Erin K. Peavey ‘07

Erin K. Peavey is an award-winning architect, researcher and renowned thought leader on the power of the built environment to foster well-being and human connection. Peavey earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental design (2007) cum laude and a master’s degree in architecture with a certificate in health systems and design (2011) from Texas A&M University, where she also earned the Henry Adams Certificate of Merit for her academic work. As vice president and health and well-being design leader at global design firm HKS, Peavey helps integrate research and practice to advance design for health, combat loneliness and foster global resilience.

She is co-lead of the Foundation for Social Connection’s 2024 report on the built environment, an industry scholar with Cornell University’s Institute for Healthy Futures, and the podcast host of “Shared Space.” Peavey is a leading voice on how design can combat isolation and foster social health. Her path-breaking work has been featured on TEDx, BBC, Architect magazine, JAMA Ethics, Bloomberg, Fast Company, and many other venues worldwide.

While an undergraduate at Texas A&M University, she co-founded the Student Health Environments Association, which continues today. At 24, she founded and chaired the AIA Austin’s robust Architecture for Health chapter and, a few years later, served as the youngest trustee and research chair for the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation, helping raise and award more than $200,000 for research on environments for health.

Peavey is a tireless advocate for vulnerable people and communities, including hospital patients and communities struggling with loneliness and mental health challenges. Her training in psychology and architecture helps her advocate for mental, social and emotional well-being in design. She strongly supports interdisciplinary problem-solving and was the first architect to have a regular Psychology Today blog. She also advises the AIA Strategic Council’s Mental Health and Architecture Incubator.

Outside of work, Peavey enjoys time with her husband and young daughter in their small Craftsman home in Old East Dallas, Texas. She is an avid swimmer and NPR listener and is always on the lookout for good local coffee shops and real talk.