The AI-Powered Workplace

ONEder Podcast host CCB speaks with Dr. Dana Emerson of the College of Marin and Andrea Gifford of Group 4 Architecture about the vision and design of the new David Wayne Coon Center for Student Success. The conversation explores how consolidating student services, the library, wellness resources, dining, and learning spaces into a single, welcoming hub supports the “whole student” while strengthening connections with the broader community. Emerson and Gifford discuss the extensive collaboration with students, faculty, and local stakeholders that shaped the project, emphasizing flexibility, inclusivity, and the “no wrong door” philosophy that ensures every visitor can easily find the support they need. They conclude by reflecting on the building’s early success as a vibrant, student-centered space that encourages learning, belonging, and community engagement.

Emerging Objects' ONEder Grant research, Under Fire, transforms two of California's defining climate threats, wildfire and extreme heat, into building materials that remember rather than destroy. Co-founders Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello share with us how they 3D-printed wildfire ash from California fires into a 22-foot tapestry, and how a foot-thick earthen pump house in the Colorado high desert holds a steady interior temperature through weather extremes with no mechanical heating. Together they explore the alchemy of turning ash into printable filament, the cultural memory embedded in earthen building, and why good design research has to leave room for failure along the way. Listen in for an overview of Emerging Objects’ research for architects, designers, and anyone curious about building for a climate-impacted future.

Small rural hospitals keep entire communities alive, and they're quietly running out of road. In this episode, host CCB sits down with Aaron McKenzie, Senior Strategist, and Eric Peabody, Principal Analyst at Taylor Design's Cove Studio, to unpack their 2025 ONEder Grant research into one of healthcare's most underfunded problems: strategic planning for under-resourced rural and community hospitals. Through interviews with hospital executives across the country, the team mapped a layered crisis of financial constraint, recruitment chicken-and-eggs, and the surprising importance of narrative continuity in long-horizon planning. Their response: four lightweight, AI-enabled tools designed to give overstretched facilities teams, and their local generalist architects, a real fighting chance. This is research that meets communities where they are today.

LPA Design Studios’ ONEder Grant research reframes the classroom as a connected learning ecosystem in an AI-rich world. Researcher Rachel Nasland and learning space designer David Jakes share with us how AI is beginning to reshape skills, pedagogy, and student agency, and why spaces must evolve beyond 1980s classroom models. Together they explore flexible ecosystems, respite zones, and technology choices that deepen human connection rather than replace it. Listen in for a great overview of the LPA 2025 ONEder Grant research for educators and learning environments designers.

In this episode we sit down with educator, author, and founder Marita Diffenbaugh to explore what it truly means to design learning around the human experience. Together, we unpack the shift from content delivery to learning as a service, one rooted in listening, relationships, and real-world application. From rethinking how we measure success to creating environments that foster curiosity, agency, and belonging, this conversation challenges conventional models of education and invites us to see learning as a lifelong, deeply human endeavor.

In this episode of the ONEder Podcast, CCB sits down with Julie Maggos from Interior Architects’ AIRIA team to unpack what it looks like to use AI as a real design partner—without losing the human edge. They uncover where AI is already helping (faster ideation, smoother workflow, stronger client collaboration), where humans must stay firmly in the driver’s seat (vision, judgment, empathy), and how to adopt these tools responsibly. If you’re curious what’s hype, what’s working, and what’s next with AI in design, this one’s for you.

In this episode of the ONEder Podcast, workplace leaders and planners gain a front-row seat to how AI is redefining the modern office. Host CCB speaks with Elena Beloshapkova, Founder and CEO of InSpace, on turning workplace data into actionable insight, improving employee experience at scale, and designing environments that truly support hybrid work. This conversation offers practical, forward-looking perspectives for anyone shaping strategy, space, and culture in today’s workplace.

What happens when leadership, community, and design come together to create real change? In this episode of the ONEder Podcast, host CCB sits down with Ashanti Bryant, Senior Program Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to explore how placemaking—the intentional design of spaces where people live, learn, and gather—can drive equity, belonging, and opportunity. From his roots in Detroit to his transformative work in Grand Rapids, MI, Ashanti shares how investing in early childhood education, community development, and listening with humility can reshape the future for children and families.

Step inside "Healthcare Design for Belonging"—a ONEder podcast where dynamic voices from Providence and NBBJ explore how thoughtful design can transform hospitals from places of anxiety into environments of safety, dignity, and welcome. Join us for a conversation that blends powerful stories, innovative research, and practical tools, all aimed at creating healthcare spaces where everyone feels they belong. Whether you’re a design pro, a healthcare leader, or just passionate about stronger communities, this episode arms you with fresh ideas and inspiration to reimagine the future of care.

Healthcare design researcher and former nurse Terri Zborowsky shares how her clinical background led her to champion design as a tool for healing, dignity, and equity. Drawing on stories from her career, Terri illustrates how environments profoundly influence patient and caregiver experiences, from the need for sensory-inclusive spaces to the importance of co-designing with marginalized communities. She emphasizes that design communicates values, shapes systemic change, and can either foster or undermine belonging. The conversation highlights practical lessons—from activating community health needs assessments to recognizing power dynamics in engagement—and underscores Terri’s call to see design as never neutral, but as a powerful force for equity, compassion, and human connection