HUMAN STUDIO MISSION

Bridging Research and Design for Increasingly Humane Built Environments

Humans are naturally active, social, and goal directed. Environments need to support that. Spatial design should enable a wide range of action possibilities and experiences that allow users to thrive, engage and interact in their everyday lives. 

At Human Studio we investigate the relationship between space and use. We do this through research, user engagement and design. Our work fuses architecture and design with social and environmental psychology. Through this we create purposeful solutions driven by validated insights related to spatial, social, and activity-related needs of everyday life in the built environment. 

We transform spaces into places.

PROCESS ETHOS

/ A SITUATED ECOLOGICAL APPROACH

Our process builds a collection of methods that are tailored to the unique situations, user groups, and cultural context a project is embedded in.

| INVESTIGATE
Our broad mixed-methods approach consists of a tailored combination of qualitative and quantitative investigation methods. Through this, we dive deep into specific settings to understand the activities, behavior patterns and needs of every user group.

| ENGAGE
Our situated approach stems from the need to put in context and describe the particular circumstances of a project. Through a multi-varied analysis, we “site” ourselves in a project alongside key stakeholders to apply our unique methodology of engagement.

| DESIGN
Although defined here as an independent phase - design is central to everything we do. We apply future-oriented design principles to increase the qualitative and quantitative outcomes for any method, process, analysis, investigation, engagement, or idea that we craft for a project.

| IMPLEMENT
The execution of a strategic plan or design implements our findings and understandings directly into the specific setting or project. Through our extensive knowledge of an environment, we tailor solutions related to real opportunities and challenges.

| EVALUATE
Evaluating the outcome of a project or plan is the end AND the beginning of our process. Through our evaluation practice, we can assess not only technical aspects of an environment, but also the social issues that are crucial to ensure user satisfaction, engagement, and well-being. This knowledge informs new investigations and new potential solutions.

SERVICES

Through a curated set of strategic methods - we use psychological research to investigate activity within the built environment resulting in consistently useful quantitative and qualitative data sets.

Our tools and workshops strategically engage users - translating feedback into actionable direction setting for project teams.

Project experience globally empowers us to integrate research and engagement into all stages of the project delivery - from concept to completed project. To close the feedback loop - we evaluate the finished solution and reveal opportunities for interdisciplinary learning across different phases and projects.

We are a research-based company focused on ensuring a great fit between users and the built environment - empowering the potential of place.

Through our investigation and evaluation methods we can optimize not only the physical aspects of a specific environment, but also the social issues that are crucial to ensure user satisfaction, engagement, and well-being.

• Activity Mapping

• User Needs Analysis

• Data Needs Analysis

• Building Evaluation

• Culture Analysis

- Pre-Occupancy Evaluation

- Post-Occupancy Evaluation

By involving users in all phases of a project - from concept through occupancy - we tap into critical competencies that are a gold mine of beneficial knowledge and information.

These insights can often be lost or even forgotten as a project is developed. Our tools and workshops strategically engage users - translating feedback into actionable direction setting for project teams.

• Design Optimized User Engagement

• Strategic Community Engagement

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Design Thinking Workshops

• Online User Engagement Portal

We engage spatial design on multiple levels from scaled physical interventions to full building design.

Our unique approach interweaves expertise in research, engagement and architecture - enabling informed design and functional outcomes for users, organizations, and communities alike.

• Pre-Programming

• Space/Use Optimization

• Space Planning

• Environmental Graphic Design (EGD

  - Signage and Wayfinding

• Design Direction

• Client Representation