With 12 episodes, nearly 30 guests, and a wide range of exciting topics spanning architecture and design, we’re celebrating another incredible year of BWBR’s Side of Design Podcast. As 2024 comes to a close, we rounded up the most-clicked episodes of the year, featuring higher education, science + tech, healthcare, and more!
Here’s a taste of the four most-loved episodes:
1. Spotlighting Student Housing
Student housing is commonly associated with bare-bones accommodations designed to be tolerated rather than enjoyed. However, today’s residence halls are advancing in remarkable ways to better foster community, support student well-being, and reflect each institution’s unique culture. The days of uninspired dorm rooms with little more than a bed and a communal bathroom down the hall are long gone. Students increasingly seek inclusive design, communities to enhance learning and living, and a focus on wellness that encompasses everything from meditation spaces to mental health resources.
In 2024’s top episode of Side of Design, BWBR team members Amanda Aspenson and Anna Pratt, both Senior Project Managers, and Senior Architectural Designer Kevin Gamelin discuss the evolving world of student housing design.
Read the full recap here.
2. Putting Lab Design Under the Microscope
The folks in lab design at BWBR have no trouble seeing common ground between their work as designers and their scientist clients’ work. In both cases, it’s about coming up with innovative, out-of-the-box, and creative solutions to intricate technical challenges.
BWBR President and CEO Terri Ulrick, Senior Project Manager Brian Lapham, and Principal Nate Roisen are all highly experienced in lab planning. They excel at blending the technical side of planning functional environments with inspiring aesthetics, collaborating with scientists across markets and industries. Their job: Create spaces where scientific exploration flourishes.
What’s it like being a lab designer? What types of spaces do they design for? What makes lab design such a fun challenge? And how is it to work in a field that is changing so much so quickly? We covered all that and more in this fascinating conversation.
Read the full recap here.
3. Intuitive Environments for Neuroscience
Neuroscience facilities serve patients with a wide range of conditions, from cognitive issues like Alzheimer’s to mobility challenges resulting from spinal cord injuries. Patients facing cognitive disorders may feel as though they’re experiencing a space for the very first time, even though they’ve been there dozens of times, while patients with mobility aids require extra space to access and move through a facility. These spaces need to be intuitively accessible and comfortable every time.
From facilitating wayfinding to incorporating new technologies, thoughtful design helps to create calming, restorative experiences while supporting healthcare advancement for this patient population. We dive into the unique considerations and challenges of designing neuroscience facilities, joined by BWBR Principal Ryan Johansen, Design Leader Chris Fischer, and Senior Interior Designer Miranda McNamara Mace.
Read the full recap here.
4. Digging into Design Fees
Despite being a sensitive topic, money is central to any project—managing costs, remaining on budget, and achieving maximum value per dollar spent are all critical to a successful design, whether a new build, a major expansion, or a renovation. So, let’s talk about it.
This episode of Side of Design dives deep into this subject, exploring the intricacies of fee development and its impact on project success. Host Matt Gerstner leads a thoughtful discussion with representatives from BWBR’s leadership team — CEO Terri Ulrick, Director and Principal Greg Fenton, and Principal Mike Boldenow—shedding light on their strategies for creating value-driven fee structures, all in service of not only good drawings, but great client outcomes.
Read the full recap here.