SpaceBehavior
Design Philosophy

This, is not for everyone!
If, however, you consider yourself an enthusiast concerned with healthy life affirming personal and global development and actualization who wants to co-create positive social change, DwellRight could be worth further exploration.
Optimally using your living and working environments for your personal fulfillment (creatively, emotionally, spiritually), sets the stage for win/win/win - helping self, to help others, helping others to co-create a more life-enhancing world for all beings.

It is quite common for architects to design personal environments that aren’t user friendly. While the overall basic functionality might be there, the spaces ultimately hinder those who spend time there.

The study and implementation of ontological principles in the architectural and interior design process are a vital part of creating spaces that nurture us as individuals and as social beings.

Winston Churchill once said that “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” We change our own setting by modifying it to our personal tastes and needs. The setting then begins to change us by forcing us to adapt to our own modifications. A personal environment is like a “mold” into which we “form” ourselves through use. Whether or not you are aware of it, you ADAPT to the physical and psychological and social limitations a space imposes upon you and your experience.

Furniture location, for instance, CONTROLS how we move through a space by creating pathways that we call a “traffic pattern”. The arrangement of chairs influences communication frequency, social interaction, and feelings of our intimate and social relationships with others.

The “mood” of a space is directly related to the quality and amount, direction and intensity of natural and artificial light. The mood of the space often affects our mood in the same way... Try to remember your feelings the last time the sun didn’t shine for 5 days. Our environments affect us the same way that lack of sunlight affects us. The difference is that the sun will eventually shine again. Our personal environments may negatively influence us for as long as we are exposed to them.

The height of a room’s ceiling affects how people think and process information. Low ceilings tend to support focusing on the specific details that may inspire a more detailed, statistical outlook. On the other hand, higher ceilings make people feel physically less constrained and able to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections and creative solutions.

Rooms with views of nature tend to support more mental focus than rooms that overlook entirely man- made structures. Even hanging wall art of nature can be a great virtual window and work just as well.

The acoustical quality of a space will influence how others sound to us, and how we sound to them. The quality of a person’s voice, for instance, changes directly with the acoustics of the space in which the person speaks. The surface textures influence sound levels that affect our feelings of privacy or intimacy. Rooms with an “echo” always feel empty, even with people in them.

We are in intimate relationships with our personal environments.

Whether you want to re-arrange an existing space, renovate, or build a brand new home, DwellRight offers consultations and residential design well beyond the scope of traditional architectural or interior design services, and former ‘trendy’ feng shui or extreme makeovers. Listed below are some of the benefits that these unique design techniques can have on you and your space.

In Your Home

• Improve relationships with family and friends, because the space is no longer getting in your way

• Turn your home into a place that feels like a sanctuary: an oasis where you can rest and recover from the stresses you encounter elsewhere

• Establish new and better patterns of moving through the home and organizing positive behavior that tap into the strengths of your dwelling

In a Care Setting

• Reduce patient stress and let patients feel empowered as they control more of their own environment—while enhancing quality of care

• Establish room architecture in both patient rooms and public spaces that feels better, is more user-friendly, and furthers better medical outcomes

• Create a setting that encourages patients—even terminally ill hospice patients—to relax and enjoy a home-like environment

• Develop more effective and more comfortable flow patterns for doctors, nurses, technicians, and other staff

• Reassure visitors that their loved one is in great hands and is in the best possible setting with a caring staff and a pleasant environment

In Your Workspace

• Build a better, smoother team where all members reach their potential

• Inspire creative breakthroughs in any department

• Maximize productivity, morale—and sales

• Get people excited to come to work and eager to discover improvements

• Make people feel validated and appreciated so their productivity will soar

• Create a solopreneur workspace that motivates you to do your best, day after day

In a Learning Environment

• Support every type of student: introverts and extroverts…auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners…students with strengths in all nine different intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and spiritual-existential)

• Activate nested learning zones that allow students to be working (in groups or individually) on different tasks in different parts of the room without interference from other zones

• Create “virtual windows” that provide nature experience when nature isn’t directly available

Read more in my blog about the profound ontological connection between space and behavior, exploring the built environment as a Health Resource for all, and architects as Health Care Providers! There is a difference between a building and a sacred work-of-architecture!