Carolyn BaRoss: Healthcare Designers Facing the Challenge of Global Pandemic

April 21, 2020 John Czarnecki 1 Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the world around us, touching all of our lives and heightening awareness of the importance of healthcare and healthcare environments. In this interview, Carolyn BaRoss, IIDA, the New York-based firmwide healthcare interior design director at Perkins and Will, shares her thoughts on how the firm and her healthcare design practice has adjusted, and how they will move forward in a new normal. She offers lessons that can be applicable to all interior designers and architects, not just those focused on healthcare.

IIDA: How have your teams and colleagues adjusted to working remotely and continuing their projects?

Carolyn BaRoss: Within our firm, we have genuine concern for each other’s well-being and safety, and gratitude for the ability to continue to work and create together remotely through our firm’s robust technology infrastructure. Overcommunication and clarity of communication—that is, communicating clearly and often—is a highly effective rule of thumb, particularly when a project is just getting started. But once things get moving, compassion is key: we understand and accept the need for personal flexibility and shifting work schedules, because there are unique challenges for everyone. We know our people are doing their best.

IIDA: How has the firm implemented technology to both continue the work as well as to encourage communication and continued collaboration?

CB: We benefit from a suite of digital project and collaboration management tools that help keep everyone engaged and thriving with some semblance of normalcy. Here in New York, we continue to gather the entire studio for our Monday morning “all hands” meeting, where multiple studio leaders present updates, and we continue to hold project team meetings, just as we always have. More recently, our firm has introduced a series of cross-disciplinary meetings with diverse practice leaders from all over the world during which we share ideas and strategies for our “new normal”—today and in the future. And finally, formerly “analog” culture and community events that help us connect on a personal level have now gone digital, including virtual coffee breaks and tea time, shared movies, group yoga, and design dialogues.

IIDA: Is there an aspect of your firm’s workflow that has not drastically changed in this time?

CB: We’ve always done work in China by virtual collaboration between our Shanghai and New York teams, for example. One project in China, which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, is now ramped back up as people return to the workplace there.

“One of the silver linings is that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an intrinsic global community interconnectedness. Ultimately, helping and being part of the solution matters most—whether you’re a designer or not.”
– Carolyn BaRoss

IIDA: Your firm has strong research-based approaches and initiatives. How is that informing your approach to the work at this time?

The urgency for factual, evidence-based strategies has led to collaboration between our healthcare interiors team and our firm’s commercial interiors clients and colleagues. This convergence of practices has been positive for a number of reasons, not the least of which is a sharing of our healthcare research and technical knowledge, including designers, and that of clinically trained nursing leadership within our firm. Suddenly, healthcare interior design best practices are human health best practices, relevant for all building types, touching everything from space planning, materiality, and detailing to technology, engineering systems, and operations.

We see this both as an extraordinary opportunity and as a responsibility. We are sharing scientific research and knowledge, but our goal is to ensure that this research and knowledge are used appropriately and intelligently in support of “do-no-harm” protocols. We are somewhat concerned that the fear generated by COVID-19 and community spread will prompt emotional, partially-informed reactions that may actually cause more harm than good over time—for example, the inappropriate use of antibacterial and antimicrobial products.

IIDA: At this moment, many of your healthcare clients in the U.S. are overwhelmed with work that is focused on the immediate crisis. How do you continue the communication process to move design projects forward with them?

CB: We have altered the format and abbreviated communications into smaller pieces so that clinical leadership can review and respond during breaks, while handling the COVID-19 crisis. Instead of stopping project work, we have heard that breaking up their days this way has given them a moment to think optimistically about building a positive future, and it’s been a welcome respite from the present crisis. We already had established a good rapport with the client team, so virtual and truncated communications remain effective for this period.

One change we are seeing on the clients’ side is the way they’re delivering care to their patients. For non-COVID-19 care teams like elective/specialty care services, there’s a slowdown in patient flow. Non-emergency ambulatory clinics are closed, and their caregivers are available via telemedicine portals. Some have furloughed health system employees and or reduced salaries. I have also heard of physicians experiencing a significant reduction in hours.

Medical University of South Carolina, Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, Perkins and Will and McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture. Photo by Halkin | Mason Photography (Todd Mason)

IIDA: How is Perkins and Will engaged in strategic-response design through the adaptation of existing healthcare facilities or repurposing for surge capacity?

The firm has several initiatives, each of them driven by how the virus has impacted a given studio’s location, and many of them are really tapping into the creative power of design thinking.

Our Seattle studio has been working with Swedish Medical Center to create a digital dashboard that aggregates critical data in real-time from their regional hospital network. The data includes hospital space usage, bed availability, health statistics from national databases, availability of medical gases, and the sanitization of space and equipment. It is necessary for making smart, split-second decisions. Rather than waiting for drawings to be printed up and presented, a real-time digital dashboard presents the data in a cohesive, visually compelling, easy-to-interpret way. This groundbreaking work is currently being beta-tested with the client, and our firm’s IT team is heavily involved. Our Seattle team has also been working with Swedish on quick-response and temporary efforts to accommodate an influx of patients including building out temporary new spaces to accommodate additional beds.
In New York, we have been working with the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) Surge Capacity Task Force. In March, New York State called for the creation of nearly 140,000 additional acute care and intensive care unit beds within 14 to 21 days. We’ve been helping to rapidly assess unused hospital-owned spaces, long-term care facilities, and alternative care sites, like hotels and commercial real estate, to increase hospital bed capacity by between 50 and 100 percent. We are also involved in a similar task force in New England.
In the Chicago area, our COVID-19 work includes converting existing buildings into alternative care facilities. One project will reactivate a former acute-care hospital to treat COVID-19 patients, and another will transform a former medical office building into a dedicated COVID-19 care facility.
In San Francisco, we assessed the viability of converting a hotel into a COVID-19 care facility.
Our Copenhagen, Boston, Miami, Chicago, and Dallas studios—among others—are designing and creating no-cost personal protective equipment (PPE) for our healthcare clients.

“Suddenly, healthcare interior design best practices are human health best practices, relevant for all building types, touching everything from space planning, materiality, and detailing to technology, engineering systems, and operations.”
– Carolyn BaRoss

IIDA: How has your firm’s best practices positioned your healthcare team for the important design work that they do, now and post-COVID-19?

We think holistically about resilience in our health facilities and design proactively for health and well-being while avoiding damage to the environment, public health and health policy, and the health of our communities. We aim to design effectively for circumstances like pandemics involving all kinds of illnesses, severe weather events, and acts of violence. As part of this, considerations for healthcare interiors include the following, some of which are already best practice:

Surge capacity flexibility and adaptability of current and new healthcare and non-healthcare facilities that are proximate to hospitals where staffing and logistical support can be made available.
Cleanability and ability to disinfect, including the use of UV lighting, easily-wipeable surfaces, and materials and detailing made to withstand rigorous cleaning protocols like vaporization.
Hands-free, touchless technologies and design solutions.
Understanding the causes of, and means of transmission of different illnesses, and the need to respond appropriately.
Balancing the natural environment within our built environment, and enabling our microbiome to help combat germs without inadvertently creating or worsening a problem.
Designing and allowing for caregiver respite and well-being: the stressors currently placed on our caregivers, and the dangers they face, urgently require intervention.
Configuration and airflow of arrival spaces in healthcare for prevention, screening, and triage in order to isolate and prevent germ transmission into other areas.
Storage capacity and emergency storage in preparation for disruptions in the supply chain.

IIDA: Taking this moment of crisis into consideration, what does the future for healthcare design hold once we are able to return to a feeling of normalcy?

CB: We have to strongly consider what this new, post-pandemic world will look like; how the economic fallout will impact the future of healthcare facilities; what the medical side effects for survivors will be; and what the future holds for affordable and accessible patient care.

One of the starkest lessons and opportunities that COVID-19 brings to light is that public health crises can systematically disadvantage essential workers, first responders, those with pre-existing conditions, and the economically disadvantaged in crowded living situations. The question is, how will we apply that lesson to enable adequate and equitable community prevention, testing, telemedicine, and care in the future? We’re all in this together, and we need to address it together.

IIDA: Do you foresee lessons from healthcare interiors impacting the design of other project types, such as workplace?

CB: Absolutely. One of the most compelling ways our practice has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic is the extent of which non-healthcare (namely: corporate interiors) clients are clamoring for healthcare-specific infection control strategies to ameliorate spaces ensuring building occupant safety. We are also applying healthcare infection control best-practices in other built environments. This is a very good thing, if the design solutions are effective, researched, and supported by scientific data.

IIDA: Reflecting on this moment in time and your experience in recent weeks, what is your big-picture perspective on how we can move forward, together?

CB: One of the silver linings is that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an intrinsic global community interconnectedness. Ultimately, helping and being part of the solution matters most—whether you’re a designer or not—from making masks to staying home, or caring for others. Truth is essential. For those of us who happen to specialize in designing interior healthcare environments, we know how valuable our technical knowledge and research is to people and markets outside our own, and we recognize how urgent unity is. Right now, competitors are working together rather than in opposition, researchers are investigating how we can do better as a global society, And civic-mindedness has taken center stage above all else. Does this represent a turning point, a permanent shift toward collaboratively protecting our environment and public health? I hope so. It takes something like this to snap us out of our complacency and to remind us that the problem isn’t abstract anymore, or just a future model that may or may not happen. By working together, we can accomplish so much more.

In response to our rapidly changing world, IIDA brings you a design-focused dialogue on the effects of a global crisis. Join us for this important community discussion. Collective D(esign) Episode Five | Hospitality Design in a New Normal takes place on April 24, learn more about the series here.

healthcare design, IIDA, Interior Design

Collective D(esign): Healthcare Designers at the Forefront

April 3, 2020 IIDA HQ Leave a comment

In response to our rapidly changing world, IIDA brings you a design-focused dialogue on the effects of a global crisis. Watch the second webinar in the series now.

As we all adjust to a challenging moment in time and prepare for a “new normal,” the design industry has begun to grapple with the changing world and what it could mean for the future of healthcare environments.

How is the expertise of healthcare design professionals coming into play at this time? Are firms involved with immediate projects to adapt existing facilities or repurpose for surge capacity? In the webinar “Healthcare Designers at the Forefront,” hear moderator John Czarnecki, Hon. IIDA, deputy director and senior vice president of IIDA, and a panel of design experts discuss what is needed in the near-term, and what the impact on healthcare design will be in the coming years.

This webinar is registered for 1 IDCEC HSW CEU. To learn how to earn your CEU credit, visit IIDA.org for more information.

Watch all the webinars in the series here.

Moderator

John Czarnecki, Hon. IIDA
Deputy Director and Senior Vice President
IIDA

Panelists

Donald Cremers, IIDA
Principal and Senior Project Interior Designer
HOK, San Francisco

Tama Duffy Day, FIIDA
Principal and Firmwide Health & Wellness Practice Area Leader
Gensler, Washington, D.C.

Manuel Hernandez, MD
Principal, Strategic Innovation and Health Care Practice Leader
Kahler Slater, Milwaukee

Amy Mays, IIDA
Interior Design Director
HDR, New York

The next webinar in the series, Students and Education: Design Online will take place on April 9, 2020, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Central. Register today.

Join IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA alongside Ryan Ben, student engagement and advancement manager at IIDA, and group of design educators and students for a discussion on the emergency pivot to digital teaching and learning. We will discuss what’s working and what isn’t, adjustments must be made, how expectations are shifting, and what platforms are being used and why.

design, IIDA programs, Interior Design

Connecting the Dots in Experience Design and Community Engagement

December 12, 2018 IIDA HQ Leave a comment

This year’s IIDA Power Lunch at the Healthcare Design Conference revolved around the idea of “community” and the design of healthcare settings. The event, hosted by IIDA and sponsored by Construction Specialties, featured an industry roundtable, which explored the intersections of design, patient outcomes, and community experiences.

Healthcare environments are evolving to keep up with shifting paradigms of comfort, wellness, and corporate humanity. This means that healthcare systems are reconsidering how their spaces look and feel and what they offer the communities they serve.

Here’s what the experts had to say:

Healthcare Design and Community

Organizations are fast becoming more community-driven, and healthcare facilities can be designed as community hubs. “Through intentional engagement with a broader audience of community representatives and stakeholders during the design process, as well as enhanced program offerings, healthcare facilities can become destinations for health, wellness, culture, and education,” said Edwin Beltran, IIDA, Associate AIA, IIDA International Board vice president and design principal at NBBJ.

To ensure the complementary nature of the different programs and their successful viability as destination hubs, healthcare spaces need a balanced combination of civic, sports, cultural, and health offerings. Programmatic amenities could include locally-focused retail outlets, meeting rooms for community groups and civic organizations, wellness centers, healthy-eating demonstration kitchens, food outlets, and farmers markets.

Integration can also take on the form of “blurred boundaries” between patient communities and host town communities. Environments that are developed to embody the unique cultural identity of a community are those that provide true belonging and a sense of place. An example of this could be a healthcare facility with playgrounds and parks as part of its campus design. This helps present the paradigm of healthcare spaces as favoring socialization instead of isolation.

Wayfinding and Messaging

In order for a community to feel comfortable inside of a healthcare space and become truly integrated into its built environment, designers should consider how wayfinding and messaging affect visitor experiences. Sensory elements can be utilized to make a healthcare space feel inviting and welcoming: Pictures and symbols to assist with language barriers, calming colors that take into considering visual impairment, sounds that consider the hearing impaired, and words that are easy to understand and visually accessible.

Clinical spaces should also be committed to reducing the fear and anxiety that can often accompany a healthcare visit. “Community events and use of the facilities when the community is not in need of medical assistance is one way to make members of the community feel more comfortable in the space,” said Richelle Cellini, visualization specialist at Construction Specialties. “Retail spaces, yoga classes, or coffee shops within the medical space can also help reduce fear and disorientation.”

Humanizing Space

Healthcare architects and designers must walk in the shoes of patients, families, and caregivers with empathy, though this can be challenging in a world where schedules and budgets rule our frame of thinking. To create more humane, civilized healthcare spaces, designers should remember that a clinical environment does not have to look clinical. “Designing for the senses is one of the first steps to humanizing a healthcare space,” explained Suzen L. Heeley, IIDA, executive director of design and construction at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “Through the integration of sound domes, holistic fragrances, tactile materials, and specific colors, clinical environments can become more comfortable and healing-driven.”

Integrating Community

Embracing community means taking on new approaches to delivering services, such as working directly with members of the wider community. “Creating partnerships between health service organizations and health professionals, clinicians, patients, families, caregivers, and consumers is viewed as a fundamental precondition for effective delivery of healthcare,” said Amy Sickeler, IIDA, design principal at Perkins+Will. “Studies have demonstrated significant benefits from such partnerships in clinical quality and outcomes, the experience of care, and the business and operations of delivering care,” Sickeler explained.

The clinical benefits that have been associated with better patient experience and patient-centered care can include decreased mortality and readmission rates, and improved adherence to treatment regimes. Partnerships could look like free public health screenings, public health forums, free literature and written information, and health and wellness programs.

Facility Resources

Rethinking the standards of a healthcare facility and the kinds of resources it can provide is important in understanding how medical spaces can better serve their communities. Healthcare facilities should be designed to provide top-notch security and function while maintaining external approachability, comfort, and visual appeal.

Healthcare designers should ask themselves: How is a healthcare facility equipped to deal with unforeseen emergencies like natural disasters? Does the facility have communal, family spaces? Does it have multiple accessible entrances? Do places that allow for relaxation and breathing room beyond the waiting room exist? “Facility resources should be closer to the point of care for the patient and not just in the lobby,” said Stasia Czech Suleiman, IIDA, principal/senior project interior designer at HOK.

culture, design

Design for the Future of Healthcare: Keeping the Conversation Going

April 13, 2017 IIDA HQ Leave a comment

This post was contributed by DLR Group.

In November 2016, IIDA hosted a “Power Lunch” at the Healthcare Design Conference. The 90-minute event, sponsored by Herman Miller Healthcare, featured small group discussions facilitated by healthcare design experts who covered the latest and greatest trends influencing healthcare design. Virtual visits, bed-less hospitals, mindfulness, the patient experience, and safe workplaces were among the topics of conversation at this well-attended event for design professionals.

Here’s what the experts had to say:

Design Philosophies and Approaches

Edwin Beltran, IIDA, Associate AIA, Design Principal of NBBJ, Vice President of IIDA

Over the last two decades, a well-documented body of knowledge has begun to propel the discussion of design within healthcare environments as an influential factor aiding the healing process. The philosophies discussed covered a wide spectrum from lean design as a design-thinking approach to inform and influence organizational and operational models, to approaches that seek to enhance the patient experience and the humanization of what would otherwise be an institutional environment.

Alternative medicine and healthy eating programs were also discussed as influential elements that can inform design thinking in more holistic, comprehensive, and inclusive ways, particularly in an era where healthcare is trying to tip the scale from a heightened focus on diagnostic medicine to a more rebalanced emphasis on both preventive and diagnostic care.

The lessons from alternative design paradigms such as hospitality and retail were also addressed, especially because of their keen understanding of and adaptable responsiveness to the markets’ shifting demographic forces. “In an environment where experience is highly valued, understanding the needs, wants, and priorities of those consumers will allow healthcare systems and their environments to remain relevant and attract a loyal customer base,” said Beltran.

Sustainability, Mindfulness and Wellness

Amy Corneliussen Sickeler, IIDA, CHID, LEED AP BD+C, Design Principal, Perkins + Will

We can’t talk about designing what’s next in healthcare without covering sustainability, mindfulness, and wellness. “Our discussion centered on designers improving mindfulness within project environments,” said Sickeler. Listening to understand and empathizing with clients and patients puts designers in the right frame of mind to deliver solutions that elevate the environments. Incorporating wellness into spaces instead of designing them outside of a project includes lighting, acoustics, visibility, air quality, and views to nature.

A Safe and Humanizing Workplace

Aneetha McLellan, IIDA, NCIDA, LEED AP BD+C, Healthcare Leader, Principal, DLR Group

The opportunities for design solutions to impact both lean operational processes and the patients’, caregivers’, and families’ experiences must be a priority. “The human aspect of healthcare has to remain at the forefront of design that responds to the rapidly changing healthcare model we are facing today,” said McLellan. The small group reached consensus that collaboration from the top down and the bottom up is the key to producing innovative solutions that offer the adaptability and flexibility to ensure all users have safe, efficient, and inspiring environments for healthcare.

The Experience Equation

Phyllis Goetz, EDAC, National Director, A&D Healthcare, Herman Miller Healthcare

What is the primary source of design impact? Is it technology? Personalized medicine? Or, is it an organization’s culture that stands out? “We all felt strongly that technology upgrades, operational adjustments, and organizational culture changes are three ways to leap frog the patient experience and build trust,” explained Goetz. “Technology has changed the nature of healthcare interactions and now the space needs to adapt to accommodate new and changing technologies.”

Planning and Care Models

Tatiana Guimaraes, Assoc. AIA, Senior Associate, Perkins+Will

With a better understanding of population health, owners are relocating healthcare environments to serve patients conveniently. Dealing with serious medical cases in an outpatient setting was at the heart of this discussion about micro-hospitals, bed-less hospitals, and free-standing emergency departments. This group was in agreement about one thing: The model for healthcare is changing – and it is changing rapidly. “Do designers have a role in helping healthcare providers educate their customers about the levels of acuity for emergency departments or the appropriate care for the ever-growing behavioral health needs?” asked Guimaraes. It is crucial to provide clarity of what level of care these new centers are providing. Designers have an important role in this discussion as trusted advisors who can help balance the operational needs of efficiency with patient and staff experience.

Designing for Performance and Resilience

Jocelyn Stroupe, IIDA, ASID, CHID, EDAC, Principal, Cannon Design

Whose responsibility is it to know the science behind the cleaning products and their effect on the furniture and finishes throughout the building? “More importantly, how can the design community help owners with this costly problem?” asked Stroupe. Solutions shared in this lively discussion included the importance of understanding and sharing the science behind cleaning products’ effects on materials; knowledge of the specific cleaning products used by a facility; using mock-ups for maintenance testing, training and procedures; and using modular products that provide flexibility and lower replacement cost.

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new construction, renovation, and adaptive reuse. Their promise is to elevate the human experience through design. This promise inspires sustainable design for a diverse group of public and private sector clients; local communities; and our planet.

Featured image: 2016 Healthcare Interior Design Competition winner in Ambulatory Care Centers – Medical Office Building Public Spaces Swedish Edmonds Ambulatory Care Center, Edmonds, Washington, by the firm NBBJ, Seattle, Washington.

design, IIDA, Interior Design

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

March 15, 2016 IIDA HQ Leave a comment

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

design, IIDA

IIDA Student Members Take on Real-World Design

February 29, 2016 IIDA HQ Leave a comment

Four IIDA Student Members at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) got a taste of what designing in the “real world” is like after taking part in a project that laid the foundation for a new healthcare facility at the university’s Medical Center (UNMC).

IIDA Student Members Nicki Ahlschwede, Ashley Wojtalewicz, Teresa Fibich, and Justine McCarty worked alongside fellow UNL interior design and architecture students to plan design concepts for UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI), a healthcare facility that focuses on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The students were involved in the entire planning process, from picking a site and research to conceptual designs. They met with MMI to learn its needs and wants, review plans and research, and gain knowledge about strategic layouts that would seamlessly flow for doctors, nurses, clients, clients’ families, and students. They were also told what key elements needed to be present in their designs.

Wojtalewicz worked to make the facility have a non-clinical feel: “With our material choices the concept doesn’t really feel clinical at all, but yet it still supports clinical activities, and that’s what we were going for as a team.” She added that her instructor, Stacy Spale, IIDA, played an integral role in the project with her experience in healthcare design.

The collaboration between MMI and UNL was made possible through the efforts of Sheila Elijah Barnwell, College of Architecture Instructor at UNL, who caught wind of UNMC’s plans to build a new facility for MMI. After contacting MMI and presenting her proposal to involve interior design and architecture students, MMI believed it was a win-win situation for the students and MMI. “Since we are part of the training institution of Nebraska, this was an ideal way to have UNMC collaborate with UNL on a project that would benefit the students as well as the families we serve,” said Dr. Wayne Stuberg, Professor and Interim Director of MMI.

By the end of the semester long project, 12 teams impressed MMI administrators and directors with their conceptual proposals. Their creative, professional ideas and research will be given to the contracted architectural firm.

“I think the students always care more when it’s a real client, and it has real potential,” said Spale. “In five or six years, some of the ideas our students presented might end up in the real new Munroe-Meyer Institute. That’s really exciting and inspiring. It gave them a sense of purpose and direction. It’s not just an academic exercise; it has the potential to really change things.”

IIDA | Design Matters

Tag Archives: healthcare design