Better Buildings for Humans Podcast Reaches Season 3 Milestone, Featuring Leading Voices on Architecture and Wellness

The Better Buildings for Humans podcast, exploring the intersection of human wellness and the built environment, has entered its third season, marking a significant milestone for the show powered by Advanced Glazings Ltd. The podcast has established itself as a trusted platform for architects, designers, builders, and policy leaders seeking insight into how buildings shape health, dignity, and daily life. Season 3, episode 122, features internationally acclaimed architect Alison Brooks, one of the most decorated architects in the UK and the only practitioner to have received all three of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ highest honors. In the episode, host Joe Menchefski engages Brooks in a discussion on housing, beauty, and the cultural power of home, exploring how architectural elements like deeper windows and thoughtful proportions can reconnect people to light and elevate the human experience.

Another recent episode features Thierry Paret, FAIA, Vice President of Architecture and Engineering at the New York City School Construction Authority. Paret brings a large-scale perspective, overseeing renovations and new construction for approximately 1,500 school buildings serving nearly one million students. His conversation addresses design excellence at scale, sustainability in public-sector projects, and the responsibility architects carry when shaping environments for future generations, drawing on an international career including leadership roles in New York State, Qatar, and at the LEED Platinum KAUST campus. The podcast also includes a conversation with Yiselle Santos Rivera, architect, educator, and incoming President-Elect of the American Institute of Architects. Santos Rivera explores how architecture intersects with neuroscience, public health, climate resilience, and economic mobility, advocating for buildings as tools for healing, justice, and joy.

As the podcast moves deeper into Season 3 and looks ahead to early 2026, it will expand its focus on emerging research and under-examined forces shaping human health inside buildings. Upcoming episodes will explore questions around partial spectrum light and its potential impacts on circadian health, cognition, and long-term well-being, examining how common building technologies—including certain LED lighting systems and low-emissivity (Low-E) glazing—may unintentionally alter indoor light quality. These conversations will bring together architects, scientists, and material experts to unpack current research and inform design decisions. The podcast will also delve into the rapidly expanding world of metal buildings, examining their use across commercial, industrial, educational, and civic applications and how they can be paired with advanced daylighting strategies. This includes exploring translucent glazing systems such as SoleraWall® by Advanced Glazings Ltd, available at https://www.advancedglazings.com/solerawall, to improve occupant comfort, visual quality, and energy performance at scale. Together, these themes reflect the podcast’s mission to question assumptions, follow evidence, and elevate conversations about how buildings affect people, with new episodes available on all major podcast platforms.