From wearable fitness trackers to meditation apps and vegan-friendly restaurant offerings—wellness has become its own cultural movement. As our society continues to embrace these trends around importance of health and wellness, we are beginning to see this cultural shift impact the places we live, work and play.
As placemakers, we must integrate these trends into the places we shape. Community and accessibility must also stay at the center of our process as we work to design within a culture of health and wellness. One of the ways Baker Barrios Architects is seeing this come to life is through our work with LIFT Orlando, as we proudly partner with them to design the LIFT Orlando Health and Wellness Center, a first-of-its-kind community center in the Westlake neighborhood of Central Florida.
Making Tomorrow a Better Place
Backed by the combined forces of Central Florida’s largest healthcare providers, the LIFT Orlando Health and Wellness Center will offer high-quality programs and a state-of-the-art facility to provide the Westlake neighborhood with the resources to lead healthy and fulfilled lives.
LIFT Orlando is a non-profit organization dedicated to building high-quality, mixed-income housing, establishing a cradle-to-career educational pipeline, improving community health and wellness and creating economic opportunity for residents of Central Florida. The organization is working with key stakeholders in the greater Orlando area to enrich the lives of residents for years to come.
At Baker Barrios Architects, we believe purposeful architecture has the ability to improve our lives and communities, which is why we are honored to partner with LIFT Orlando to create a space that supports so much more than just a physical need for a building. Designed within our strategic placemaking framework and combined with LIFT Orlando’s vision, this facility is primed to become a community cornerstone that will meet the needs of patients and energize the surrounding neighborhoods.
Community Wellness
The LIFT Orlando Health and Wellness Center will integrate offices and medical building spaces, offering services and educational programs that will maximize the health and wellbeing of its community.
Scheduled for groundbreaking in early 2020, the class-A building will provide residents of the area with centralized primary-care services as well as a fitness center, co-working space, food services and ultimately a sense of place and trust. Facilitating a holistic approach to wellness, the center will provide patients and visitors an opportunity to learn about nutrition, improve access to healthy foods and provide the tools needed to develop positive lifestyles that ultimately increase quality of life.
Sterile white walls and impersonal waiting areas are the reality of many healthcare facilities, but to continue improving patient outcomes, healthcare design needs to focus on a patient-centered model of care. Our purposeful design examines every element of the center to enhance and energize the Westlake neighborhood. The design will do much to transform the area with open spaces, gardens and walking paths – to facilitate connectivity and community. Emphasis is also being placed on the outdoor areas and green spaces in a setting working to evoke feelings of familiarity and comfort.
Our team is not only invested in the composition of the project but also in the community it will serve. We believe – and research supports – that patient-centered design can have a measurable impact to our health and wellbeing, not just while we use a facility, but also beyond.
For over 25 years, Baker Barrios has worked with a variety of organizations and healthcare systems across the country to design cutting-edge facilities that prioritize wellbeing and shape places that create an experience beyond just a physical space – designed to be both used and felt. The LIFT Orlando Health and Wellness Center is another example of how our team is working to dismantle the status quo and create places that not only efficiently utilize space but put patients at ease, foster community and prioritize wellness.
