Mental Health and Quality of Life in Architecture

In this Architecture Social CPD, Stephen Drew speaks with Angela Mazzi, Principal and Senior Medical Planner at GBBN Architects, about quality of life and mental health in architecture. The conversation runs for around 59 minutes and looks at how workload, deadlines and professional identity affect wellbeing, and how the built environment shapes the health of the people who use it.

Who this is for

Architects, architectural assistants, students and practice leaders who want to think more honestly about mental health, workload and quality of life in the profession, whether you are managing your own wellbeing or responsible for a team.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you will be able to:

1. Recognise how deadlines, workload and a long-hours culture can affect mental health in architecture.
2. Describe the idea of salutogenic design and how the built environment can actively support wellbeing.
3. Identify common career roadblocks and the professional pressures that create them.
4. Consider practical boundaries that protect quality of life without compromising the work.
5. Understand what to look for as evidence of responsible workload management in a practice.
6. Reflect on your own relationship with work, rest and professional identity.

Why quality of life belongs in the conversation

Mental health in architecture is not a soft side issue. It sits inside deadlines, workload, identity and both career and business pressure. The discussion opens by making the case that quality of life deserves a place in mainstream architecture conversations, not just a footnote.

Design for wellbeing and salutogenesis

Angela explains her focus on salutogenesis, the idea that design should actively support health and wellbeing rather than simply avoid harm. She connects this to user needs, equity and the way buildings interact with their context and community.

Career roadblocks and professional pressure

The conversation looks at the roadblocks people hit in their careers, and how the pressure to keep pace with high-profile projects and long hours can become harder to sustain, particularly at different life stages.

Deadlines, anxiety and workload

Deadlines and workload are examined as real drivers of anxiety. The discussion considers how expectations are set, and why healthier resourcing and planning matter for both people and the quality of the work.

Changing conversations and community

Angela and Stephen reflect on how online spaces, including platforms like Clubhouse at the time, changed the way architects talk to each other, and how community and shared conversation can reduce isolation in the profession.

Running a practice and running a business

Stephen shares his own experience of practice and of running a business, and the pair discuss the trials and pressures involved, and how being open about them helps break down unhelpful ideologies about overwork.

The built environment, users and community

The discussion returns to the core theme that buildings should respond to and support the people who use them. Designing for wellbeing means understanding user needs and the wider community, not just the brief.

Healthier ways to think about work

The session closes on practical, human ways to think about healthier work, protecting quality of life and recognising what responsible workload management looks like in practice.

Key terms

• Salutogenesis - a design and health approach focused on what actively supports wellbeing, rather than only preventing harm.
• EDAC - Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification, recognising practitioners who apply research to healthcare design.
• Medical planning - the specialist planning of clinical and healthcare environments around patient, staff and community needs.
• Workload management - how a practice plans resourcing and deadlines to protect both quality and wellbeing.

Reflective prompts for your CPD record

1. Where in your current workload do deadlines or hours put your wellbeing under pressure, and what one change could ease it?
2. How does the environment you work in, or design, support or undermine the wellbeing of the people in it?
3. What would responsible workload management look like in your practice, and what evidence would show it is real?

About the guest

Angela Mazzi (FAIA, FACHA, EDAC) is Principal and Senior Medical Planner at GBBN Architects. Since 1995 she has advocated for good design as essential to quality of life, with an emphasis on salutogenesis, equity, user needs and community interaction. She also hosts the Architecting podcast.

Listen to the full conversation above, and explore GBBN Architects in the Architecture Social directory.