Helen R. Walton
Early Childhood Center
Materials Consultant with LTL Architects
with advising from Healthy Materials Lab
Bentonville, Arkansas | 2016 - 2019
*2018 Progressive Architecture Award
*Northwest AR Design Excellence project
Material-health is particularly important in early-childhood settings, as early exposure to toxic chemicals can have significant impacts on longterm development. As a Material-Health consultant in this project with LTL Architects I developed a custom framework that targeted early-childhood vulnerabilities, working in-house with the team on design strategies and specifications, and creating guides that would engage all stakeholders in material-health initiatives.
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The Significance of Early-Childhood Health
Our material-health framework began with looking at the children who would be directly impacted by this project and understanding what conditions and diseases posed the greatest risks to this population. Based on these health conditions, we were then able to identify specific chemicals of concern and the types of building products these chemicals would likely be found in, proactively bringing awareness to the most critical areas of the project.
Material-Health Design Strategy
Our approach to material-health included both general principals that designers could understand from a conceptual standpoint as well as tools that would facilitate more technical evaluations. From early stages, strategies such as simplifying the overall palette and preferring biogenic materials set the trajectory for healthier selections, at which point we could then hone in on targeted criteria and requirements in specifications. The combination ingrained material-health into the design philosophy from early on, while also ensuring such objectives would be carried through implementation.
An Approachable Rubric for Material-Health
While evaluating material-health can be a complex and technical process, we wanted to create a framework that allowed designers of all experience levels to be able to identify healthier products. After first summarizing material-health considerations into three major factors (Transparency, Optimization, and Emissions), we then identified the certifications and standards that designers could look for in each of these categories. Separating these into tiers of Good/Better/Best then delineated between the optimal standards we were seeking on the project, others that weren’t quite as rigorous, and some that were simply greenwashing.