Human Centred Design in Saudi Arabia: Designing for Health and Wellbeing

Royal Institute of British Architects Verified independent store

→

Health and wellbeing have become more important for clients, and research on how our living environment impacts us, physically, mentally and in terms of wellbeing, has grown over t he last decade, especially when it comes to air quality. Designers are often unaware how their design decisions impact the indoor built environment. 90% of our lifetime is spent indoors, and researchers have found indoor contamination with critical substances can be as high as 10 times the external contamination level of inner-city environments. Today, there are a wide range of standards that can assist designers internationally to create healthier living environments, including WELL, BREEAM, Building Biology and the 2030 Climate Challenge. But how do these standards operate, and how can they support to meet to issues and challenges faced in Saudi Arabia? Understanding the opportunities of these standards but also their context in terms of legislation, building practice, construction methods and differences in lifestyle is key to delivering more thoughtful spaces that enhance human health and create safe environments for our children to grow up in. This module will provide an overview of the different critical issues to consider in designing for Health and wellbeing, key healthy building standards currently in use with an international relevance, their context and how they compare to each other. Using practical examples from Saudi Arabia and globally, of completed projects including residential, commercial, leisure, new build and retrofit projects, this module will illustrate the issues and interrelationships around healthy building design. The speakers will share learnings from an architect’s perspective, having specialised in human centred design for over 15 years. Learning Objectives By the end of this course, you will be able to: Understand the importance of designing for health and wellbeing, and what this may look like within the context of the built environment in Saudi Arabia Understand key factors to consider when building for health and wellbeing and how best to consider and address these factors in within projects Gain practical insight into how key international health and wellbeing standards operate, and how they can apply to Saudi contexts and challenges Understand how to use international standards in conjunction with local building and design contexts to create spaces that enhance human health SpeakersTomas Gaertner, SE3D, Director Tomas is a qualified architect and a director of SE3D, an RIBA Chartered, design led practice specialising in human centred design. Since 2008, and being one of the first certified Passivhaus designers in the UK, he has been exclusively involved in human centred low energy building design rooted in building physics, including the UK’s first multi-residential certified Passivhaus and also the design of the UK’s first Passivhaus public pool and leisure centre. As a certified Building Biologist and founding director of the Building Biology Association, he oversees their UK seminar programme on healthy building. He is a regular speaker at Green Register events, the UK Passivhaus conference and Ecobuild. Sandra Woodall, tangramGULF, Director Sandra is a Fellow of the RIBA who has lived and worked in the Gulf for over 30 years. She is the Design Principal of tangram's MENA region studio, who delivered their first KSA project in 1995. She co-founded the RIBA GULF Chapter’s Sustainable Development Series to empower and better equip us all to meet the challenges faced in delivering locally grounded solutions to the UN’s SDGs.Please note The content was recorded in August 2025. Each on-demand video will expire 12 months after enrolling onto the course. Developed in partnership with ADC, this course features localised examples for Saudi Arabia together with general content that supports learning for architects & built environment professionals in the KSA. For more information on this course, or if there are no places available, please email us or call +44 (0)20 7307 5355 to talk to a member of the team. Please view the Terms and Conditions for more information.In partnership with ADC Show more