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Award-winning research: How micro-level design decisions impact system-level organizational performance. July 23, 2026 Social sharing. CannonDesign is proud to share that CannonDesign has been recognized with the 2026 Certificate of Research Excellence (CORE) by the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). This prestigious recognition was awarded for its study, "Small but Mighty: How Personal Workspace Views and Lighting Relate to Organizational Networks," which provides groundbreaking evidence on how micro-level design decisions impact system-level organizational performance. The CORE program recognizes rigorous, impactful and practice-based environmental design research. Of the nine CORE awards, this study was only one of two to receive the highly coveted Merit status because of its excellence. Linking workspace quality to social connectivity. While architects often aim to enhance collaboration through design, the industry rarely has the empirical data to prove that specific features - like a window view or high-quality lighting - actually change how an organization functions. Led by CannonDesign's Research Director, Felix Kabo, Ph.D., M.Arch., M.S., and design research consultant Cameron Contreras, the CannonDesign research team set out to bridge this gap. Using the CannonDesign Workplace Barometer (CWB), the team conducted a full-population study of 168 teachers and staff at Ehrman Crest Elementary & Middle School. By integrating spatial perception data with advanced Social Network Analysis (SNA), the study examined how an individual's personal workspace influenced their position in the organizational network e.g., "closeness centrality" - a measure of how easily they can reach others to share knowledge or solve problems. Key findings: Design as a catalyst for innovation. The research revealed that "small" environmental factors have a "mighty" impact on organizational dynamics: The PWVLI effect: The study introduced the Personal Workspace View and Lighting Index (PWVLI). Findings showed that individuals with better access to natural light and pleasant views were significantly more central in advice-seeking and innovation networks. Signaling approachability: Beyond mere comfort, high-quality workspaces act as "symbolic signals." Natural light and restorative views may communicate approachability, encouraging colleagues to seek out others for collaboration and expertise. Mapping the "hidden" school: The team mapped seven distinct communication networks, identifying that while work relationships were strong, "advice" and "innovation" networks were often sparse. This allowed the team to propose targeted spatial interventions to "unclog" these relational bottlenecks. From research to practice. For the Seneca Valley School District, the study provided a roadmap for leadership to strengthen mentorship, support knowledge brokers and improve psychological safety across the staff. By using sophisticated tools like UCINET for network modeling and Stata for statistical analysis, CannonDesign is moving the AEC industry away from anecdotal "post-occupancy surveys" toward true hypothesis-driven design. Study team: Felix Kabo, Ph.D. (Lead); Cameron Contreras Collaborators: Michael DeLuca & Jeremy Dwyer(CannonDesign Education Practice); Lauri Pendred (Seneca Valley School District) Testimonials. * By using research-informed approaches to design, CannonDesign can better understand how its design decisions shape organizations as systems: who connects with whom, how teams collaborate and how networks grow and evolve over time. Dr. Felix Kabo CannonDesign Research Director

Sunflower Network opens modular children's hospital in Ukraine. Charity organisation Sunflower Network has opened a paediatric clinic in Brody, Ukraine, which it claims is the country's first healthcare infrastructure to open since Russia's invasion in 2022. Built beside the city's Brody Central City Hospital, the clinic provides a new purpose-built children's facility for the existing hospital, complete with modular treatment spaces that can be combined or expanded as needed. The initiative, named Project Horizon, was developed by Sunflower Network in collaboration with international partners, including architecture studios CannonDesign and Pelli Clarke and Partners, following a 100 per cent surge in patient volume in the region due to mass internal migration. In a bid to reduce strain on Ukraine's existing healthcare infrastructure, the new facility is expected to serve more than 120,000 patients annually. "The new children's hospital in Ukraine is an early step toward rebuilding the nation's healthcare infrastructure," Sunflower Network CEO Dean Ross told Dezeen. "Ukraine cannot wait for the war to end for new healthcare infrastructure," Ross added. Based on a template hospital plan created by the design team, Project Horizon is composed of a single-storey structure fronted with a glazed entrance and wrapped in cladding. Its modular structure was fabricated in Poland before being assembled on site to address local labour shortages caused by the war. According to the design team, this approach reduced construction time by up to 50 per cent compared to traditional methods. "Modular construction's flexibility not only helped us overcome these challenges, but it also made the project more cost- and time-effective while reducing waste," Ross explained. "We ensured the modules could collectively offer patient care space, corridors, and flexible multi-purpose central support rooms," health practice leader at CannonDesign Elisabeth Perreault added. "The modules can also be combined or expanded to meet clinical care and programmatic needs over time." The hospital's modules accommodate patient units, corridors, and flexible multi-purpose central support rooms across two wards, along with operating rooms and an intensive care department. Drawing on trauma-informed design strategies that promote a sense of safety and care, the facility features patient rooms that accommodate families and elevated openings that draw in daylight while ensuring privacy. Playful elements include artwork and a neighbouring playground. "We designed the hospital to be more than just a clinical space, but also an environment of solace, dignity, and healing for children," Perreault said. "We needed to create spaces that foster psychological and physical safety, which could bring hope and help to Ukrainians in their journey toward recovery." Sunflower Network hopes that Project Horizon can serve as a scalable model for rebuilding healthcare infrastructure across Ukraine and beyond. "We have designed a solution that works for Ukraine today, but the fundamental tenets that guided this project have applications anywhere impacted by crisis," Ross said. "We think this new paediatric hospital in Ukraine can inspire a new generation of crisis response in healthcare and other infrastructure moving forward." Established by Dustin J Ross, Sunflower Network started as a grassroots initiative delivering medical supplies to the front lines in Ukraine, before shifting its focus to reconstruction in the country. Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian strikes across the country have left UNESCO-listed heritage sites badly damaged, including Kyiv's Dormition Cathedral and Lviv's 17th-century Bernardine Monastery.

Blue Cottage of CannonDesign wins top Esri award for women's and girls' sports narrative map. July 17, 2026 Social sharing. Play Anyway, a narrative map on the state of women's and girls' sports in America, took home first place in the Map with a Message category of this year's Esri Storytelling with Maps competition at the Esri User Conference. It's the second consecutive year the team has taken the top award in the category. Created by a collaborative Blue Cottage of CannonDesign team, the map opens with the momentum that's impossible to miss right now. Professional women's leagues are drawing record valuations, audiences and investment, and the visibility of women's sports has never been higher. Play Anyway maps that rise, then examines a harder question. Who actually gets to play, and where? Using geographic and demographic data, the map traces how access to youth and school sports varies by income, geography and community investment, and shows that the barriers girls face, such as cost, safety, transportation, weak facilities and a shortage of women coaches, are structural rather than incidental. From there, the map makes the case for why closing these gaps matters well beyond athletics. It connects access to sports with outcomes like education, economic mobility, mental health and community safety, and frames athletic fields and facilities as civic infrastructure on par with parks and libraries. Using Esri technology, the map also traces the spatial patterns of women's sports access and resource availability as girls and women climb the sports ladder across the U.S. This is Blue Cottage's second year participating in the Esri Storytelling with Maps competition. Last year's first-place winning map visualized the fragmentation and inefficiency of the healthcare system in treating individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder diagnoses.