WSP provides research into human centred design solutions for New Zealand’s built environments to ensure infrastructure plans will enhance economic growth, social progress and environmental protection now and into the future.
What does ‘good design’ mean for today’s evolving landscape?
The purpose of good design is to create sustainable foundations for built environments that connect people with place and nature with the built form. It’s about ensuring that our built surroundings are adding to happiness, health and standard of living, not deter from it.
Our research tells us that human-centred design in planning can help our communities to thrive. For example, our research has proved that road surfaces can be designed to decrease road-noise, dramatically affecting community satisfaction.
How do we design our built environments to meet the demands of our communities now and into the future?
Our technical experts and strategic advisors, including researchers, engineers, and technicians, are dedicated to identifying future trends and researching impacts on humans and society.
We can:
- Mitigate environmental effects by measuring the noise, ground vibrations or air emissions;
- Mitigate environmental effects by advising on better road surfacing and road marking materials
- Improve building dynamics via wind engineering and industrial aerodynamics
- Improve the resilience of New Zealand’s under-and-above ground infrastructure to pre-empt the effect of natural disasters.
Understand public behaviour and provide the strategic case for human-centred design solutions using socio-economic and behavioural research.
