Category Archives: Interior Design

advocacy, IIDA Advocacy, Interior Design, Students

Why Advocacy Matters: The Student Perspective

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Should interior design advocacy matter to young professionals who are just getting started in the industry—or even just getting started in a degree program? Absolutely. Here, IIDA Student Member Lindsey Torpey, a senior in interior design at the University of North Texas (she’s also simultaneously in her first year of the Master of Arts in Sustainability program), shares her thoughts on the importance of advocating for the profession and how attending last year’s IIDA Advocacy Symposium changed her perspective on interior design certification.

What is your role in the IIDA Texas Oklahoma Chapter?

Lindsey: I’m the Student Representative to the Board. In my position on the Texas Oklahoma Chapter Board, I act as a voice for students in the Chapter. Through my personal experiences as a Student Member and by speaking with other students about their experiences, I am able to add insight to Board meetings and discussions. The Board created my position last year as a way to have a more direct connection with students and a better understanding of what students need from their IIDA Student membership.

What does advocacy mean to you as a student?

Lindsey: For me, advocacy means spreading the understanding of what interior designers do every day, so we can continue to protect the health, safety, and welfare of individuals.

Can you tell us about your experience at the inaugural Advocacy Symposium in 2015?

Lindsey: The Advocacy Symposium was fantastic and educational! I really enjoyed all of the great speakers. Having the opportunity to hear directly from our lobbyists was so interesting. I knew a portion of my IIDA membership dues went to the advocacy campaign, but hearing how my funds contributed to their efforts was very interesting. We were also able to hear firsthand how Utah is fighting their advocacy campaign, which I think we can say they have made a huge step as they recently passed their bill for the certification of commercial interior designers in Utah. I also loved the tour of the Texas Capitol; it is jam-packed with so many beautiful details.

For me, the biggest takeaway from the Symposium was finally understanding the how struggle for licensure, registration, and certification is an ongoing process across the nation. I didn’t realize the scope of the situation. We each need to work to inform those around us of the difference registered interior designers make in our lives.

Advocacy_Student

Lindsey Torpey, Student IIDA, Student Representative to the Board of the IIDA Texas Oklahoma Chapter

 

Do you plan on getting registered?

Lindsey: Yes, I plan to get registered. I think sitting for the NCIDQ and becoming registered is so important. Those three letters, RID, communicate a knowledge base not everyone possesses. It communicates the work and dedication you have devoted to the profession. And overall, it communicates that you work every day to protect the health, safety, and welfare of society.

How can students get involved in interior design advocacy?

Lindsey: Advocacy is something where a discussion needs to be had. I didn’t know the scope of our advocacy campaign before the Symposium, and I really didn’t understand we needed to be making such significant efforts.

Students: Mark your calendars for the 2nd annual IIDA Advocacy Symposium scheduled for Sept. 23-25 at the Grand Hyatt in Denver, Colorado. Registration opens in May. Students receive a special registration rate. Learn more.

design, IIDA, Interior Design

A Career in Healthcare Design: 4 IIDA Members Share Their Paths

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As IIDA Student Members around the country get a taste of what it’s like to be a professional interior designer during the Student Mentoring Program this month, a few of our seasoned members and design professionals are sharing a little bit about how they launched their careers in healthcare design. From after-school jobs to mid-career shifts to a little bit of luck, their paths may be unique, but they’re all passionate about this fast-growing design specialty.

From Hospitality to Healthcare

“I began working primarily on hospitality projects, but during the design phase of a large mix-used project that our firm designed abroad, I found myself transitioning from the hospitality component of the project into the healthcare component of it. It was a natural and logical transition as both program types deal with environments focused on the hosting and caring of people.

I truly believe every healthcare project offers a unique opportunity to partner with an organization to collaboratively develop transformational solutions tailored to their vision and purpose. Well-designed, inspiring environments can help patients heal faster and enable clinicians to surpass their previous achievements through settings that foster focus and collaboration. As designers, we can validate our intuitions with evidence-based data and the latest findings in neuroscience to create high performing, people-focused spaces.”

-Edwin Beltran, IIDA, Assoc. AIA, Principal, NBBJ, and IIDA Vice President

Luck and a Love of Technology

“Prior to my career in design and implementation of healthcare technology, I provided IT services in the corporate arena. Then my spouse was offered a position in Nashville. For me to find a position, I called a few companies and asked, ‘Where is the last place you would work?’ The number one response was a large university medical center in town. Not only was the medical center one of the largest employers in the area, it also included 314 acres of technology, just waiting for me! I socially engineered my way to become part of the staff. That was my first position in Health IT in 1999.

Today, my daily work ranges from the electronic medical records to the regulatory environment, from the clinical flow of patients to the design of the patient room. If it is technology and in a hospital, I touch it, design for it, budget, select, specify, procure, and manage installation.”

-Alan Dash, Senior Consultant, The Sextant Group

Medical Illustration to Interiors

“From an early age, I wanted to be a dentist or a physician, but I found out in anatomy that I couldn’t handle the smells or visuals of the medical profession. I still loved everything medical and someone in my anatomy class noticed me drawing and sketching. They asked if I had ever thought about medical illustrating. Well I did, and I loved it. My professors in medical illustrating suggested that I also look into industrial design. I found that it was highly competitive, rigorous, and research-based and had a high regard for beauty and functionality.”

-Amy Sickeler, RID, LEED AP, Interior Design Principal, Perkins+Will

High School Job Sets the Stage

“My after-school job in high school was with a multidiscipline design firm, where I was first exposed to healthcare design for interiors, signage, and medical devices. I eventually went to work for this firm and that’s where I started my journey in healthcare design.

Healthcare design is complex, challenging, and ever-changing. I love that it constantly shifts beneath my feet, pushing me to innovate. But what truly fuels my passion is the desire to create optimal patient experiences that help ease the journey for patients and their loved ones.”

-Suzen L. Heeley, Executive Director, Design+Construction, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 

On Monday, March 21, Sickeler, Beltran, and Heeley, will join IIDA EVP/CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA, LEED AP, at PDC Summit. Durst will be leading the expert panel in a lively discussion about healthcare design during the program, “Strategy, Culture, and Healing: The Modern Healthcare Facility as a High Performance Workplace.” Learn more about the PDC Summit.

Image: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Brooklyn Infusion Project, Brooklyn, New York, USA, by ZGF Architects, 2012 IIDA Healthcare Interior Design Competition Best of Category Winner for Ambulatory Care Centers

Interior Design

IIDA Design Watch: 3 Trends in Healthcare Design

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Healthcare design has been around for years, but there’s no doubt it is a hot topic at this very moment. With the passing of the Affordable Care Act, the rise of technology, and the expectation that wellness is imperative in the workplace, healthcare design is decidedly important now more than ever. We sat down with our very own Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA, LEED AP, to see what the healthcare design forecast for 2016 – and beyond – looks like.

Community

Once upon a time, pediatric hospitals were sterile, isolated places. Today, with centers like the Ronald McDonald House, hospitals and other healthcare facilities are realizing that they’re not caring for just the patient—they’re caring for the patient’s entire family.

Creating a healthcare space that fosters community was evident in the 2015 IIDA Global Excellence Awards healthcare category winner, the Sayanomoto Clinic in Saga, Japan, by the design firm, Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop. The clinic, designed for patients with dementia, houses a “learning” space in the common areas so patients can spend time with their families.

“Healthcare is not just a single entity issue,” said Durst. “When someone is ill it happens to an entire family. That’s, to me, emotional intelligence. That is really employing the softer side of design that designers do best. It’s paying attention to the human being. So, the community aspect, the whole person, the whole being, the whole family is one.”

Technology vs. Humanity

Say what you will about technology, you luddites out there, there’s no denying it has improved healthcare in ways we never thought imaginable. Electronic health records, self-service kiosks, wearable medical devices, and telemedicine have made formerly cumbersome systems more efficient and increased access to care for the most vulnerable.

But how do we balance tech with humanity? For Durst, this one hits close to home. A couple of years ago before her mother passed away from cancer, Durst accompanied her on a hospital visit only to notice that the nurse who was taking her mother’s vitals never once made eye contact; the nurse was occupied with her laptop and iPad mini. “All the ways that technology would be improving healthcare – leaps and bounds – but from a personal concern, is that making healthcare less human and less humane?” said Durst. “That’s my other big thing about design — design is about dignity. Healthcare should be about dignity as well.”

Taking Over Retail

If you don’t know that there’s a Nordstrom’s that provides mammogram screenings. Now you know. Located at the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois, patients can decide they want to shop for a couple of hours, walk in for a screening, and get their results within the same day. The convenience, ease, and comfort of getting a mammogram while shopping is in stark contrast to the clinical setting that intimidates many women from making that yearly appointment. But what if we took that one step further? “What if all of a sudden I can go to Costco, or the Dollar Store, or Wal-Mart and get a mammogram?” asked Durst. “If all of a sudden it’s as easy as going to CVS then it becomes different, and that’s design.”

Where in the World is Cheryl?

Durst will be at Design Connections Healthcare 2016 on Feb. 23 to moderate a discussion about wearables and telemedicine with panelists Alan Dash, Senior Consultant, The Sextant Group; Jocelyn Stroupe, IIDA, ASID, CHID, EDAC, Director of Healthcare Interiors, Cannon Design; and Jane Rohde, FIIDA, AIA, ACHA, AAHID, Principal, JSR Associates.

Image: Sayanomoto Clinic, Saga, Japan, by Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop