After remodeling a bathroom for an aging client, and personal experience with a family member with Alzheimer’s, I realized there was more to design than “meets the eye.”
With two decades of experience in media and design, I wanted to do something more meaningful in my field.
Janet received her Masters in Design for Human Health within the Masters of Design Studies program at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) in January 2015. Immediately following graduation she has been an adjunct BAC instructor teaching: Environmental Health, Human Conditions +Design, and currently teaches Biophilia.
She also mentors BAC students in work-study programs. One such example, was where the students were to examine circadian lighting and health within a large senior living facility associated with Harvard Medical and The Institute for Aging. She was asked to present this information at NEOCON in Chicago in June 2019. She is also currently the Chair of the Alumni Advisory Council (AAC) for the BAC.
She received her B.S. in Social Work from Boston University, her Certificate of Business and Management from Harvard University Extension School, and had two decades of owning her own production company, Firefly Films, Inc. During that time, in 2011 she was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women. She is now engaging her love of design and helping others, whereby creating another company, Janet Roche Designs, LLC (est. 2014). Janet Roche Designs believes that they can find “real design solutions to the human condition” by looking at the biology, psychology, and sociology of spaces to develop environments for everybody.
In 2019 she launched her own podcast, Inclusive Designers, and in 2020 co-founded the Trauma-informed Design Society (TiDs). In 2022 TiDs received a grant from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) to create the first of its kind toolkit for schools K-12 to evaluate their space through the trauma-informed lens.
In 2011 she was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women. She sits on a variety of boards and committees, including the committee for the Muddy River Initiative and the redesign of the CharlesGate Park Committee, which are a part of the infamous Fredrick Olmsted’s “Emerald Necklace” where she advocates for the need for an inclusive playground.
She is a Red Sox fan, and in the winter you can find her on the slopes of Killington, VT., where she is a volunteer ski instructor for the Vermont Adaptive Ski Program and is studying to become a certified instructor for the Adaptive Sports Programs with the Professional Ski Instructors Association (PSIA).
In the Press
(click each below to view)
- NY Times – Aging in Place by Jane E. Brody
- Boston Globe – Redesign aims to help developmentally disabled adults
- Architect News – Learn About Design for Human Health at The Boston Architectural College
- BayCove Orlando Annual Report 2016
- Boston Architectural College – Design for Human Health Article
