Current Work

Fiona Walsh is a co-founder of DDS Architects, set up to design enabled environments for people living with dementia. She designs inclusive environments to support people living with physical, sensory, and cognitive impairments.

Personal Hero

David Attenborough

Words of Strength

Influencing change, Driving adoption

Vision

Thirty years of evidence-based research supports design intervention. Fiona believes we must ensure policy makers and stakeholders understand the value of inclusive design and the detrimental impact poor design can have on those living with cognitive and sensory impairments.

Strategy

Fiona presents the value proposition design can play in easing the economic crisis her region is facing. She brings together agencies who previously worked in silos to work collaboratively to plan future policy to ensure we design and build inclusive and enabled environments.

Impact

Fiona’s work results in an increased awareness of the importance of design in improving the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia. Advocacy helps disseminate this knowledge and facilitate the adoption of best practice design principles for dementia into mainstream design.

Motivation

A poorly designed environment can be confusing, disorientating, disabling, and even dangerous for those living with dementia. Fiona believes we should be providing safety, security, and ease of movement to make the best of remaining abilities.