfortable, inviting and integrates into their overall brand.