June 13-15: Healthcare sessions hone in on cross pollination, designing for impairments and sensory-induced outcomes

Still not registered for NeoCon? Click here. Don’t miss out on these programs designed to shed light on healing environments and how to manage them.

Lighting Elixir For Sad Interiors, Happy Staff, And Patient Satisfaction. Steven Klein, IALD, president, Klein Lighting, LLC, Fox Point, WI; Jeffrey Gertgen, electrical trade supervisor, UW Health, Madison, WI; Ardis Hitchins, AIA, IIDA, AAHID, EDAC, interior architect, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI.

Health care providers and lighting designers are astounded, enthralled, and overwhelmed at once! They are discovering the interplay of lighting and neuroscience in their work as healers and creators. We’ll enumerate how lighting and neuroscience in health care environments affects all of us, and reveal what connotations this has for interior and lighting design professions. Explore many examples of applied neuroscience through lighting design and see how to incorporate this in your own work. Catch up to the latest information in this exciting, leading edge topic.

Designing Supportive Environments For The Visually Impaired. Erin Schambureck, NCIDQ, IDEC, IIDA, assistant professor, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX; Nancy Clanton, FIES, IALD, LEED AP, president, Clanton & Associates, Boulder, CO; Dr. Dennis Siemsen, FAAO, optometrist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.

Visually supportive design is an important consideration for any commercial health care or residential environment. And spaces for those with low vision require heightened skills and increased attention to detail. Gain an understanding of different types of low vision and how each is affected by architectural and lighting conditions. Explore how building elements, contrast, and glare contribute to human perception. Consider the idea of lighting effectiveness as opposed to lighting efficiency. Examine a variety of evidence-based design tools and guidelines for creating safe and supportive visual environments. These methodologies can be applied to improving wayfinding and creating supportive environments for all users.

Blending Design Across Markets. Erin Anderson, NCIDQ, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C, EDAC, principal, director of interior design, SMRT Architects and Engineers, Portland, ME. Jeana Stewart, NCIDQ, LEED AP ID+C, interior designer, SMRT Architects and Engineers, Portland, ME.

Today’s workspaces must increasingly accommodate fused functionality, offering opportunity and challenges to owners and designers alike. Some design principles seem universal—natural lighting, evidence-based design, for example. But if you are knowledgeable in multiple market sectors, you are at a distinct advantage. When you can draw from experience in education, health care, corporate, or other markets, you understand commonalities across sectors. And, you can identify areas where a practice or trend in one market can be leveraged to great effect in another. Hear about opportunities for design efficiencies across markets. We’ll also discuss where universal designs don’t work. Get thinking about cross-pollination in your design applications and concepts—there is a lot of opportunity within reach.

Surrounded By Sound: How Noise Affects Our Health. Janet Kobylka, NCIDQ, AAHID, EDAC, LEED AP, senior interior designer, Workplace Solutions, Dallas, TX; Deborah Fuller, IIDA, LEED AP BD+C, ID+C, senior interior designer, Beck Architecture, Dallas, TX.

Noise has a powerful impact on our ability to heal, to work, and to communicate. Discover the growing body of evidence regarding the effects of noise on productivity and health. Walk through case studies and share evidence-based design research on this crucial topic. Determine the effectiveness of certain design solutions and their effects on the acoustic environment. You’ll gain or improve your ability to quickly and accurately identify noise polluters. And we’ll replenish your arsenal of tools and strategies for reducing the negative impact of sound in interior environments. Designers use many skills to evoke feeling, provide security, support health, encourage safety, create beauty, and improve efficiency for end users. Get the skills and know-how to shape the sound of your spaces.