“Increasingly, property owners and design teams alike are grasping the importance of sustainability and wellness in their spaces. As the current design trends toward organic shapes and materials, biophilia, and Japandi style, etc., today's design-driven consumers are eager to learn how to merge aesthetically inspiring design with wellness and sustainability. My goal is to inspire my design-driven clients to confidently make bold and beautiful transformations in their homes and commercial spaces while protecting the health of their mind, body, spirit, and the planet, as manifested by their design choices.
”Utilizing my formal education in architecture, interior design, and sustainability, plus years of professional experience, I formed my design studio in Brooklyn in 2006 and in Texas in 2018. While designing and renovating spaces for 15+ years, I developed a skill at connecting with inspiring projects and forward-thinking clients, allowing me to express my creativity and sense of purpose as an architectural and interior designer, with a focus on wellness and sustainability. As my education expanded in human health, natural resources, buildings and products, I realized how these precious commodities and our physiology are all interconnected. Design "consumption" inadvertently influences our environments at the micro and macro scale, starting with our minds and bodies, extending outward to habitats, the planet, collective consciousness, and everything in between. As a result, when we make design decisions that support our body's health and wellbeing, we in turn redirect design-driven consumer demand towards a healthier ecosystem and world.
”My studio, called INTERIOR WELLNESS DESIGN, offers Full Interior Design Services for commercial and residential building interiors. This includes an inspiring design vision for renovations and new construction, from schematic design and development, through contract docs, construction and final product installation at the "big reveal" or opening day. We carefully listen to the unique needs and desires of each client to shape the look and feel of their spaces. We do this by thoughtful space planning, lighting design, selections for materials, furniture, fittings, equipment, and accessories. Our innovative and beautiful designs upgrade the quality of the space by allowing people to breathe deeper while experiencing a greater sense of health and wellbeing for themselves, and hopefully the world.” -Evangeline Dennie, Owner & Principal Designer of Interior Wellness Design
“I worked with Evan as a designer and consultant for an important client of mine. We both worked on this project remotely as the client and project were in another state. I was initially concerned about taking on a design project from a remote location but Evan worked seamlessly throughout the experience. She communicated with the client and the builder effectively and was able to overcome any potential issues presented by not being local to the space. She is highly intuitive and was able to clearly interpret the client’s desires and present a design concept that both met and exceeded their expectations. She brings a vast wealth of knowledge on a variety of topics to the table and working with Evan was an excellent experience.
— Shana O’Neil Nunez, Owner of WANDERBIRD PRODUCTIONS www.wanderbirdvr.com”
OWNER + PRINCIPAL DESIGNER :
Evangeline Dennie, GREEN AP, LEED AP Legacy, Assoc. ASID is the principal of WELLNESS DESIGN (formerly called, AI-DESIGNLAB) a multi-disciplinary design and strategy consulting firm based in Texas and New York. For over 15 years, she has provided innovative solutions to help her clients achieve new goals for their properties.
Evangeline graduated with multiple honors and a degree in architecture from the University of Houston. After gaining experience as an architectural and interior designer at commercial, cultural, hospitality and residential design firms, she founded her multi-disciplinary design consultancy in 2006. Her wealth of experience includes architecture and interior design, contract negotiations, project management, cost premium analysis, LEED, marketing, and business strategy. Her designs include medical, office, hospitality, cultural and residential properties.
ARCHITECTURE + INTERIOR DESIGNS :
In 2016, Evangeline worked as an architectural interior design consultant to co-create New York City's first medical marijuana pharmacy, called Columbia Care. She coordinated the architecture and interiors design development sets for the build all the Columbia Care locations in New York and other states for seven locations.
Evangeline's design of the Oulu Bar and EcoLounge was recognized in the media as the first "living wall" in New York City. Instead of using brick or stone, a living wall is one where plants grow vertically off the face of a building, thereby absorbing the outdoor elements and creating oxygen. The green building facade was featured on the cover of Hospitality Design Magazine and went "viral" online in several magazines and blogs. Her living wall design was also showcased in a spread alongside Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Highline Project in the book called, 1000x Landscape Architecture, published by Braun.
Her design firm won first place in two different design competitions at the Boutique Design NY (BDNY) Trend Walk in 2010 for interpreting future design trends for the hospitality industry. The designs were exhibited at the BDNY Trend Walk and showcased manufacturers whom she believed represented the design trends. After the competition, Evangeline Dennie was commissioned by Barry Sternlicht, founder of Starwood, and Jamie LeFrak of LeFrak Org to generate design ideas for the 1 Hotel Southbeach. Today, 1 Hotels throughout the world are recognized for their eco-chic interiors and living wall facades.
Evangeline's most important design was the concept and layout for the Interim Memorial at Ground Zero, called the Tribute Center (2006). The space located at the WTC site served as a temporary memorial and educational gallery about the events of 9/11. She helped the 9/11 Victims and Families Association to develop their mission statement and guiding principles, then organized the themes for the design. Evangeline worked on the project from schematics up to construction, while making the center as environmentally-friendly as possible. She developed the memorial's design narrative, proposed dozens of layouts for 3,000+ names of the victims who perished, and documented hundreds of artifacts recovered from the WTC site at the JFK hanger through her photography. The Tribute Center provided a cathartic experience for people who visited Ground Zero until the official memorial was built.
Another notable project she designed includes the prototype of a nation-wide chain of eco-friendly restaurants, called Green Canteen. The industrial meat-packing space in the hipster neighborhood Williamsburg, Brooklyn was transformed to an environmentally-friendly restaurant. Her design employed an eco-industrial-chic with a low-carbon footprint, custom furniture, low-VOC finishes, and solar-hot water panels on the roof. The restaurant was also designed to achieve LEED CI Silver Certification.
ENVIRONMENTAL-SUSTAINABILITY EXPERT:
Dennie studied environmental-sustainability in architecture school and has been intimately involved in its implementation since the beginning of the green movement.
She worked with Hillary Brown, FAIA, one of the main contributors to transforming New York City to the Big Green Apple. Together, they co-authored two books, which served as guidelines for environmentally-sustainable building designs. Evangeline also made contributions to Brown's NYC Green Infrastructure Guidelines. Evangeline implemented the guidelines of her books by collaborated with Brown and energy consultants. She facilitated green building design charrettes with the architects, engineers, landscape architects, and contractors for 10+ new and renovated schools in New Haven, CT, as well as several schools and universities throughout the tri-state area. Dennie also helped Brown to develop a documentary film about the green building process for non-profits including the Kresge Foundation and the Non-Profit Finance Fund.
Her green-building consulting services also included Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) project management for two Fortune 500 companies in Manhattan: Random House Bertelson, which utilized the LEED EB rating system to green their facilities management; and Morgan Stanley, which employed LEED CI for new commercial interiors by achieving a Silver Rating. Evangeline also served as a teacher and private tutor for students preparing to take the LEED exam.
CONTACT:
Contact the office of Evangeline Dennie, LEED AP at evan@edennie.com for a consultation to determine she can help you achieve a new level of success for your property.