A Day With: Aria Hill

Come spend a day with us and meet the talented individuals behind our firm. Meet Aria Hill, a Designer at PAYETTE.

Aria’s professional work in laboratory design upholds the values consistent with striving for inclusive and equitable practices. Upon joining the Spatial Equity Research Group at PAYETTE, she has worked to elevate the education of architects and designers in spatial justice. Aria holds an M.Arch from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design as well as a B.Arch and a B.S. in Mathematics from Virginia Tech. In her free time, she is an amateur home chef.

9:00am: After arriving at the office, I like to sip on a matcha latte while looking over emails and messages from the previous evening. I also prefer to physically write out a to-do list in my sketchbook at this time — there is something about putting pen to paper that is unmatched!

9:15am: I am working on the new FM Global Headquarters project, which is rapidly undergoing construction in Norwood, MA. My teammate Alison Dobbertin and I review some open items/questions from our consultants at the communal table in our seating bay. Our open studio layout encourages informal meetings between team members.

9:30am: Armed with guidance from Alison and a podcast in ear, I pick up the changes to be made in the model for the project.

11:00am: Bi-weekly, a few members of the Spatial Equity Research Group (SERG) meet to explore tests for a Sensory Tapestry we are working on to go alongside our current research on neuroinclusive design. I spent most of the working session testing a hyper-sensitive patch design.

11:45am: I quickly review some interior finish samples in our Materials Library. Though I am not working on this aspect of the project, I enjoy keeping myself up-to-date with design choices being considered.

12:00pm: Lunch looks different from one day to the next, but today I grab a bite to eat with some co-workers in our office kitchen.

1:15pm: I end up running into Calvin Boyd-Morlani pinning up new site photos from the Boston Children’s Hospital Needham project. The alcoves in our studio act as a living pin-up space for the active projects in the office. They encourage both quick reviews of design challenges and in-depth discourse surrounding the design agenda for the project.

1:30pm: Daily heads down time is a must for me. I book a conference room in our office and work on a Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) model for the project. Through the model, we can analyze the embodied carbon — and therefore environmental impacts — that will be produced from the construction and use of the building.

3:30pm: Back at my desk, I prep for a Fridays@4 workshop I am hosting about knitting. 

4:00pm: The workshop is well attended with people from all corners of the office — from Interiors to Design Visualization and everyone in between. I showcase basic knitting stitches in the demo and then troubleshoot any issues around the group. I find that the attendees pick up the tactile art rather quickly. A relaxing end to the week.