Zhipeng Lu

Dr. Lu is the Julie and Craig Beale Endowed Professor of Health Facilities Design and an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at Texas A&M University. He serves as associate director of the Center for Health Systems & Design in the College of Architecture. He received the 2023 HCD10 Educator of the Year Award from Healthcare Design Magazine.

Lu earned a Master's in Architecture from Southwest University in China, a PhD in Architecture from Texas A&M University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M.

Lu's research focuses on social and behavioral factors in design, health care facilities, environments for aging, and the application of emerging technologies in health design and research. He teaches architectural design studios featuring real-world projects, ranging from large-scale hospitals to small senior living homes.

Notably, he led the development of the telebehavioral health booth prototype, which later evolved into the booths used at the Texas A&M Telehealth Institute. Working alongside his students, he dedicated hundreds of hours refining the design, progressing through every stage from architectural programming to full-scale construction. This included building and testing mock-ups before traveling to the RELLIS Campus workshop to construct a fully functional booth. The original prototype now resides in Nolanville City Hall in central Texas, providing telehealth access for residents. His work exemplifies the integration of architecture, technology, and healthcare to address rural health care disparities.

An active leader in architectural education and research, Lu has secured funding through the Texas A&M Education First Commitment High-Impact Learning Grant and has served as an investigator on projects supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the American Institute of Architects. He has published extensively in peer­ reviewed journals and conference proceedings, significantly contributing to the field of design for protecting, developing, and restoring human health.

Dr. Lu also coordinates the Secretariat of the International Union of Architects - Public Health Group (UIA-PHG) and has co-chaired the Global University Programs in Health Architecture (GUPHA) and the UIA International Student Design for Health Competitions.