Wellness Architecture & Design Initiative Members

Initiative members gather emerging evidence of the built environment diving into scientific corners of academia, interviewing experts in related fields, identifying case studies and prime examples of spaces that enhance our wellbeing in harmony with the environment. This collective knowledge-base deepens our understanding of how humans interrelate with the environment, and inversely, how the environment impacts human wellbeing.

The members of the initiative have begun a two-year journey to write a white paper which will serve to inform and guide investors, developers, architects, designers, engineers and other project stakeholders toward embracing and implementing a successful regenerative design approach.

 

Initiative Co-Chair

Kailas Moorthy, Director and Practice Head at (the London Studio of) DP Architects, ARB | RIBA | WELL AP | Fitwel Amb, United Kingdom

Kailas has meditated since 2016. Thanks to this daily practice he has become fascinated by the role the mind plays in keeping us healthy, and as an Architect, how the built environment can influence our mental state. As a WELL Accredited Professional and Fitwel Ambassador, Kailas leads DP Architect’s global Wellbeing drive from our London Studio. Over 20 years in the construction industry, spanning North America, Europe and Asia, has afforded him a wide range of experience in many sectors and scales of projects; through them all, he strives to bring a considered process-driven and human-centric approach to design.


Initiative Co-Chair

Valentina Cereda, Founder & Integrative Architect,  Dubai

Valentina Cereda is a health and wellbeing architect, building biologist, feng shui consultant, land energy dowser and the founder of Energy & Space, a conscious design studio that integrates ancient teachings and contemporary sciences with architectural and design principles, to create healing environments that align to the frequencies of nature and enhance physical, mental, and spiritual health, while regenerating the Earth. Energy & Space’s unique offering combines design aesthetics for function & health along with consideration of material toxicity, electromagnetic fields, land energies and Qi life force, a true integration of ancient teachings and contemporary sciences with modern day architectural and design principles.


Pamela Chew-McKerrow

Vice-President, Design & Technical Services

Pamela Chew-McKerrow is a hospitality executive and strategist with over 20 years of international experience spanning both hospitality design and hotel operations across Europe through to Asia Pacific. As Vice President of Design & Technical Services at Ennismore, she works at the intersection of design, development and operations, shaping luxury and lifestyle hospitality projects that balance guest experiences with the everyday realities of how hotels function. Her work recognises that the built environment influences not only the guest journey, but also how the people behind the scenes move, collaborate and work every day. Shaped by a deeply personal health journey, Pamela’s interests have expanded into wellness architecture, neuroscience and behavioural design. She is passionate about advancing healthspan and resilience through movement, restorative sleep and thoughtfully designed environments.


Sherry Fong

Operations Director for Senior Living, Residential Care Homes and Wellness, Wellness & Horticultor Strategist – Property & Project Development, Hotels

Sherry Fong is a Wellness strategist in property development and human healthcare. She brings to the initiative her extensive background in research, property development & property management. With her extensive background in luxury hotels, she developed and implemented the first property management company with a Swiss hotel management operation for MTR Properties. During her tenure with a prominent property developer in Hong Kong, she was part of the senior management team in developing a sports academy where wellness and sustainability initiatives were and still are an integral part of the academy. She further led an award-winning children’s horticultural/learning center which embraced the company’s ethos and help change the way Hong Kong children see farming and agriculture. From horticulture innovator to healthcare designer, her journey continues with her most prominent adventure. From designing a wellness and healthcare accommodation for the mature adult to the eventual operations, this upcoming project with its many sustainable and innovative designs will address issues that impact to our world.


Rachael H. Grochowski

Architect, designer, thought leader, and keynote speaker, United States

Rachael H. Grochowki is a visionary architect, designer, and thought leader with thirty years of experience, recognized for her philosophy that Design is SpiritualTM. Rachael’s work focuses on creating environments that foster wellbeing, balance and community, transcending aesthetics to cultivate calm, interconnectedness, and a profound sense of belonging.   As the founder of RHG Architecture + Design, Rachael leads a team dedicated to creating respectful, inclusive spaces through thoughtful craftsmanship and sustainable practices, all rooted in her experience with various wisdom traditions. Her diverse portfolio spans residential, commercial, hospitality, wellness, and spiritual projects, all of which reflect her commitment to intentional design and an approach informed by her experiences as a world traveler, yoga practitioner, and student of history and nature.


Wiktoria Kopycka

Lead Interior Design, London

Wiktoria is a Lead Interior Designer at OBMI, bringing 15 years of experience in the industry. Her portfolio features medium to large-scale developments, with a strong focus on hospitality—successfully delivering numerous hotels, resorts, private residences, and commercial buildings across the globe. Her expertise and dedication to excellence have led to close working relationships with major operators and brands, including Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont, Rixos, and Jumeirah, for projects across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and West Africa. Wiktoria’s commitment to wellness and sustainability is evident in her approach to creating spaces that prioritize the health and well-being of their occupants while minimizing environmental impact.


Gina Levy

Founder 360 Degrees Human, Cape Town, South Africa

Gina is a ‘Specialist-Generalist’ – so anything from big-picture-person to paradigm shifter, human-preneur to holistic architect & ideator, problem- solver to public speaker, and wellbeing Innovator to dancer-yogi goes! Her Superpower is her ability to conjure up pioneering and disruptive ideas, designs and interventions that shift the status quo, and shape a new paradigm – one that re-imagines the world and ‘business-as-usual’ from an entirely Holistic Perspective. As a serial impact-entrepreneur, she’s founded and created multiple platforms, programmes, projects, products, experiences, spaces, and communities, across the fields of education, innovation, leadership, news media, cause-related marketing, entrepreneurship, architecture, design, and wellness. As founder of 360 Degrees Human, a holistic think tank, she uses ‘Spatia’Whole™️ Medicine’ as an integrative & strategic-design approach to re-imagine, reverse-engineer, heal, and transform broken systems, burn-out cultures, and lifeless spaces, into epicenters of humanity that co-exist in harmony with nature, creating a ‘Human-Nature-(blue)print’ ™️.


Ana Ramirez

LEED AP, WELL AP, Co-founder, Ancestral Handmade Hotels / Principal, KALĀ & ANA Design Groups, United States

Architect and entrepreneur dedicated to crafting wellness through sustainable luxury and sacred geometry design, advocating regenerative practices, and advancing the future of emotionally restorative neuro-architecture. With decades of luxury hospitality design experience spanning all project phases—from concept to construction—Ana’s portfolio features collaborations with internationally renowned hotel brands. She is also the visionary behind Ancestral Handmade Hotels, a regenerative, experiential wellness brand reviving ancestral wisdom and preserving indigenous heritage, with properties underway in Latin America. As the Founder and Principal of KALĀ and ANA Design Groups, sister boutique studios pioneering wellness luxury architecture, Ana brings a distinct focus to each: KALĀ Design Group integrates architectural excellence with sustainable solutions and the art of well-being, while ANA Design Group channels all design aspects for Ancestral Handmade Hotels and other boutique projects rooted in regenerative tourism and social impact.


Essraa M. Shaaban

MIA, LEED AP BD+C Senior Project Architect, Interior Design, Dubai

Essraa brings extensive experience in hospitality design and MEP coordination over nearly a decade in the industry to her role as Senior Project Architect – Interior Design to OBMI. She is skilled in hand-drafting and rendering, along with a variety of design technology softwares. Essraa believes that the design of the built environment should be a holistic experience dictated by artistic quality, technical functionality, and comfort. Her design philosphy is backed by certifications with She is inspired by the delicate balance between beauty and functionality that creates truly successful design. She is dedicated to advancing the profession of interior design and sustainable building practices, as she continuously keeps informed of contemporary and emerging factors influencing the industry.


Lisa Sternfeld

Founder, Designer, WELL AP | Global Wellness Ambassador

Lisa Sternfeld is a designer dedicated to advancing a new understanding of the home as one of the most influential environments for human health. With more than twenty years of experience spanning luxury residential and hospitality design, her work explores how the places we inhabit shape the way we sleep, think, feel, and function each day. As founder of WLLW, Lisa brings together design, building science, environmental health, and human biology to explore how thoughtful residential design can support health. A WELL Accredited Professional and Global Wellness Ambassador, she speaks and consults on healthy homes, wellness real estate, and the role of the home in preventive health. Drawing from both professional expertise and personal experience, Lisa advocates for homes that are not only beautiful and sustainable, but biologically supportive. Through her work, she is helping expand the conversation around how deeply our homes shape the way we live.