Month: March 2020

Ulrick Elected to BWBR Board of Directors

Posted on by ui-lawson

Terri Ulrick, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, recently was elected to the board of directors of BWBR, one of the largest and oldest professional firms in the region providing architectural, interior design, and operational planning services. Ulrick’s election to the 6-person board comes three years after she was named a principal of the firm.

Ulrick joined BWBR as a senior job captain in 2006 taking on a leadership role as a sustainability specialist. Prior to BWBR, Terri worked for the U.S. Army (Europe) as its in-house architectural representative and LEED consultant for more than three years. She brings special knowledge of federal standards and security procedures from her work with the VA Medical Center and U.S. military projects.

As project manager at BWBR beginning in 2011, Ulrick led multiple Twin Cities organizations to enhance their facilities by achieving established sustainability and operational goals. Among projects Ulrick has helped lead include research and development facilities in aerospace, medical device and bio-pharma fields, a satellite campus for one of the largest non-denominational churches in the U.S., and laboratory and production spaces with complex requirements for national organizations and the University of Minnesota.

From Litchfield, Minn., Ulrick also designed an expansion and renovation at Meeker Memorial Hospital. Ulrick graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and received her Masters of Architecture from the University of Minnesota.

Smith, Berg Author Chapter for Book on Architecture, Health

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Highlighting the connection between health, wellness, and the built environment, BWBR’s Peter Smith, FAIA, and Stephen Berg, AIA, write, “Wellness programs can reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, reduce stress, and promote a culture of supports and engagement, ultimately fostering the camaraderie that is required for employee retention.”

That perspective gained through work with Mayo Clinic on the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center is the foundation for a case study on the project authored by Smith and Berg in the new book, “Architecture and Health: Guiding Principles for Practice,” published late last year by Routledge.

Edited by Dina Battisto, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities at Clemson University, and Jacob Wilhelm, an award-winning designer practicing in Denver, Colo., and publisher of “Adaptive Architecture: Changing Parameters and Practice,” the book is a collection of case studies exploring innovative designs that link architecture to health outcomes.

Writing “Employee Wellness: The Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center at Mayo Clinic,” Smith, president of CEO of BWBR, and Berg, a principal at the firm, outline the principles and guidelines that drove the vision and design for the center, beginning with recognition of the mental and physical strain delivering care has on employees in the healthcare profession. In the case study, they recount the steps staff and leaders took to let an overarching definition of wellness drive program development, spatial adjacencies, and the character of the space around the three pillars of wellness: nutrition, fitness, and resiliency.

From those pillars, the design goals emerge, including among several the building site to encourage high utilization;  visibility and transparency to create a landmark that showcases wellness and healthy activities; incorporating natural light and connections to nature to welcome and inspire users on a wellness journey; and creating spaces that make the connection between physical, mental, and spiritual health that is evidence based, a hallmark of Mayo Clinic’s care.

Originally opened in 2007 for employees and their families, the center expanded in 2014 to serve those beyond staff, doubling the center’s size.

“Design can do more than facilitate health. It has the power to inspire and promote health, whether that’s for patients in treatment or employees at a workplace. As designers, we should be pursuing that goal,” Berg said. “This book, and Mayo’s continued research into the effects of a facility like this, give both designers and their clients tools to shape healthy environments. We’re honored to have been included in this national conversation.”

The book is available through traditional book sellers.