Farrow Partners

An excellent summary with examples of Cause Health design elements by Australian A&D 

The case for using our "total health" as the basis for judging every building and public space is presented here by Tye Farrow and Sharon VanderKaay in SAB (Sustainable Architecture and Building) magazine.

"The Ultimate Test for Design: Does it Cause Health?" asks us to expand our thinking about the sustainability movement to a embrace a "cause health" environmental regeneration model. The Cause Health model is derived from Antonovsky's concept of salutogenesis.

At the intersection between individual and public health there are shared interests that can serve to accelerate progress in the sustainability movement.

This approach builds prosperity by moving upstream to reduce the unsustainable burden of illness on society. Such a culture shift would create places that allow us to thrive mentally, physically and socially.

This notion of "total health" extends beyond the state of our physical health, to include qualities that affect our state of mind.

TORONTO, March 9, 2015 - Tye Farrow will present "The Ultimate Test for Design: Does it Cause Health?" in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, March 23-26. He is participating in a National Seminar Series sponsored by the Australian Institute of Architects, details here.   

These talks will focus on the need to think beyond sustainability to thrive-ability from an economic, cultural and physical perspective. Examples will be presented that demonstrate how design can advance "total health", which extends beyond our physical condition to encompass our state of mind.

The opening for Farrow-designed Kipling Integrated Health Centre was celebrated on March 13. Art Van Maren, president of VanMar Constructors, provided construction services for this design-build project. He reports on the enthusiastic reception stakeholders, “Local client representatives all complimented our team during their speeches. One of the comments made was that we raised the bar on design and construction in Saskatchewan. MHPM and Sun Country said the design-build experience was great. They loved all the daylight in the facility, the cheerful colors, the layout and functionality.” Here is the news release. 

The first hospital in North America designed to be carbon-neutral, St. Mary's continues to attract recognition for sustainable design. It is listed here as the tenth most environmentally friendly hospital in the world. Designed by Farrow in association with Perkins + Will, St. Mary's is targeting net carbon reduction through the use of a geo-exchange system, a high-performance envelope, a photovoltaic array and passive design strategies, such as the use of solar shading and operable windows that allow for natural ventilation. As a result, the project is on target to achieve a 40% energy savings when compared to other LEED Gold Certified hospitals.