In December 2016, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) launched Mental Health by Design (MHxD), an innovative pilot project that awarded services to 15 New York City (NYC) public high schools to support built environment projects with defined goals of promoting or improving student mental health.

Common Bond Design was honored to be among the six emerging design firms chosen to be paired with one of the grant-winning schools, Mott Hall V in the Bronx. We collaborated with students, faculty and administrators to design and install a rotating exhibit of student-generated artwork. The students sought to counter what they perceived as the cultural homogeny of commercially available literature on mental health, and requested that we display the artwork in the student restrooms, a familiar refuge in moments of social or academic stress.