Episode 3: Julia McFadden talks about designing safe spaces and biophilia.

On Episode 3 of Build Better, Julia McFadden of Svigals + Partners discusses what productive playgrounds are, how biophilia design is connecting us back to nature and the unique role it played in the redesign of the Sandy Hook School Elementary School. Julia also shares the current discourse surrounding school safety, including the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) federal clearing house of resources on school design best practices for school officials and design professionals.Our listeners also learn what the term “echinus” means.

Julia McFadden is an Associate Principal with Svigals + Partners — a New Haven, Connecticut architecture firm.

Following undergraduate study in Theatre Arts and a Master of Architecture program, Julia took up a post-graduate study of Public Art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to expand upon her interest in creating meaningful places through designs encompassing art, landscape, and structures. Prior to joining Svigals in 2008, Julia practiced residential architecture for ten years, five years running her own design firm. This work honed her design thinking around the immediacy and intimacy of our living spaces, augmented by becoming a certified Feng Shui practitioner in 2010.

Julia has developed particular expertise in facilitating and leading community workshops to establish design themes and aspirations. Recent work includes a residential hall for the University of Hartford and facilitation of a design process with a group of New Haven mothers to establish a memorial Healing Garden to victims of gun violence.