Environmental Quality

Over the past twenty years, significant strides have been made to prioritize consideration of specific environmental qualities in the design of detention and correctional settings. Research has demonstrated more and more the importance of the application of these features, including access to natural light, access to nature, acoustical control, color schemes, and many others. The correlation between exposure to these qualities and physiological and psychological outcomes has been demonstrated to work in both directions: exposure to the above elements provides positive health benefits, and a lack of exposure to these elements can lead to negative consequences. In this episode we’ll discuss the myriad environmental interventions architects and designers are implementing to improve correctional environments.

Guests: Jay Farbstein, Ph.D., FAIA; Melissa Farling, FAIA