Erin Peavey, AIA

Erin Peavey, AIA

Peavy is a vice president and health and well-being design leader at HKS, where she empowers teams and projects to shape places that foster not only good health but also social connections. Before joining HKS, she was a senior researcher and medical planner in HOK’s New York studio, a research consultant for the Center for Health Design and Georgia Institute of Technology, and a visiting scholar with the Center for Advanced Design Research and Evaluation.  

Her active engagement and leadership emerged during her undergraduate studies at Texas A&M University, where she forged strong connections between students and health care design professionals. In her second year, she co-founded and led SHEA, the first student group in the nation focused on environments for health. In 2009, channeling the pain she endured while caring for her mother, who was facing terminal cancer, she founded and chaired AIA Austin’s Architecture for Health committee to serve others through thoughtful health care design and research. In 2012, she became the youngest trustee in the history of the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation, where she served for nearly a decade and increased research funding and quality.

With her reputation as a pioneer, numerous nonprofit organizations have turned to Peavy for assistance. She was a founding member of the successful EDRA-CORE Program, which awards design projects that integrate research into practice and contribute new knowledge to the profession. She also regularly contributes to the Center for Health Design in several roles, including as an advisory board member for its Knowledge Repository.

Peavy’s advocacy for design that combats loneliness and fosters social connection has prompted major organizations, such as Cigna and the Urban Land Institute, to seek partnerships with her. In that capacity, she has spoken with countless public administrators, physicians, and fellow architects to boost awareness about prioritizing social connection in architecture and how it can accelerate community building.

She also shares her knowledge through publications and speaking engagements across the world. Early in her career, she was published in the Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, 15th Edition, contributing insight for the first known time on the budding role of researchers in architecture practice. Additionally, she has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed journals and popular press outlets, such as Environment & Behavior, American Medical Association Journal, Fast Company, Bloomberg, and Psychology Today, where she was the first licensed architect to have a regular column. On her podcast Shared Space, which is available on numerous streaming platforms, Peavy has shed light on architecture’s role in supporting mental health across its two seasons.

Peavey’s young career has been marked by grit, determination, and resilience, three traits that always made her proud. She has established herself as a visionary leader fueled by enthusiastic curiosity and striving for a higher level of design excellence.