Programme agenda
- Day 1Monday 15 June
- Day 2Tuesday 16 June
- Day 3Wednesday 17 June
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08.00 - Registration opens
Opening keynote plenary
Fleming Room
Supported by
08.45 - 10.15Session 1- Opening keynote plenary
Sunand Prasad OBE PPRIBA
Programme director, European Healthcare Design; Principal, Perkins&Will, UKSunand Prasad is a principal at Perkins&Will. While designing across several sectors, he has been consistently engaged in healthcare and sustainability for four decades. At the core of his architectural practice, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration, Sunand holds a passionate belief that expertise and aesthetic judgement are most effective in creating truly successful environments when they are catalysed by the everyday experience of people. Sunand has been active in the wider built environment industry, particularly championing low-carbon, regenerative design, and until recently, as chair of the UK Green Building Council. He was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009, campaigning for action on climate change. He was founding member of the UK Government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; a London Mayor’s design advocate; a trustee of the Centre for Cities; and Chair of the trustees of Article 25, the humanitarian architecture charity. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architecture and the External Advisory Board of TRUUD, a major research project on the fundamental links between health and urban development. He has written widely on architecture, sustainability and healthcare design, such as the book 'Changing Hospital Architecture'.08.45Opening remarksSunand Prasad OBE PPRIBA
Programme director, European Healthcare Design; Principal, Perkins&Will, UKSunand Prasad is a principal at Perkins&Will. While designing across several sectors, he has been consistently engaged in healthcare and sustainability for four decades. At the core of his architectural practice, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration, Sunand holds a passionate belief that expertise and aesthetic judgement are most effective in creating truly successful environments when they are catalysed by the everyday experience of people. Sunand has been active in the wider built environment industry, particularly championing low-carbon, regenerative design, and until recently, as chair of the UK Green Building Council. He was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009, campaigning for action on climate change. He was founding member of the UK Government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; a London Mayor’s design advocate; a trustee of the Centre for Cities; and Chair of the trustees of Article 25, the humanitarian architecture charity. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architecture and the External Advisory Board of TRUUD, a major research project on the fundamental links between health and urban development. He has written widely on architecture, sustainability and healthcare design, such as the book 'Changing Hospital Architecture'.09.00Braver not bigger: A new vision for health
Lord Victor Adebowale CBE
Chair, NHS Confederation; Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR); Portakabin; Social Enterprise UK, UKVictor is chair of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Portakabin, Social Enterprise UK, and the NHS Confederation. He is also a non-executive director of Collaborate CIC, chair and co-Founder of Visionable, and founder of Leadership in Mind. Victor recently stepped down as chief executive of Turning Point, a social enterprise providing health and social care interventions for approximately 100,000 people per year. Victor also served as a non-executive director on the board of NHS England. He has chaired a number of commission reports into: policing; employment; mental health; housing; and fairness, for the London Fairness Commission; the Metropolitan Police; and for central and local government. He was awarded a CBE for services to the unemployed and homeless people, and became a crossbench peer in 2001. Victor is a visiting professor and chancellor at the University of Lincoln; an honorary member of the Institute of Psychiatry; president of the International Association of Philosophy and Psychiatry, and a governor at the London School of Economics. Victor has an MA in Advanced Organisational Consulting from Tavistock Institute and City University.09.25Agile health: Social medicine by design
Andrew Boozary MD
Executive director, University Health Network (UHN), CanadaDr Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician, policy practitioner, researcher, and founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network. As the driving force behind Dunn House, Canada’s first social medicine housing initiative, he has been a leader in integrating health care and housing to address the social determinants of health. His work focuses on advancing health equity and improving outcomes for underserved populations. Dr Boozary completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and health policy training at Princeton and Harvard. He has served in senior advisory roles for policymakers at various levels of government, shaping public policy on primary care reform and pharmacare. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of the Harvard Public Health Review and holds the Dalla Lana Professorship in Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto. Recognised for his impact in health equity and social justice, Dr Boozary is a Clarkson Laureate for Public Service and recipient of the Louise Lemieux-Charles Health System Leadership Award. His writing and analysis appear in high-impact academic journals and major media outlets. In 2025, he was appointed clinical lead, population health at Ontario Health, where he continues to drive innovation at the intersection of health systems and social policy.09.50Panel discussion10.15 - 10.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networkingArchitects for Health networking programmeKnowledge + Innovation Theatre programmeSelect a Stream
- Stream 1Population health
- Stream 2Science, technology and digital transformation
- Stream 3Climate-smart healthcare
- Stream 4Design showcase
- Stream 5Workplace design, wellbeing and research
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Population health
Fleming Room
Supported by
10.45 - 12.30Session 2- Digital, regional and urban health systems
Matthew Blair
Principal, BVN, United KingdomMatthew is an architect, technologist and principal at BVN, acknowledged for his cross-sector expertise and his ability to apply current and novel technologies and future of work knowledge to redefine spaces across industries such as health, education, and science. With a career spanning Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, North America, and the UK, Matthew now leads BVN’s UK studio, bringing a global perspective to his work. Passionate about driving change, Matthew also steers many of BVN’s transformational and innovation initiatives, collaborating with universities, start-ups, and other architectural practices to expand the boundaries of what architecture can achieve. His work reflects a deep understanding of how insights from workplace design can inform and enhance other sectors, from healthcare to life sciences, creating environments that foster collaboration, adaptability, and human connection.10.45Healthcare as resilient city-building: The power of urban planning and urban design in shaping the future of care
Dorsa Jalalian
Associate, senior urban designer, DIALOG, CanadaAs an associate and senior urban designer at DIALOG, Dorsa brings over ten years of experience shaping vibrant, inclusive, and people-centred urban environments. With a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master’s in Urban Design, her work spans masterplans, city-wide planning studies, design guidelines, public realm improvements, and large-scale campus projects across North America. Her practice focuses on creating places that feel lively, bustling, and welcoming to all. In recent years, Dorsa has also led and co-led major healthcare campus planning and healthcare visioning initiatives, supporting hospitals and health systems in imagining the future of care. Her work integrates community insight, placemaking, and long-term campus frameworks to enhance the experience of patients, staff, and visitors, while supporting the evolving operational and service-delivery needs of healthcare organisations.
Corey Horowitz
Associate, senior urban planner, DIALOG, CanadaCorey is a registered urban planner based in Toronto, bringing over 12 years of diverse experience spanning multiple practice areas including mixed-use, institutional and healthcare-specific planning. He has led the development approvals process for multiple hospital projects in the Greater Toronto Area. His expertise extends to land use strategies, master plans, policy development and affordable housing. Through a collaborative spirit and design sensibility – shaped through years of working closely with urban designers, architects and technical disciplines – Corey’s perspective drives his impact at a wide range of scales and project stages. Whether crafting compelling visions and conceptual development or at more detailed design phases, at a site-specific level or through a broader strategic planning lens, Corey values a holistic, contextual approach.
Stuart Elgie
Partner, DIALOG, CanadaStuart Elgie is an Architect and Partner at DIALOG. Stuart’s experience as a client-side design advocate and design-build team leader enables him to identify opportunities and mitigate short- and long-term risks. Ultimately, what drives him is the pursuit of great design and the iterative actions leading up to its realisation. Stuart believes design begins by listening to the client before identifying the possibilities and working within a team to find the best answer. For him, this is the fun part of being an architect. Stuart has been project architect responsible for design, design development and contract documentation on many large, complex projects throughout his career, primarily in the institutional and healthcare sectors. Stuart is the Partner-in-charge for DIALOG’s design team for the $1.1 billion Toronto Western Hospital – New Surgical and Patient Tower site for University Health Network, scheduled to open in 2028. Stuart also serves as a member of the DIALOG Governing Council, an elected body within the Partnership, responsible for the stewardship of the long-term interests and wellbeing of the organisation.Healthcare as resilient city-building: The power of urban planning and urban design in shaping the future of care
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Healthcare facilities are some of the most consequential civic spaces in our cities and towns, yet the processes that shape them often unfold without the full benefit of urban design and urban planning expertise. As health systems face demographic change, shifting care models and increasing pressures on land and infrastructure, hospitals must become more agile, resilient and adaptable. This requires a design lens that extends beyond the building to the campus, the district and the broader community systems that influence how people access, navigate and experience care.
Our presentation explores this expanded view of healthcare design by demonstrating how urban designers and urban planners contribute to resilience, renewal and regeneration across the entire planning continuum. Building on themes of collaboration and breaking down silos across disciplines and practice areas, we will use three to four healthcare projects – all very different in scope and context – to show how integrated, community-based thinking strengthens healthcare delivery.
These projects span urban, suburban and rural contexts, illustrating both the constraints of densely built environments and the opportunities presented by more expansive sites. Across them, we highlight four moments where planning and urban design shape outcomes from the outset through implementation:
• a combined visioning and socio-economic impact process that establishes shared values, long-term principles and spatial directions while framing the hospital as an anchor institution with regional wellbeing and economic-development potential.
• a campus plan aligning long-term clinical needs with land capacity, mobility networks, access, open space and phased growth strategies;
• an urban design framework and masterplan supporting expansion, decanting, operational flexibility and cohesive public realm design; and
• development approvals, where planning expertise navigates zoning, municipal processes and inter-agency co-ordination to enable delivery.
Across all scales, our examples underscore that hospitals need not be planned in isolation. They can, and should, embrace integration with surrounding community fabric and adjacent land uses, even on highly constrained sites. When healthcare campuses are approached through a holistic urban lens, they have the potential to catalyse broader benefits: environmental resilience, enhanced public realm, improved social wellbeing, economic development, and more complete communities.
Our central argument is that healthcare design is a community-building exercise. By embedding urban planners and urban designers from the outset and sustaining their involvement through delivery, healthcare organisations gain the tools needed to align vision, space, policy and phasing. In doing so, they create campuses that are truly agile, resilient and rooted in long-term community value.
Learning Objectives
- • The role of urban planning and urban design in shaping resilient, future-ready healthcare campuses.
- • How hospitals can integrate with their surrounding communities while meeting long-term clinical and spatial needs.
- • The value of interdisciplinary collaboration in delivering healthcare projects with broader community co-benefits.
11.05Smart medical city: Healthcare as a key economic driver
Hieronimus Nickl
CEO, Nickl & Partner, Nickl & Partner, GermanyHieronimus Nickl studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, graduating in 2003. In 2008, he completed an MBA in International Hospital and Healthcare Management at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He joined Nickl & Partner Architects in 2003 and, by 2005, was leading projects and teams, with a focus on international assignments. Since 2015, he has been the managing director of the Beijing office, and in 2019, he became a member of the Board of Directors at Nickl & Partner Architects. He additionally holds the role of managing director of Nickl & Partner Architects Germany and Nickl & Partners Holdings.Smart medical city: Healthcare as a key economic driver
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Many countries face a decisive turning point: healthcare systems must simultaneously close equity and capacity gaps, respond to ageing and non-communicable diseases and withstand climate and economic shocks. An integrated national transformation approach is proposed in which healthcare is treated not only as a social service but as a strategic engine for long-term prosperity and social cohesion. The framework combines a multi-decade national healthcare masterplan with a flagship health, innovation and smart medical city that acts as an early anchor of reform.
The masterplan establishes a systematic architecture linking community-based prevention and primary care to regional referral hospitals and advanced tertiary/teaching centres. It aligns infrastructure renewal, workforce development, digital integration, quality standards and climate-resilient operations into one coherent roadmap. Digital health is positioned as the “nervous system” of reform, enabling electronic medical records, telemedicine, referral management, supply chain transparency, and real-time performance dashboards. Governance is designed to clarify roles between regulation and development, strengthen accountability and mobilise partnerships without diluting public interest.
The flagship smart medical city translates the national vision into built form: a mixed-use, walkable, energy-efficient health district uniting high-level clinical care, medical education, research laboratories, start-up ecosystems, and health-related commercial activity. Beyond improving outcomes, such a hub stimulates new industries – medtech, pharma, digital services, rehabilitation, hospitality, and facility management – and generates skilled employment. By reinvesting economic value from early phases into system-wide scaling, healthcare and urban development become a virtuous cycle rather than isolated costs. The concept demonstrates how a smart medical city can accelerate national health reform while positioning healthcare as a key driver of innovation, investment attraction, and resilient, inclusive economic growth.Learning Objectives
- Smart City
- Healthcare supporting economy
- National Health Reform
11.25From fragmented data to actionable insight: A rapid, scalable digital–physical framework for regional infrastructure planning in Canada and Australia
Christine Chadwick
Managing director, Archus Canada, CanadaChristine Chadwick is the Managing Director of Archus Canada with 30+ years of experience in healthcare, including many executive and leadership roles. Christine brings system-wide expertise and skills including strategy/visioning, equipment planning, health services planning, masterplanning/programming, functional programming, lean thinking, digi-physical visioning, stakeholder engagement at all levels and input into healthcare planning. She has led major hospital and long-term care projects across Canada and internationally, with a focus on ensure that the clients receive price certainty and value for money whilst maintaining the highest level of patient care and staff safety. Christine is Co-Chair of the CSA Z8005 Digital Infrastructure & digital technologies in healthcare facilities. She also sits as a Voting Member of the CSA Health Care Facilities Technical Committee (Z257 TC). Alongside her technical expertise, Christine is a passionate advocate for developing the next generation of healthcare leaders. She is a Mentor in Residence and sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine & Innovation, a mentor for the Women’s Infrastructure Network and Founding President of the Canadian Women’s Circle of Healthcare (CWCH) (which is a national non-profit organization).
David Nicholson
Managing director, UK, MENA, Tektology, United KingdomDavid Nicholson is the managing director of Tektology in the UK, Middle East, and North America – a consultancy focused on health system design, digital innovation, smart hospitals, new facilities, and transformation. With more than 20 years of senior executive experience at the highest levels, his career spans Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and the UK, where he has worked on complex healthcare and public-sector challenges across diverse settings. His work spans major programmes with NHS trusts and NHS England’s New Hospital Programme, where he serves as a member of the Independent Technical Review Panel, chair of the NHP Independent Digital Group, and a digital advisor. He also works closely with NHS Wales organisations and national bodies to support system-wide digital transformation. Internationally, his experience extends across Australia and New Zealand, contributing to strategic digital transformation and patient-centred care pathways, and across Canada and India, supporting large-scale health improvement programmes that align policy, technology and outcomes. At Tektology, David has been instrumental in developing innovative methodologies that help organisations incubate, evaluate, and scale new technologies rapidly. His work focuses on practical solutions to complex challenges, integrating strategic policy, digital tools, and operational redesign to enhance healthcare delivery and outcomes.
Kirsten Reite
Principal, Kirsten Reite Architecture, CanadaKirsten Reite is an Architect and Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC), with over 30 years of experience shaping the built environment across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. As the founder and Principal in Charge of Kirsten Reite Architecture (KRA), a Vancouver-based firm specializing in healthcare, institutional, and community-focused projects, Kirsten has led the delivery of more than 150 projects, ranging in scale of up to $4 billion in construction value. Kirsten is widely recognized for her expertise in alternative procurement models and her ability to deliver complex projects through innovative design, thoughtful planning, and meticulous project management. Her leadership on major healthcare projects includes the $898M Victoria Hospital Redevelopment in Prince Albert, SK, the estimated $3.9B New Edmonton Hospital (Compliance) in Edmonton, AB, and the Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre in Daajing Giids, BC.From fragmented data to actionable insight: A rapid, scalable digital–physical framework for regional infrastructure planning in Canada and Australia
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Background: Large-scale health systems face mounting pressure to plan infrastructure and services amid rising uncertainty, shifting models of care, and persistent workforce constraints. In Canada and Australia, with vast geographies, dispersed rural and remote communities, and a significant Indigenous population, traditional planning methods have struggled to match the pace of operational and technological change.
Conventional approaches have relied on inconsistent datasets, lengthy modelling cycles and siloed clinical, operational and digital assessments, hampering equity-focused, regionally coherent investment decisions. Our clients sought an agile mechanism to understand current-state capacity across a sample of a large number of diverse sites initially, with the ability to scale without multi-year development.
The studies grew exponentially and audits were completed by a comprehensive team of clinical, digital, FFE and design professionals. Findings of existing conditions varied; however, in most cases, facilities operated assets with autonomy and piecemeal renovations. Many of the original sites were part of a network of templated prototypical hospitals making them more resilient and adaptable to change. This resulted in a rich database of information for future asset management.
Purpose: This project aimed to create a rapid, repeatable and clinically grounded method for baselining infrastructure, digital maturity, service models and community needs across a complex and diverse geographies. The objective was to generate a unified, decision-ready evidence base to support immediate service planning, equitable investment prioritisation and longer-term infrastructure strategy.
Methods: A partnership of Archus, Tektology and KRA co-designed a digital–physical evaluation model with system leaders, clinical teams, FFE, design and Indigenous engagement leads.
The approach combined: simplified data integration using customised tools to bring disparate datasets into a consistent baseline; clinical and operational assessment focused on service models, workforce, demand and resilience; a technology and digital infrastructure review examining systems-of-record, interoperability, IoT readiness and constraints shaping future care; and a custom dashboard translating findings into a single, user-friendly visual environment for planners, executives and regional teams.
The methodology was piloted across a number of sites, iterated with users, and rapidly scaled to a further large number of facilities without significant re-engineering, addressing the well-recognised gap between slow infrastructure planning processes and fast-moving clinical and technological change.
Results: The framework produced a comprehensive decision-making digital tool with a comparable evidence base within months rather than years. The dashboard enabled leaders to identify bottlenecks, opportunities for virtual care, technology investment priorities, risks to continuity of care, and disparities affecting Indigenous and remote communities. It provided immediate support for capital and digital planning and established the foundational data discipline required for future AI-enabled modelling, predictive analytics and advanced scenario tools.
Conclusions/implications: These projects demonstrate a practical route to agility in regional planning: simple technologies, co-designed evaluation methods and an integrated digital-physical lens significantly shorten the time needed to understand system needs. The resulting model offers a scalable template for jurisdictions seeking resilience, adaptability and equitable decision-making in an uncertain and rapidly evolving environment.
Learning Objectives
- 1. Understand how a rapid, scalable digital–physical evaluation method can accelerate service, digital and infrastructure planning across complex regional systems.
- 2. Identify techniques for simplifying fragmented data into a decision-ready evidence base using accessible technologies.
- 3. Assess how integrated clinical, operational, functional, and digital insights can strengthen equity-focused investment decisions for remote and Indigenous communities.
11.45Share the wealth: Regional command centres as a new model for community-based care, safety, and system resilience
Catherine Junda
Health sector technology practice leader, Stantec Architecture, United StatesCathy Junda is the health sector digital technology practice leader at Stantec, where she leads global digital health visioning, ecosystem design, and technology-enabled care models across acute, ambulatory, cancer, mental health, and community care environments. With a background spanning healthcare architecture, engineering, and enterprise technology, her work focuses on aligning clinical operations, digital infrastructure, and physical environments to support resilient, future-ready health systems. Cathy has led digital strategy and design for major healthcare projects across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, including regional command centres, hybrid nursing models, smart hospitals, and digitally enabled community care networks. Her work emphasises equity of access, workforce sustainability, and the use of regional and virtual models to extend specialist expertise beyond hospital walls. She is a frequent speaker on digital health ecosystems, ambient intelligence, and healthcare system resilience, and actively contributes to industry forums focused on innovation, health design, and system transformation.Share the wealth: Regional command centres as a new model for community-based care, safety, and system resilience
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Health systems worldwide are facing unprecedented pressure from workforce shortages, rising acuity, ageing populations, and geographic inequity in access to specialised care. In response, a new typology of regional command centres is emerging – moving beyond traditional hospital-based operations rooms to become distributed hubs that support clinical care, security, operations, and community services at scale.
This session explores how security, operational, and clinical command centres can be designed and deployed to “share the wealth” of expertise across regions, enabling centralised teams to support multiple facilities, virtual wards, long-term care, and even patients’ homes. Rather than replacing local care, these centres act as force multipliers – extending scarce skills, improving situational awareness, and enhancing system resilience.
The presentation will outline three primary command centre models:
Clinical Command Centres supporting virtual care, early deterioration detection, capacity management, and hybrid nursing models.
Operational Command Centres co-ordinating patient flow, logistics, staffing, and real-time decision-making across multiple sites.
Security & Safety Command Centres providing centralised monitoring, incident response, and emergency co-ordination across regions.
Through international case studies – including NHS England’s system-wide command centres and virtual ward infrastructure, and North American regional clinical command centres supporting remote hospitals and community-based care – the session will demonstrate measurable outcomes, such as reduced length of stay, improved response times, workforce efficiency, and enhanced patient safety.
Critically, the session will address the design implications of these models: spatial requirements, adjacencies, acoustics, data infrastructure, governance, and human factors. It will also explore how command centres can be regionally shared across countries, enabling cross-border collaboration, disaster response, and support for underserved or rural communities.
By reframing command centres as community-serving health infrastructure, this session challenges designers, planners and health leaders to think beyond individual buildings – towards networked, equitable, and digitally enabled systems of care.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the different types of healthcare command centres—clinical, operational, and security—and how they function as regional support hubs.
- Explore real-world case studies demonstrating how command centres extend care, expertise, and safety services beyond hospital walls.
- Identify key architectural, technological, and governance considerations for designing scalable, community-focused command centre models.
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 13.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking13.45 - 15.15Session 3- Place-based design for neighbourhood health
Richard Darch
Founder, Infracare; Health Planning Academy, UKRichard is a seasoned Healthcare Executive and entrepreneur with extensive Board level experience in the private and public sector and has founded three successful healthcare businesses and successfully exited through acquisition. In 2014 Richard joined a national health consultancy organisation to advise, lead activity across the Health Sector and develop new business in health and care infrastructure investment and development. A well-known commentator on healthcare infrastructure investment and development he has managed large teams across the public and private sector to deliver complex transactions. Richard also has international experience in healthcare technology, development and infrastructure and deep domain knowledge of structured finance and has a particular interest in the impact of technology on health and care facility design. Richard has personally designed commercial structures for health infrastructure and PPP transactions which have delivered significant value to the NHS and international health development projects. He is guided by the principle of delivering value to Health Systems through effective public and private sector partnerships.13.45A future-oriented healthcare hub for 29,000 residents in the North of Norway
Anne Guri Grimsby
Senior creative leader, Arkitema, NorwayAnne Guri Grimsby is an experienced Norwegian architect and senior leader with deep expertise in the planning and execution of large, complex hospital developments. She has directed multidisciplinary architectural teams on major projects in Norway and Sweden, including the New Østfold Hospital (89,000 m²), Södertälje Hospital (40,000 m²), and Nye UNN Narvik (34,000 m²), serving as the primary liaison to client organisations across all phases. Anne Guri is currently part of the core team developing Oslo University Hospital’s New Aker Hospital (210,000 m²), where she focuses on functional planning and structured user involvement in collaboration with the client, and being the architect’s representative in the art commission for the project. A former partner at Arkitema and a healthcare sector leader since 2006, she brings strategic competence in user engagement, functional design, cost-controlled planning, sustainability, and project governance. Her work consistently supports the delivery of efficient, integrated, and patient-centred healthcare environments.A future-oriented healthcare hub for 29,000 residents in the North of Norway
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A new university hospital and healthcare centre of 34 000m², located in Narvik, Norway, is realised as a hub, integrating somatics, mental health, and substance abuse treatment under one roof. The new Narvik Hospital, developed through a strong partnership with Narvik Municipality, brings together a modern emergency hospital and healthcare centre connected to an existing nursing home. Due to collective efforts of all stakeholders, the project was delivered on time and budget in 2024.
A changing world: Against the backdrop of war in Europe and NATO expanding to include Sweden and Finland, Narvik has a strategic location. The healthcare hub is designed to be robust and sustainable, strengthening resilience and enhancing population security. From a pandemic perspective, the various buildings in the hub offer substantial bed capacity, and cohort division can be implemented efficiently without extensive measures.
Tertiary care in a collaborative model: The facility integrates a wide range of specialist services: emergency; maternity care; imaging; cancer treatment; operating theatres; intensive care; inpatient wards for somatic care; mental health and substance abuse services; rehabilitation; and outpatient clinics.
The integrated design optimises bed capacity and treatment pathways through shared emergency and primary care services, common resources, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Early intervention and clarification beds for psychiatric and substance abuse patients improve health outcomes, while shared spaces ensure cost efficiency and sustainable use of facilities.
Building smart: An effective, focused building process, supported by strong collaboration among designers, engineers, contractors, and the client, has been central to success. Innovations such as standardisation and prefabrication of bathrooms and structural facade elements significantly improved the progress. The concrete building, with loadbearing prefabricated facade elements, is flexible for rapid changes, durable and resists influences from climate changes, weather conditions and need for maintenance. Local production strengthens regional industry and reduces environmental impact.
Healing architecture: Interiors emphasise clarity, orientation, and access to nature, using sustainable materials and intuitive wayfinding through daylight, colour, and form. Work environments focus on workflows, flexibility and collaboration, daylight, modern equipment, and sufficient space for patients and staff. This approach creates a humane environment that fosters patient dignity and improves working conditions for high-quality care.
Architecture rooted in place: The architecture reflects the industrial heritage with iron-red facades and concrete elements featuring colour and texture. The result is a distinctive, approachable hospital that blends identity, functionality and care. The public has taken the building to their hearts with overwhelming positive feedback.
Learning Objectives
- The project will increase the health condition of the population in the area
- This pilot project for extended collaboration between the University hospital and Narvik community will bring valuable experiences to future projects in other regions
- The architectural design and the integrated art will contribute to the healing and well-being of patients and staff
14.05Integrating sustainability and inclusivity for the design of a new health hub for Ipse de Bruggen
Femke Feenstra
(interior)architect · director · partner, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, The NetherlandsFemke Feenstra is an (interior) architect-director and one of the three partners at Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects. The firm bridges the gap between innovation and tradition, combining decades of expertise with fresh ideas. It is also specialized in conducting research and development. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture. She believes it is important as a designer to look beyond her own discipline. How can a designer contribute to the future of healthcare, well-being, and the built environment? What makes a house a home? Remaining part of society is essential. Femke is currently working on various research projects, including the Reactivating Hospital and MAYA. Her design projects include Rijnstate Hospital in Elst, Residential care centre Allévo in Zierikzee, Marijke Hiem in Heerenveen, and Health Hub Ipse de Bruggen, Youth Care Institution Campus de Hutten and OCMW Halle.
Ellen Gedopt
Architect · Director, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, The NetherlandsEllen graduated as an architect at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA and achieved her master degree in ‘Urban Design & Housing’ at the McGill University in Montréal, CA. She’s a creative thinker and is passionate about working on projects that embrace issues of care; both the care of people, as well as the care of the planet. She likes complex projects and get really energized from working on projects with a positive social impact. With over 15 years of experience in Europe and Canada, Ellen joined our firm in 2019 and has been Architect Director since 2025. She has worked on healthcare, education, and housing projects, bringing an open-minded perspective from having lived in five countries and the ability to communicate her ideas in three languages. She has worked on projects such as Hospital Oost Limburg in Genk, Hospital Maas and Kempen in Maaseik, the logistics platform for University Hospital Leuven, Zorgsaam Terneuzen, and Youth Institution De Kempen – Campus De Hutten in Mol.Integrating sustainability and inclusivity for the design of a new health hub for Ipse de Bruggen
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On the green campus of Craeyenburch in Nootdorp, a new health hub, for care organisation Ipse de Bruggen has recently been completed. With over 100 years of experience in caring for children, young people, and adults with intellectual or multiple disabilities, Ipse de Bruggen strives to provide the highest quality of care. A continuous route guides visitors through the building, gently connecting all specialist care functions, workspaces, and shared facilities into one cohesive, accessible, and welcoming environment, forming the new heart of the campus.
The project serves as a model for an integrated design approach: sustainable, aesthetic, and inclusive. It demonstrates how ambitious sustainability goals can be achieved in a building tailored to the diverse physical and neurodiverse needs of its users. And how a health facility can become a future-proof place of connection, with user participation as the foundation of its development.
Our knowledge of human-centred architecture and evidence-based design guided our process. Inclusivity was approached not as the removal of physical barriers, but as understanding how different people perceive and interact with space. To ensure the design truly met user needs, we engaged directly with end users: we shadowed care providers during daily tasks, held workshops with staff, and visited other facilities to learn from their experiences. We gained insights on spatial clarity, temperature, airflow, sound, and even scent, as well as practical navigation through the building. As a result, we were able to create spaces that genuinely work for all users, making the building more readable, comfortable, and welcoming.
The building forms part of a new landscape axis connecting all buildings on the campus. Its entrance invites people into an open and light atrium space. Public functions are located on the ground floor for easy and independent access, while offices for staff are on the first floor, directly linked to the treatment centre below. The interior design empowers clients’ autonomy. A clearly defined circulation route, or “ribbon,” guides visitors from the restaurant to treatment spaces, with wall finishes and fixed furniture connecting rooms and colour accents highlighting key areas.
Rounded corners, large windows, and wooden facades give the architecture a warm, human character. A lot of attention was given to views towards the outside, and natural daylight in all spaces. Aesthetic design is combined with functionality and sustainability, with flexible timber-frame construction meeting the sustainability ambitions of the project and ensuring future adaptability.
Learning Objectives
- User cooperation
- Inclusive design
- Sustainable design
14.25Regenerative neighbourhood health design: Harold Moody Health Centre
Harriet Brisley
Associate director, Morris+Company, United KingdomHarriet Brisley leads Morris+Company’s health and community sectors, bringing over a decade of experience across public and private healthcare, specialist housing and education projects. She is a committed advocate of the role architecture plays in delivering positive social and environmental impacts, championing wellbeing-driven design, maximising positive ESG outcomes, and promoting collaborative and inclusive stakeholder engagement. Harriet led the £20m Harold Moody Centre and Early Years Nursery, an exemplary integrated care hub at the heart of the Aylesbury Estate regeneration. Her wider portfolio includes senior living, care home and neighbourhood health centre projects. She is an active voice in the health design community, recently contributing to the NHS Property Roundtable for the Healthier NHS Developments Framework and presenting on primary care-led neighbourhood design at the Healthcare Estates Conference. Harriet also leads Morris+Company’s social value outreach programmes and POE process development.Regenerative neighbourhood health design: Harold Moody Health Centre
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Introduction: The Harold Moody Health Centre (HMHC) is conceived as an agile, future-ready civic building, placing resilience, renewal and regeneration at the heart of the Aylesbury Estate transformation – an area with high socio-economic deprivation in the London Borough of Southwark. Aligned with the NHS Ten-Year Plan, it embodies a people-centred, community-first approach to health and wellbeing, capable of evolving with the neighbourhood’s changing needs. Commissioned by Southwark Council and Notting Hill Genesis, HMHC advances the South-East London ICB’s mission to deliver equitable, long-term health outcomes.
Purpose: HMHC brings together multiple GP practices, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust community health services, staff facilities and an Early-Years Nursery across three-to-four floors. Developed alongside the adjacent North-Building – housing a library, play-and-stay and cafe – and new public realm, it forms an ecosystem of community uses. This integrated, place-based cluster strengthens local cohesion and identity, creating a wellbeing hub where synergy between functions supports the wider neighbourhood.
Method: The design process was guided by principles supporting long-term robustness in healthcare and early-years provision: co-locating compatible services to build operational resilience; fostering community connectedness; ensuring flexibility for future models of care; embedding cross-cultural clarity; and establishing strong urban relationships. Together, these elements create an environment able to respond to demographic shifts, evolving clinical practices and the area’s diverse cultural fabric. Given the building’s complexity, sustained collaboration with stakeholders was essential. A robust cycle of briefing ensured that design decisions reflected the real needs of varied user groups, strengthening operational resilience and fostering long-term ownership.
Results: User experience is enriched through barrier-free access, welcoming arrival sequence, and intuitive wayfinding. Abundant daylight, outward views and a durable palette of warm, natural materials shape a calm, healing atmosphere.
Staff wellbeing was considered in equal depth. The workplace supports agile working patterns through spaces for collaboration, social interaction and focused tasks, while considered adjacencies promote efficient, adaptable clinical workflows.
The Early-Years facility provides open-plan learning spaces linked to a large outdoor play-area, supporting the regenerative potential of early childhood development.
A new civic landmark, HMHC mediates between the scale of the masterplan and the finer grain of the local conservation area. Its sculptural form creates welcoming forecourts, sheltered niches and a generous rooftop play-space – public gestures that reinforce openness, accessibility and community stewardship. The building stands as a resilient anchor for the area’s ongoing regeneration of what was once the largest housing estates in Europe.Learning Objectives
- Importance of embedding health and wellbeing within planning policy
- Integrated healthcare: tackling the wider social determinants of health
- Importance of an ambitious brief and a client as project champion
14.45Panel discussion15.15 - 15.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking15.45 - 17.00Session 4- Hospital at home
Ben Bassin
Vice-president, innovation fellow, Blue Cottage of CannonDesign, USADr Ben Bassin is CannonDesign’s inaugural innovation fellow. His ambition lies in cultivating a robust innovation ecosystem and nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit that empowers individuals to translate their ideas into action. This transformative opportunity serves as a force multiplier, empowering the firm to dream expansively, act boldly, and ignite systemic and social change across healthcare. Ben brings over two decades of real-world experience as an emergency physician, healthcare futurist, serial entrepreneur and career innovator to inform CannonDesign’s process improvement and design strategies for health systems, both nationally and internationally. He supports the CannonDesign team while remaining an active physician and associate professor of emergency medicine at Michigan Medicine and the University of Michigan Medical School. Beyond his clinical expertise, he has been a catalyst for change within the healthcare landscape. Most notably, he has assumed important advisory positions, including chief medical officer, within various cutting-edge medical device startups that are revolutionising device development, critical care delivery, and healthcare optimisation. Dr Bassin has also contributed to innumerable process improvement and healthcare facility design efforts at Michigan Medicine and other health systems around the US. He is widely sought after as an international expert in healthcare design, emergency medicine and critical care delivery.15.45There is no place like home: The impact of the home environment on hospital-at-home models
Dara Rasoal
Senior researcher, Dalarna University, SwedenDr Dara Rasoal is a senior researcher at the School of Health and Welfare, Dalarna University. His primary research interests include clinical ethics within the healthcare sector and medical decision-making processes. Dr Rasoal has completed and published numerous research projects both in Sweden and internationally, exploring topics such as predictors and consequences of paid employment after retirement, moral distress among nursing personnel, and women's health and medical rights within healthcare. Additionally, his research addresses critical ethical issues related to women's health during the Covid-19 pandemic, elderly care, and caregiving ethics.
Nirit Pilosof
Head of research in innovation and transformation, Sheba Medical Center; Faculty member, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Associate, Cambridge Judd Business School, UKNirit Pilosof, PhD, is an architect and researcher exploring the intersection of healthcare, technology and architecture. She is a Faculty member at the Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, and an Associate of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS) at the University of Cambridge in the UK. She is also Head of research in healthcare transformation at Sheba Medical Center, a Fellow of Cambridge Digital Innovation (CDI) at the University of Cambridge, and the Executive Member of Israel at the International Union of Architects (UIA) Public Health Group. Dr Pilosof holds a PhD from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, a Post-Professional MArch from McGill University, and an Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) from the Center for Health Design in the USA. She gained experience in the design process of major medical facilities as a project manager at leading architecture firms in Israel and Canada and won international awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architects for Health Award, the American Hospital Association (AHA) graduate fellowship, the McGill graduate fellowship and the Azrieli Foundation fellowship.
Christian Wrede
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Twente, The NetherlandsDr Christian Wrede works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Interaction Design group of the University of Twente, Netherlands. As a psychologist and digital health specialist, he is interested in innovative solutions to support ageing in place, informal care, and community nursing. His doctoral research focused on the design and implementation of remote monitoring solutions to support home-based dementia care.
Jacob Glazer
Professor of Economics, Tel Aviv University and University of Warwick (UK), IsraelJacob (Kobi) Glazer is Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick (UK) and Emeritus at Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management. Kobi earned his PhD from Northwestern University in 1986. Since then, he has held several academic positions at Tel Aviv University, such as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Management, Head of the Kovens Institute for Health Systems Management, or the Issachar Haimovich Chair for Strategic Management. Kobi’s main research areas are health economics, industrial organization and game theory. He has led major research projects funded by, among others, the NIH, NIA, VA, the British Academy, and several Israeli research institutes. Kobi has also been a consultant for numerous healthcare organizations and startups in Israel and beyond.
Jodi Sturge
Assistant professor, University of Twente, The NetherlandsDr Jodi Sturge is an assistant professor with the Interaction Design (IxD) group in the Department of Design, Production and Management in the Faculty of Engineering Technology at the University of Twente. As a health geographer and design researcher, her research is both human-centred and spatially informed to design healthcare environments and systems that support positive health outcomes for a variety of populations.
Susanna Nordin
Senior lecturer, Dalarna University, SwedenDr Susanna Nordin is a registered nurse and senior lecturer at Dalarna University. She holds a PhD in medical science from Karolinska Institutet. Her main research interests involve the relationship between the design of the physical environment in healthcare settings and the wellbeing of older adults with frail health. Dr Nordin is also engaged in research focusing on contact with nature and outdoor stays for the older population.
Maya Kylén
Associate professor, Lund University, SwedenDr Maya Kylén is an associate professor in health science. Her research in environmental gerontology examines how the physical environment impacts ageing in place and wellbeing. She explores how indoor and outdoor spaces can be designed to support independence in older age. Her work also investigates economic and policy-related factors that incentivise or discourage relocation among older adults, providing insights that inform both urban planning and policy.There is no place like home: The impact of the home environment on hospital-at-home models
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Background: Hospital at Home (HaH) models have been developed worldwide to meet increasing healthcare demands, mitigate resource shortages, and improve patient experience. While many studies evaluate the safety and effectiveness of HaH, focusing on clinical, operational, and economic outcomes, the influence of the patient’s home environment is often neglected.
Purpose: This study aims to provide an overview of how HaH care models address the built, social, and technological characteristics of the home environment, and to identify gaps in planning optimal patient journeys for older adults between the hospital and home.
Methods: The study is part of the Ageing Right Care(fully) THCS-EU research project that explores and maps the care pathways between Ageing in Place and HaH for older adults in the Netherlands, Israel, and Sweden. The study includes an international survey on the development of HaH models, interviews with relevant stakeholders, and a review of reviews of scientific publications on HaH models. The collected data on the home environment in HaH models were analysed in relation to the social, technological, and built environments to identify themes and gaps in existing programmes.
Results: While evidence suggests that HaH can produce clinical outcomes comparable to, or better than, traditional inpatient care, by improving patient flow, lowering costs, and increasing patient satisfaction, the effectiveness of these programmes is heavily influenced by the home environment. Despite the clinical development of HaH models, the physical, social, and technological aspects of patients’ homes remain highly variable and are often under-explored in research and practice. Factors such as the architectural design of the home, caregiver availability, digital literacy, and connectivity can significantly affect the feasibility and quality of care. Furthermore, neglecting the role of the home environment risks worsening health inequalities, especially among vulnerable populations with limited resources or poor housing conditions.
Conclusions and implications: The study highlights the need for more context-aware models that address the diverse realities of patients’ homes. By examining the interplay between social, technological, and built environments, we identify critical gaps and propose directions for developing inclusive HaH models that promote equitable, person-centred care. The findings underscore the importance of integrating environmental considerations into the design, implementation, and evaluation of HaH programmes to ensure their effectiveness and accessibility across varied patient populations.
Learning Objectives
- The development of Hospital at Home models across various countries.
- The impact of the home environment on patient journeys between the hospital and the home.
- Implications of the home - built, social, and technological - environment on the design of HaH.
16.05Hospital to home rehabilitation
Jon Reeve
Director, Lexica, now WSP, United KingdomA transformation lead with whole-lifecycle experience of large digital transformation undertakings from conception to delivery, mostly across healthcare. Jon has worked in a wide range of NHS settings for more than 20 years always with the ambition of delivering positive change through digital. In recent years, Jon has specialised on supporting NHS Trusts will developing their new hospital digital plans as part of the New Hospital Programme (NHP). Digital is key to ensuring all aspects of the new hospitals enables staff to work easier and for patient’s care and experience to be optimised, and to this end, Jon and the team supports the development of robust digital planning that we will ultimately support this ambition.Hospital to home rehabilitation
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With an estimated yearly cost of £26 billion, stroke represents a significant burden to the UK healthcare system and is due to the long-term rehabilitation needed for stroke survivors. However, access to regular therapy is limited due to the approximately 120,000 cases of stroke that occur each year.
Therapists are key to promoting recovery, but they are under strain because of heavy caseloads. Patients may also experience difficulties with motivation following their discharge. To take a step-change in the delivery of post-stroke care, a pilot has been undertaken at Hillingdon Hospital, funded by the NHP’s Digital Innovation Fund, to provide remote stroke rehabilitation.
This project aims to reimagine stroke rehabilitation by integrating immersive virtual reality (VR) therapies into future-ready healthcare pathways. Delivered in partnership with Reneural Technologies, Hillingdon Hospital’s stroke team, and Brunel University of London, the project leverages co-design with stroke survivors, clinicians, IT specialists, and procurement leads. The goal is to create a scalable, remote dashboard for therapists to prescribe, monitor and review stroke rehabilitation. This will improve access, enhance patient engagement, and supports NHS service transformation.
Aims: These include:
• to co-create an evidence-based user interface for the clinician dashboard by incorporating therapist feedback through structured workshops, alongside input from IT and procurement, to refine layout, analytics, and usability;
• to inform health economic models for scalable adoption within the NHS; and
• to align with the NHP vision of tech-enabled, patient-centred care for future hospital design.
The outcome is a modular system offering a way to monitor remote VR therapies for upper-limb rehabilitation post-stroke. The benefit of this digital health innovation is that of bringing clinical expertise to the stroke survivors with reduced need to travel to hospital or community rehabilitation centre, therefore providing aided rehabilitation for more patients.
If we can feature this project at EHD 26, we will highlight the challenges the technology seeks to solve and will deliver a live demonstration, utilising the virtual reality equipment. We will also reveal the outcomes of the post-project economic appraisal (performed by Brunel University) to provide the real-world outcomes of the project. Ultimately, we will demonstrate how the shift of care from acute hospitals to the community can work.Learning Objectives
- Moving care from acute hospitals to the community is achievable
- The outcomes of the economic case will reveal the true benefits of the technology
- The benefits to staff (to treat) and patients (to recover) will be explained
16.25Telehealth as resilient care infrastructure: Environmental considerations for enhancing interaction quality
Farzane Omidi
Assistant teaching professor, Iowa State University, United StatesFarzane Omidi is an assistant teaching professor in the Interior Design programme at Iowa State University. She earned her PhD in Interior and Environmental Design from Texas Tech University and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture, along with a Master’s degree in Environmental Design with a focus on healthcare design. Her research examines how built environments influence human wellbeing, with particular emphasis on evidence-based design, sustainability, and the role of environmental factors in care delivery. She holds EDAC and LEED Green Associate credentials. With more than a decade of professional experience in architecture and engineering firms, she has contributed to a wide range of building design projects, integrating research-informed strategies into practice.
Debajyoti Pati
Professor and Rockwell Endowment Chair, Texas Tech University, United StatesDr Debajyoti Pati is a professor and Rockwell Endowment Chair in the Department of Design, Texas Tech University. He has published widely in the areas of health and healthcare design. He has been listed on the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2 per cent Scientists List and twice voted among the 25 most influential people in healthcare design in the US. He is currently serving on the editorial board of HERD journal, and on the International Advisory Board of the Swiss Center for Design and Health, among others. He is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.
Cameron C. Brown
Associate professor, Texas Tech University, United StatesDr Brown is a licensed marriage and family therapist with more than ten years of clinical experience. He is an associate professor in the Couple, Marriage, and Family Therapy programme at Texas Tech University, where his work focuses on the systemic intersections of behavioural, social, and physical health. His research includes areas such as health, attachment, ethics, power, and relational processes. In addition to his academic role, he is co-owner of Desert Sky Family Therapy, where he provides clinical services and supervises emerging mental health professionals.Telehealth as resilient care infrastructure: Environmental considerations for enhancing interaction quality
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During the Covid-19 pandemic, telehealth emerged as one of the most effective strategies for maintaining healthcare continuity. According to the World Health Organization, more than 60 per cent of countries rapidly adopted telehealth to sustain essential health services during the crisis (WHO, 2020), demonstrating its central role in strengthening global healthcare resilience during periods of disruption. However, despite its rapid expansion, there is limited understanding of which environmental design factors are relevant to interaction quality in telehealth, creating a critical gap in efforts to ensure resilient, high-quality virtual care.
Given the undeniable influence of technology and device type on telehealth communication, this study tested multiple technology configurations across preventive mental health and physical health consultations to identify which environmental design factors shape interaction quality. The research employed a multi-condition simulation conducted in controlled consultation rooms, involving licensed physicians, mental health specialists, and adult participants. Each pair engaged in wellness-focused consultations across several technology configurations, including a sophisticated OTTICA camera system paired with a large display, a Webcam+LCD configuration, and a laptop-only setup. Post-session interviews provided qualitative insights into how participants perceived various environmental design features as shaping interaction quality across modalities and care types.
Findings show that higher-fidelity modalities offered clearer nonverbal cues and greater perceived professionalism, yet environmental design factors remained influential across all device types. The OTTICA camera with an LCD display enhanced eye contact, visual detail, and emotional presence, but participants also reported heightened sensitivity to backgrounds, lighting direction, and privacy. The Webcam+LCD configuration provided a less immersive yet improved experience over the laptop, while environmental elements such as biophilic features, background noise, and room set-up continued to shape interaction quality. Laptop-based consultations were familiar and easy to use, yet limitations in screen height, visual scale, camera angle, furniture placement, and background visibility affected interaction quality. Across modalities, factors including lighting, camera and screen placement, acoustic clarity, privacy cues, and spatial arrangement significantly shaped perceptions of interaction quality and communication flow.
These results show that resilient telehealth infrastructure requires integrating technological capability with intentional environmental design. As virtual care expands, dedicated telehealth rooms, adaptable provider workstations, and mobile consultation hubs will need evidence-based environmental guidance. Supporting clear visual communication, minimising distractions, and maintaining emotional presence are essential for high-quality, resilient interaction. This study provides empirical insights that can guide the planning and optimisation of telehealth environments across evolving healthcare systems.
Learning Objectives
- Identify key environmental design factors that influence patient–provider interaction quality across different telehealth technologies.
- Apply evidence-based environmental considerations to the design of telehealth rooms, provider workstations, and mobile or temporary consultation hubs.
- Explore how varying telehealth technologies shape user perceptions of interaction quality.
16.45Panel discussionEnd of Population health stream -
Science, technology and digital transformation
Westminster Room
10.45 - 12.30Session 6- Digital transformation and AI
Tina Nolan
Managing director, Lexica, UKTina is a founding director of Lexica. She joined the new company in 2014 to establish a healthcare strategy + planning team bringing her 20 years’ experience in major health infrastructure projects in the UK and internationally. Prior to joining Lexica, Tina was a shareholder in a niche management consultancy, Healthcare Partnering, and before that she was partner lead for healthcare planning at EC Harris and a shareholder/director of RKW Healthcare Strategists for 12 years. An architect by background, Tina is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading healthcare planners. She leads the largest team of dedicated healthcare planners in the UK. As managing director, Tina leads the long-term strategic growth of the business in health and life sciences and ensures Lexica develops as a client-focused consultancy. Tina is also one of the founding directors of the Healthcare Planning Academy, which provides a professional development resource to practitioners to support the continuous improvement of industry standards.10.45Beyond bricks and bytes: How AI will transform hospital planning, design, and operations and why AI-ready infrastructure is essential for resilient care
Megan Angus
Senior vice-president, strategy and digital services, H.H. Angus & Associates, CanadaMegan Angus, RN, MBA, Lean, EDA is a registered nurse, healthcare strategist, and digital innovation leader whose work bridges clinical practice, technology, and capital redevelopment. As vice-president of strategy and digital services at Angus Connect, she brings close to 25 years of experience guiding hospitals through digital transformation, IMIT strategy, and the planning of next-generation care environments. Grounded in clinical insight and systems thinking, Megan specialises in translating emerging technologies – AI, virtual care, digital twins, and real-time sensing – into practical, compassionate, and sustainable models of care. She has led digital strategy and operational readiness planning for major acute, paediatric, mental health, and oncology projects across Canada, helping organisations design smart hospitals that anticipate patient needs and support frontline teams. With a background in Lean methodology and a strong foundation in evidence-based design principles, Megan is a sought-after speaker on AI-readiness, smart hospital planning, and the digital infrastructure required for resilient healthcare systems. She is deeply committed to shaping care environments that are agile, equitable, and profoundly human.
Daniel Tannous
Consulting lead, H.H. Angus & Associates, CanadaDaniel is an electrical engineer with over 15 years of experience specialising in information technologies, networking, and physical security systems. Throughout his career, he has supported organisations across multiple sectors in designing and implementing robust, standards-compliant network infrastructures. His extensive work as a consultant and designer for hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area has provided him with deep expertise in the healthcare sector. Through close collaboration with a wide range of industry stakeholders, Daniel has developed a strong understanding of the clinical and operational realities that shape healthcare environments. This insight has since enabled him to effectively translate complex operational needs into practical infrastructure solutions. Methodical and strategic in his approach, Daniel has developed a structured framework to help plan and design healthcare IT infrastructure that are capable of supporting the industry’s ongoing digital transformation initiatives.Beyond bricks and bytes: How AI will transform hospital planning, design, and operations and why AI-ready infrastructure is essential for resilient care
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As health systems across Europe confront rising acuity, chronic workforce shortages, climate pressures, and widening inequities in access, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a force capable of reshaping how care is delivered, co-ordinated, and experienced. Yet without intentional planning, most hospitals are not built to support the computing power, data integration, sensing environments, or adaptive workflows required for advanced AI capabilities. In the decade ahead, to be AI-ready is to be resilient: the ability of a hospital to learn, flex, regenerate capacity, and support its workforce depends fundamentally on the digital foundations laid during capital planning and design.
Co-presented by a frontline nurse visionary and a healthcare technology engineer, this paper explores five AI-driven capabilities anticipated to transform care models over the next 10-15 years, including early-warning clinical analytics, AI-supported triage and patient flow, intelligent workforce coordination, ambient clinical documentation, and precision diagnostics. Each is examined through a design enablement lens, highlighting implications for digital infrastructure, architectural planning, operational governance, interoperability, compute strategies (edge versus cloud), and clinical workflow transformation.
Findings from major hospital redevelopment projects and global exemplars show that designing AI-ready environments – including scalable data and integration platforms, sensor-enabled environments, digital twins and simulation, flexible telecommunications pathways, and resilient networks – strengthens organisational capacity across emergency, surgery, mental health, paediatrics, and ambulatory care. For patients, this translates into earlier detection, shorter waits, fewer handoffs, and more personalised care journeys. For clinicians, AI-readiness reduces cognitive burden, supports safer decision-making, and restores time for direct care. For organisations, it creates hospitals capable of absorbing surges, pivoting during crises, and evolving with emerging technologies.
AI-ready design reflects a commitment to the planning and infrastructure needed to support future care. It represents a design philosophy in which buildings and digital ecosystems work in harmony, enabling teams to deliver safer, more compassionate, and more equitable care. Grounded in practice-based evidence and interdisciplinary design methods, this paper presents a pragmatic roadmap for capital planning teams, architects, engineers, clinicians, and policymakers seeking to create hospitals that are agile, designed for long-term adaptability, and deeply patient-centred. In an era defined by uncertainty, AI-ready design becomes a practical anchor for resilience, renewal and regeneration.Learning Objectives
- Recognise how emerging AI capabilities can enhance patient experience, equity, and safety across Emergency, Surgery, Mental Health, Paediatrics, and Ambulatory Care.
- Evaluate capital design and digital-infrastructure strategies that enable hospitals to safely adopt and scale AI-enabled models of care.
- Apply future-focused planning principles to strengthen workforce resilience, improve care coordination, and build agile facilities capable of evolving with emerging technologies.
11.05How to plan what you can’t define: The digital hospital dilemma
Fiona Parker
Senior health advisory consultant, Currie and Brown, United KingdomFiona is an associate in Currie & Brown’s healthcare advisory team with over a decade of NHS clinical and healthcare project experience. Her experience spans service transformation, operations, and infrastructure projects across complex healthcare environments. She is passionate about innovation, improving health outcomes, and ensuring equitable access to healthcare services. Fiona brings strong clinical expertise and a deep understanding of hospital operations, patient flow, and care pathways. She has gained global health experience across Europe, Ireland, Australia, and the Middle East. Fiona is particularly focused on workforce transformation and designing digitally enabled hospitals that redefine future healthcare delivery.
Chris Bonnett
General manager – strategic projects & government growth initiatives, GE HealthCare, United KingdomChris is general manager of strategic projects and government growth initiatives at GE HealthCare. He is a globally experienced healthcare leader with over 20 years’ experience in international markets. Chris specialises in healthcare projects, funding, and development. He has led government affairs, partnerships, and implementation programmes across complex environments. Chris works with public- and private-sector organisations to deliver large-scale transformative healthcare programmes for ministries of health and government bodies.
Andrew Castle
Director, Currie & Brown, UKAndrew Castle is a director in Currie & Brown’s Healthcare Advisory team, with a background in healthcare strategy and operations. He has over 20 years of international experience across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Andrew specialises in designing and delivering complex strategic change programmes. He has particular expertise in healthcare planning, facility development, and clinical strategy across primary, secondary, tertiary, and mental health settings. He has held senior roles, including programme manager at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. Andrew has also held consulting roles with the NHS and the Health Holding Company in Saudi Arabia. In addition to his professional work, he is a published author on Lean in healthcare and a former Health Service Journal columnist.
Kathryn Foskett
Head of partnerships and solutions, Northern Europe, GE HealthCare, UKKathryn is head of partnerships and solutions, Northern Europe, for GE HealthCare. She has led strategic partnerships, government engagement, and large-scale transformation across the NHS, the UK, Ireland, and Northern Europe. Kathryn provides leadership at the intersection of policy, clinical pathways, and technology. She focuses on delivering sustainable system change, modernised diagnostics, and improved operational performance. She is recognised for shaping high-value alliances and accelerating early intervention models across complex health systems. Kathryn delivers board-level insight, cross-sector co-ordination, and forward-looking strategies. Her work improves patient outcomes, enhances efficiency, and strengthens the resilience of health systems.How to plan what you can’t define: The digital hospital dilemma
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Introduction:
– What defines a ‘digitally enabled’ hospital, and what scope of ‘digital’ is relevant for planning and design?
– Does planning fail to integrate the systems and data to optimise the interface between clinical and infrastructure operations, leaving us with abundant data but no framework to make it actionable?
– How do we plan for a future in which optimising both workforce and infrastructure efficiency becomes an operational imperative?
– With digital lifecycles delivered in 3-5 years and hospitals in 5-10, how do we align these timelines and reconcile agile with waterfall delivery?
– If we cannot clearly define what a digital hospital is, how can we plan one?
A workforce-centred approach to digital planning: A holistic approach must underpin digital design and healthcare planning; integrated digital hospitals can reduce cognitive load, automate manual tasks, and use data to anticipate workload pressures before they escalate. Digital literacy varies widely and there is no agreed scope for what “digital” should encompass, leading to inconsistent implementation. A cohesive ecosystem therefore requires user-friendly interfaces, role-specific usability, and embedded training, supported by digital expertise that bridges clinical and operational workflows. Too often, digital programmes are delivered to the workforce after completion rather than co-designed with planners and digital partners who can help define digital scope. At the same time, clinical, operational and environmental data remain fragmented. A truly integrated digital hospital must bring these streams together into coherent, intuitive platforms that simplify work, enhance safety and support sustainable practice, guided by a framework and digital infrastructure embedded from the outset.
Evidence-based digital solutions for the workforce: Designing to align clinical practice, technology, and infrastructure to create evidence-based solutions is critical; moving away from augmenting routine tasks with digital infrastructure to embedding them as the basis on which planning develops. Without this approach, it’s not possible to know how digitally flexible our facilities are, or which innovations remain unrealised simply because the architecture has not been designed to enable them.
Conclusion: Hospitals designed today must be capable of supporting the digital realities of tomorrow. This demands a planning approach that unites clinicians, non-clinical staff, architects, planners and digital specialists, whose technology horizons shape future clinical practice. When these perspectives converge, we create hospitals that anticipate need, adapt with intelligence, and sustain the workforce at their core. Without this alignment, digital ambition will remain fragmented; with it, hospitals can become environments that learn, support and evolve.Learning Objectives
- To consider what defines a digital hospital?
- To examine how the workforce can make informed decisions with early engagement in planning with digital specialists; data teams, clinical teams, non-clinical and designers working collaboratively from concept design and planning.
- To consider the application of a framework that defines the relationship between the “digital hospital” (what is included/excluded, currently known/the future unknown digital technologies) and the design team and their inter-relationships
11.25Data-driven sustainable hospital design
Savina Taouki
Smart building advisor, Deerns, The NetherlandsSavina Taouki is a smart building advisor at Deerns in The Hague, specialising in digital strategies for hospitals to create sustainable, future-proof facilities. Originally from Greece, she holds a Master’s in Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens and a Master’s in Building Technology from TU Delft. With a strong background in architecture and building technology, Savina helps healthcare organisations navigate the complexity of digitalisation. She facilitates interactive workshops with hospital stakeholders to define smart ambitions and co-create solutions, and she is involved in projects through the full lifecycle, from strategic planning and functional design to implementation and delivery.
Eduard Boonstra
Sector director, healthcare, Deerns, The NetherlandsEduard has extensive experience in design, project management, and strategic consulting within the healthcare sector. His focus is on delivering added value for the client, understanding the diverse needs of customers and stakeholders, and fostering connections between project partners. In his role as project director, he is strongly motivated to deliver successful projects for clients and involved partners, while introducing new, innovative ideas and insights. In addition to his project work as a strategic advisor, Eduard serves as international sector director within the Deerns Group and is actively engaged in innovations related to sustainability and smart hospital building.
Paul Grotens
Programme manager – construction projects, Project Office at Radboudumc, Radboud UMC, The NetherlandsAs programme manager for construction projects at Radboudumc, Paul played a crucial role in the design and delivery of the Radboud project. He is also Deerns’ main contact for discussing data and lessons learned from the design now operating in reality. Paul will be presenting with us, and we aim to involve other parties who contributed to the design and construction of Radboudumc.Data-driven sustainable hospital design
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Healthcare environments face growing challenges driven by digital transformation, staff shortages, and strict sustainability targets. To create future-proof facilities, hospitals must adopt holistic strategies that combine digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), and environmental responsibility. This paper explores how data-driven design enables smart and sustainable hospitals that enhance operational efficiency, user wellbeing, and environmental performance.
Data-driven design means decisions are informed by measurable insights. Real-time occupancy data, for example, can guide climate control, lighting, and space allocation according to actual demand. These evidence-based strategies transform hospitals into adaptive ecosystems, enhancing resilience and operational efficiency.
At Deerns, our approach goes beyond “green” or “smart” concepts. It offers an integrated framework built on six principles: patient centricity, employee wellbeing, healthcare outcomes, cost efficiency, sustainability, and smart innovation. Technology and digital transformation are central to this approach. Adopting digital health, AI, personalised medicine, and smart hospital systems helps in reducing errors, streamlining workflows, and optimising energy use. These innovations improve patient experience and staff efficiency.
This approach also prioritises climate-smart healthcare by embedding circular economy principles and net-zero strategies into infrastructure and services. Hospitals applying this model use renewable energy, optimise water consumption, and reduce waste, aligning care delivery with sustainability goals while lowering operational costs.
The Radboud UMC project offers a great example of a data-driven sustainable hospital design. Completed in 2021, the 42,000m² facility earned BREEAM-NL Excellent design and in-use certifications and won the European Healthcare Design Award 2023. Deerns delivered integrated MEP systems, lighting, smart hospital solutions, and logistics consultancy within a fully integrated BIM model. The smart design part focused on meeting diverse patient needs, supported a new nursing model, and created healing spaces. Integrated smart technologies focused on reducing energy consumption and optimising staff and patient wellbeing.
Designing sustainable hospitals requires synergy between digital innovation and smart strategies. Our experience demonstrates that embedding data-driven evaluation into the design cycle brings continuous improvement and resilience. Lessons learned from Radboud and other projects inform future projects, emphasising the need for adaptable infrastructures, integrated data ecosystems, and collaborative design processes.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the importance of data-driven design in healthcare facilities
- Explore holistic strategies for future-proof hospitals
- Learn from real experience and proven best practices of the Radboud UMC project and the involved partners in the design and construction
11.45Enhancing intelligent hospital infrastructure: AI-enabled smart building capabilities
John Naylor
Senior researcher, Ryder Architecture, United KingdomJohn joined Ryder in 2024. He gained his diploma at the Architectural Association in 2013, winning the Foster + Partners' Prize for Sustainable Infrastructure. He has experience on complex projects in the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Haiti, such as the Qingdao Eden Project. His interest lies in developing wider use of bio-based materials in construction in lower- and middle-income countries. In 2014, he set up the bamboo Visiting School programme at the Architectural Association, which he now co leads as the AA-ITB BambooLab. He is studying a PhD in Engineering at Newcastle University, and in 2022, he was named one of the RIBA Rising Stars.
Melanie Robson
Associate, Okana Global, United KingdomMelanie specialises in digital information management and leads Okana’s strategic advisory service. Driven by the need for cultural change throughout the built environment, she works closely with clients to unlock operational efficiencies within their organisation and achieve transformative outcomes across their estate. Melanie is an award winning thought leader and regional lead for Women in Building Information Modelling (BIM).Enhancing intelligent hospital infrastructure: AI-enabled smart building capabilities
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With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), hospitals can take advantage of emerging technologies that have the potential to transform the efficiency, adaptability and humanity of healthcare environments. As part of the New Hospital Programme’s (NHP) Intelligent Hospital framework, Okana has undertaken a comprehensive gap analysis examining the sector’s readiness for AI-enabled smart building adoption as one of the NHP’s Intelligent Hospital Capabilities (IHC). This analysis identified fragmented IoT and Building Management System (BMS) architectures, inconsistent data quality and limited organisational pathways for operational AI deployment. Complementing this, Ryder brings many years of experience delivering healthcare projects across a wide range of typologies, providing critical insight into real world operational constraints, user needs, and the implications of digital transformation on clinical and support environments.
Building on these insights, a collaborative research project has been established with computer science students from Northumbria University, offering a perspective distinct from traditional architectural or engineering approaches. Project goals aimed to explore how AI can enhance smart building capabilities in areas such as predictive maintenance, energy optimisation and environmental monitoring, while ensuring that technological advancements ultimately strengthen human-centred care outcomes.
A mixed methods approach was adopted, including literature and technology landscape reviews. The students developed prototype analytical models and conceptual frameworks to test how AI might add value in specific operational scenarios based on NHS trust identified use cases. Their outputs, spanning landscape reviews, requirements specifications, evaluation reports and final presentations were shaped by the Okana gap analysis findings on integration challenges, data quality issues, and the importance of maintaining human centred considerations in increasingly digitised hospital environments.
Findings across the groups demonstrate that AI can significantly enhance the efficiency, responsiveness and resilience of smart hospital operations. Predictive analytics can improve asset reliability; machine learning approaches can identify new energy-saving opportunities, AI-enabled environmental monitoring can directly support safer and more comfortable clinical environments, and AI-driven scheduling tools can optimise the co-ordination of facilities, maintenance tasks and wider operational workflows. AI has strong potential to improve patient flow through hospitals by enabling more accurate forecasting of demand, dynamic allocation of spaces and resources, digital wayfinding, and smoother transitions between clinical and non clinical areas.
These findings reinforce the earlier gap analysis by emphasising the need for robust data infrastructure, strong system connectivity and clear governance, alongside a sustained focus on human-centred care.Learning Objectives
- The opportunities for AI in hospital design
- Understanding emergent technologies within hospital design
- Safeguarding the benefits of human centred design
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 13.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking13.45 - 15.15Session 7- Smart hospitals and robotics
Victoria Head
Chief executive officer, Archus, UKAs Chief executive officer, Victoria is responsible for the financial performance of the business and leading the ongoing improvement and integration of Archus services to ensure consistency, innovation, sustainability and quality across its growing number of UK, Irish and International offices. She also supports projects within Archus's programme and project management service, which includes working across all stages of the project lifecycle to advise clients on how projects should progress to deliver successful outcomes – all while keeping the environment fun and interactive so that everyone has a chance to have their voice heard.13.45Joining the dots: Achieving a smart hospital with integrated systems
Kevin Higgins
VP, product management, Austco Healthcare, United StatesKevin wears many hats within healthcare technology. Among them, he works with clinical teams to uncover needs and opportunities, and with the engineering team to bring products to life. He is a regular speaker and global product evangelist.
Peter Ball
Head of business development, Austco Healthcare UK, United KingdomPeter has over 40 years’ experience working with client teams throughout Europe, Middle East, Far East and the UK in the design and delivery of advanced hospital communications systems for acute hospitals.Joining the dots: Achieving a smart hospital with integrated systems
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Much is said about the considerable challenge of physically constructing hospitals. But what of operating them? What of the clinical and building systems that determine success, day after day?
A smart hospital is greater than the sum of its systems. It is the result of a thoughtful selection of hardware and, especially, software systems, and the effective integration of those systems to achieve something that none can accomplish alone. All systems generate data, but how is that data converted into information that supports the delivery of consistently good outcomes for the hospital and moreover for patients?
Standing in the way are outdated processes. The specification process is like nailing jelly to the wall, attempting to set in stone what everyone knows will change by next week. Ticking all the supplier boxes does not guarantee success, nor does it achieve digital transformation. The commissioning process likewise enshrines workflows and creates roadblocks to continuous improvement.
In this environment, what should an individual hospital do? How can they navigate the ever-shifting landscape of systems and capabilities? Everyone understands digital transformation at the conceptual level, but what does it look like to “join the dots” in practice?
1. The first step is identifying the desired outcomes. Both greenfield “in a perfect world” outcomes, as well as solutions to here and now problem areas. Once documented, these outcomes become measurable.
2. This list of ideal outcomes is the vision all suppliers must then strive to achieve; supplier selection is made with these requirements in mind.
3. Once implemented, these outcomes can be adapted and improved. This is critical to success – we cannot hope to get it right first time, nor can we live with an imperfect implementation forever after.
To scale these ideas, we must define “interoperability” in a way that keeps pace with the rapid change of digital systems. This is required whether we are discussing a not-yet-built hospital or one that has been operating for years. It is easy to say, “In the future, all will be perfect. The holy grail will doubtless be found.” That thinking removes the pressure to make hard decisions and act today. We must not fall into that trap – smart hospitals are achievable now.
If done correctly, the benefits to patients, operational staff, and hospital administration are clear. A smart hospital need not be just an aspiration.Learning Objectives
- What are the value-added outcomes – for patients, for staff, for hospital administrators – of properly integrated systems?
- How do we evaluate system vendors for their capacity to contribute to a smart hospital?
- How do we benchmark the agility and resilience of integrated digital systems to ensure they remain adaptable and aligned with the pace of change in care delivery?
14.05Quiet hospitals, smarter care
Taja Quigley
Partner, SmartCo Future Health, United KingdomTaja Quigley is a partner at SCFH and a recognised leader in shaping the next generation of digitally enabled health systems. She works with healthcare organisations and public-sector leaders across the UK and Europe to design hospitals that are technologically advanced and fundamentally reimagined around data, connectivity and human experience. Her work focuses on the intelligent integration of infrastructure, digital platforms and clinical pathways, creating environments where technology strengthens decision-making, improves productivity, and enhances patient outcomes at scale. She is particularly interested in how smart design can enable resilience, sustainability and workforce transformation within increasingly complex health systems. Bridging strategy and implementation, Taja supports leaders to move beyond incremental change towards future-ready models of care. She is known for her systems thinking and her ability to unite policy, clinical and digital perspectives to shape hospitals fit for the decades ahead.
Henry Darch
Client engagement manager, Smartco Future Health, United KingdomHenry Darch is a client engagement manager at SCFH, working at the forefront of collaboration between healthcare organisations, industry partners and delivery teams to support the development of smarter, digitally enabled hospitals. He specialises in building trusted partnerships that help translate strategic ambition into co-ordinated action across complex health systems. Henry works closely with NHS leaders and stakeholders to align innovation, service transformation and organisational priorities, ensuring that programmes are shaped around real operational and clinical needs. His work focuses on enabling meaningful engagement between technology, infrastructure and people, supporting the successful adoption of intelligent design principles within healthcare environments. With a strong focus on collaboration and outcomes, Henry helps organisations navigate change with clarity and confidence, contributing to the delivery of future-ready healthcare spaces that improve experience, efficiency and long-term system resilience.Quiet hospitals, smarter care
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SmartCo Future Health advocates for a new generation of hospital environments where intelligent design and digital innovation come together to support calmer, safer and more compassionate patient care. As healthcare systems face rising pressures such as staff shortages, increasing complexity and higher expectations, we have a crucial window of opportunity to challenge the status quo. This moment allows us to redesign what hospitals can and should be: places that actively enable healing rather than simply accommodate illness.
Noise is one of the most overlooked barriers to high-quality care. Excessive sound disrupts sleep, increases anxiety and slows recovery for both patients and staff. The quiet hospital concept recognises that sound is not a minor detail but a core determinant of wellbeing and safety. By learning from other countries, we have seen first-hand the impact that quieter clinical environments can have on patient recovery and staff wellbeing. We have looked to Norway for inspiration and have also carried out a trial in the United Kingdom, which has shown measurable improvements in creating calmer and more supportive environments for patients. Early findings indicate improved patient rest and a reduction in the average length of stay.
Our insights are informed by comparative analysis of international smart hospital models, direct collaboration with design and clinical teams, and early findings from UK-based pilot implementations.
Smart design sits at the centre of this transformation. Digital task management tools, silent alerts, real-time location tracking, and patient-centred technology reduce unnecessary movement and interruptions so staff can spend more time with patients. With fewer distractions, patients benefit from more focused, personalised and compassionate care.
Redesigning hospitals in this way also requires us to question long-held assumptions about physical layout. Decentralised work zones positioned closer to patient rooms help to minimise corridor traffic and prevent the noise generated by large central hubs. Acoustic wall panels, sound-absorbing flooring and soft finishes help maintain a peaceful atmosphere. These elements are strengthened further by biophilic design such as natural light, calming colours and access to nature, all of which reduce stress and support emotional comfort.
This shift is far more than an aesthetic improvement. It represents a systems-level redesign of how hospitals function. Quiet hospitals create environments in which patients feel safe, regain a sense of control and experience deeper rest. Staff benefit from reduced cognitive load, better concentration and a calmer working environment.
SmartCo Future Health believes that the opportunity before us is significant. As new hospitals are planned and existing buildings are modernised, choices made now will shape patient care for decades. Quiet hospitals are not an aspiration but an achievable standard. By acting in this window of opportunity, we can redefine the hospital experience and create spaces where healing is supported at every level.
Learning Objectives
- Review practical approaches to implementing quieter care models based on international learnings and UK based pilots.
- Examine how smart infrastructure and digital technologies contribute to smarter, quieter and more efficient hospital operations.
- Identify key considerations for embedding quiet hospital principles into future healthcare planning and design.
14.25Hospitals for robots
Jonathan Hasson
Project architect, HDR, United KingdomJonathan is a project architect with significant UK healthcare experience for both public and private clients. Jonathan is highly experienced in leading the complex design and delivery of healthcare projects; in particular, his project architect roles on NHP Hospital 2.0, Airedale District General Hospital, and Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. He is proficient at working on BIM Level 2 projects and has an in-depth understanding of the co-ordination of construction information across multidisciplinary teams with a focus on compliance, fire safety, emerging technologies, and user experience.
Michael Street
Senior principal, HDR, United StatesWith over 25 years of experience, Michael has been instrumental in the design of numerous healthcare facilities. His healthcare experience encompasses a broad spectrum of domestic and international projects in both the ambulatory and acute care environments, as well as comprehensive facility masterplanning. He also has extensive experience using contemporary computer technology to communicate design ideas, which simplifies decision-making, expedites project development, and provides continuous visual quality assurance throughout the project. With a focus on designing surgical, interventional, imaging and other procedural centres, Michael has developed an interest in how architecture can enhance infection control measures and how, in health facility design, form follows flow.Hospitals for robots
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As hospitals confront rising demand and workforce pressures, HDR has been leading the integration of robotic technologies as a critical driver of clinical, operational and design resilience.
This presentation introduces the latest healthcare robotic technologies used in surgery, logistics, disinfection, and patient support.
We will outline the key benefits and challenges of robotic adoption, including cost and return on investment, safety, training, ethics, and required infrastructure. The presentation will then examine how these technologies influence architectural design, from circulation and spatial planning to vertical transport, building-systems integration, and next-generation surgical environments.
Through case studies, including Humber River Hospital and Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center University Hospital, we will illustrate practical applications and lessons learned.
The session concludes with a future outlook on the integration of robotics in NHP Hospital 2.0, and recommendations for organisations preparing for robotics-enabled healthcare.Learning Objectives
- Describe key healthcare robotics technologies and assess their benefits, challenges, and operational requirements.
- Explain how robotics adoption impacts hospital planning, spatial design, and building-systems integration.
- Apply lessons from HDR case studies to formulate recommendations for organisations preparing for robotics-enabled healthcare.
14.45Panel discussion15.15 - 15.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking15.45 - 17.00Session 8- The digital future of NHS Hospitals
Sarah Thomas
Digital director, New Hospital Programme, UK15.45Digital transformation and data-enabled design: The digital future of NHS hospitals – clinical digital integration and how digital design choices support resilient hospital operations
Eamonn Gorman
Head of clinical informatics, New Hospital Programme, NHS England, UK
Ben Raybould
Digital lead, New Hospital Programme, UKDigital transformation and data-enabled design: The digital future of NHS hospitals – clinical digital integration and how digital design choices support resilient hospital operations
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Digital transformation is fundamental to the New Hospital Programme’s success and will enable hospitals to provide improved patient-centred personalised care. This session will demonstrate the New Hospital Programme’s progress and its immediate and long-term plans to enhance digital transformation across new hospitals in England, and key areas of focus on how digital interventions positively impact the patient and staff experience.
The session will cover:
• how digital interventions across NHP schemes will support patient pathways;
• how smart buildings, IoT, AI-driven automation, and real-time data analytics will optimise clinical pathways; and
• NHP’s intention to support and enhance digital-first patient journeys, from automated check-ins, AI-supported diagnostics, and predictive bed management – recognising and optimising the critical role that smart buildings will play in ensuring a sustainable healthcare estate for the future.
The NHP Digital team will demonstrate how learning from other digital health programmes and an evidence-based approach will support successful integration into the schemes that form the New Hospital Programme.End of Science, technology and digital transformation stream -
Climate-smart healthcare
St James Room
10.45 - 12.30Session 9- Reuse, retrofit and net zeroSunand Prasad OBE PPRIBA
Programme director, European Healthcare Design; Principal, Perkins&Will, UKSunand Prasad is a principal at Perkins&Will. While designing across several sectors, he has been consistently engaged in healthcare and sustainability for four decades. At the core of his architectural practice, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration, Sunand holds a passionate belief that expertise and aesthetic judgement are most effective in creating truly successful environments when they are catalysed by the everyday experience of people. Sunand has been active in the wider built environment industry, particularly championing low-carbon, regenerative design, and until recently, as chair of the UK Green Building Council. He was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009, campaigning for action on climate change. He was founding member of the UK Government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; a London Mayor’s design advocate; a trustee of the Centre for Cities; and Chair of the trustees of Article 25, the humanitarian architecture charity. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architecture and the External Advisory Board of TRUUD, a major research project on the fundamental links between health and urban development. He has written widely on architecture, sustainability and healthcare design, such as the book 'Changing Hospital Architecture'.10.45The methodology in creating the UK’s first building approved under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard
Gareth Banks
Head of healthcare and director, AHR, United KingdomHead of healthcare and director at AHR, Gareth Banks is an experienced architect having designed and delivered a number of innovative healthcare projects, which have transformed communities – including the ‘Hospitals Transformation Programme’ in Shrewsbury, and the large, state-of-the-art Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. He is currently working on the NHP programme. As head of healthcare, he is dedicated to delivering intelligent, future-proof healthcare spaces, which prioritise the health and wellbeing of patients and staff and are built to last. An example of this is the UK’s first building approved under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, the Countess of Chester Hospital Women and Children’s Building. With experience both in the UK and internationally, Gareth is an advocate for sharing knowledge to advance patient care and is also secretary of Architects for Health.
Kit Knowles
Sustainability consultant, Ecospheric, United KingdomKit Knowles is Director of Ecospheric, an award-winning Passivhaus design and low-energy consultancy specialising in complex net zero projects. He served as NHS Net Zero Carbon Coordinator for the Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Building, the first hospital in England to achieve the NHS Net Zero Building Standard. In this role, Kit led sustainability strategy and compliance, coordinating the design team to meet rigorous targets for embodied carbon, operational energy, and whole-life carbon. The project achieved a 220MWh reduction in energy demand, delivered 25% lower upfront carbon than required, and is fully gas-free, powered by heat pumps and renewable electricity. Kit’s work bridges energy consultancy, academic research, and sustainable property development to deliver evidence-based decarbonisation strategies. He has co-authored research on heritage retrofit with the University of Liverpool and holds leadership roles as Chair and acting executive of the Association for Environment Conscious Building and Trustee of the Passivhaus Trust.
Jonathan Grice
Head of building services, Integrated Health Projects, United KingdomJonathan Grice is head of building services at Integrated Health Projects. He has more than 20 years of experience in the building services industry, having worked in both principal contractor and subcontractor capacities, in a variety of roles. He has a keen focus on sustainable practices through design and delivery of the works.James Taylor
Design manager, Integrated Health Projects, United KingdomJames Taylor is design manager at Integrated Health Projects.
Peter Dodd
Project director, Integrated Health Projects, United KingdomPeter Dodd is a highly respected IHP Project Director with over 25 years’ industry experience. Peter is a Chartered Civil Engineer who specialises in complex healthcare projects. He is known for how he delivers as much as what he delivers, building genuine, trusting relationships with Trust directors, clinical users, supply chain partners and neighbouring communities to support collaboration and strong outcomes. Peter played a leading role in the Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Hospital, the first completed NHS Net Zero Building in England. His relationship driven leadership guided a fast paced programme and aligned clinicians, estates teams and partners with clarity. Under his direction, the project achieved significant carbon reductions and created a fully electric, future ready clinical environment enabled through airtightness, high performance heat recovery and low carbon materials. He also brings insight from delivering The Christie Paterson Redevelopment, one of the most complex research facilities in the country.Matthew Groome
Regional associate director, CCL Solutions, United KingdomMatthew Groome is regional associate director at CCL Solutions.
Adam Hope
Associate director of estates and facilities, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United KingdomAdam Hope is Associate Director of Estates, Facilities and Capital Development at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He leads strategic estate planning, capital programme oversight and sustainability across complex acute healthcare environments. Joining the Women’s and Children’s Hospital programme during the delivery phase, Adam provided executive leadership and assurance to secure NHS Net Zero Building Standard Certification and ensure sustainability targets were realised in practice. His work centres on strengthening governance, aligning infrastructure with clinical need, and driving long-term environmental performance across healthcare estates.Ben Riddle
Technical Director, Ecospheric, United KingdomBen Riddle, Technical Director, EcosphericThe methodology in creating the UK’s first building approved under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard
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Background: The ageing Countess of Chester Hospital (COCH) Women and Children’s Building didn’t meet care or size standards and used RAAC throughout. The COCH NHS Foundation Trust identified the need for a replacement and a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) was submitted. Through evaluating the SOC, an appropriate site was selected, considering size, constraints and surroundings, delivering a compact, sensitive solution addressing these constraints. It is the UK’s first building approved under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard.
Framework: A replacement was required following an NHS directive for RAAC removal from the public estate by 2035, and the Trust’s requirement to use the NHS Net Zero Building Standard. Reduced funding and the need to spend the award by the end of 2024 created additional challenges. Bringing the contractor on early in the design process and participating in user meetings and workshops directly influenced visualisation options with dynamic cost updates. Timely evaluations led to refined schemes and funding applications. Delivery was via a zone-by-zone construction method – completing sections in sequence, the process was accelerated, and value was maximised without compromising quality.
Practical application: Interventions utilised to achieve net-zero carbon accreditation, in operation and construction, included:
• low-carbon concrete for piling and foundations reduced embodied carbon;
• a post-tensioned frame and slab system required fewer materials;
• locally supplied materials where possible reduced emissions;
• fully electric in operation;
• air-source heat pumps provide efficient heating and cooling;
• photovoltaic panels generate renewable energy on-site;
• a smart lighting system minimises energy use;
• triple-glazed windows improve thermal performance;
• a controlled ventilation system maintains a consistent environment;
• an air tightness rating of 2.4 reduces heat loss; and
• a digital control system tracks energy use and carbon emissions in real time.
A new role, the net-zero carbon coordinator, oversaw energy and carbon decisions throughout the design and construction process, and this is now a model for future NHS projects.
Outcomes: Initial results included: 25-per-cent lower upfront carbon than required under the Standard; 220 MWh annual energy savings; and achieving BREEAM Excellent.
Monitoring is continuing and a full post-occupancy evaluation (POE) will be undertaken with the Trust. After six months in operation, anticipated energy use and embodied-carbon data are expected to surpass initial targets. This will inform future design and be presented at the Congress.
Implications: Following POE, ongoing optimisations to energy use and embodied carbon can be made. Data will inform operations, minimising environmental impact and reducing running costs. Lessons learned will inform the delivery and operations of future net-zero carbon healthcare buildings.Learning Objectives
- What interventions are effective in creating a net zero carbon in operation hospital?
- How did we evaluate the SOC to address existing site constraints?
- How zone-by-zone construction can accelerate project delivery, while maximising value without compromising quality.
11.05Towards South Africa’s first net-zero hospital
Karl-Robert Gloeck
Chief architect, Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, South AfricaKarl-Robert Gloeck is a chief architect in the Chief Directorate Health Infrastructure of the Western Cape Government Department of Infrastructure, with a focus on implementing resilient, sustainable, and socially responsive public healthcare facilities in a South African context. His current role as project leader sees him manage healthcare projects of varying complexity from satellite clinics along the rural West Coast Winelands areas to a large regional hospital in the Cape Town Metropol. As a Green Building Council of South Africa Accredited Professional (new builds, existing building performance and net zero), he also led a small internal team to certify existing buildings in the Department’s portfolio, including the first ever four-star rated public building on the Existing Building Performance tool. His work aims to support long-term public-sector transformation by delivering facilities that balance environmental performance, operational practicality, and user-centred design. He lives in Cape Town.Towards South Africa’s first net-zero hospital
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Framework: In South Africa, the healthcare sector contributes 2.5 per cent of national emissions, making climate-responsive infrastructure essential. The Western Cape Government has prioritised achieving an unprecedented net-zero status for two new regional hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa planned under its 2030 Healthcare Strategic Plan. To support this, the province is engaging with European partners to develop a scalable context-specific approach to catalyse sustainable healthcare infrastructure across Southern Africa.
Practical application: With the first project – a new 600-bed regional hospital – now undergoing concept design approval, this paper outlines how the net-zero goal is being advanced through passive measures (including optimised orientation and passive ventilation), active systems (e.g., heat recovery; variable ventilation), and on-site renewables, including a proposed 2.3 MWp rooftop solar PV installation. Off-site renewables are planned as the final step, with partnerships being explored to support this pioneering ambition.
Outcomes: Public healthcare infrastructure cannot depend on costly, complex systems, making it essential to balance innovative sustainability solutions with the current maintenance capacity. During concept development, a key challenge was ensuring sustainability measures would not compromise critical healthcare service delivery. Because the project represents a major investment that cannot feasibly be delivered in a single phase, the design incorporates a phased construction strategy that ensures undisrupted clinical spaces during future phases. The design also had to respond to its context: a low-income residential area with extreme levels of gang activity. Safety for staff, patients and visitors is carefully addressed through placement of controlled access points and contained, defined circulation routes.
To meet these combined priorities, the courtyard-module concept became the core design approach. It maximises daylight in clinical areas, allows flexible future expansion, strengthens connections to landscaped pockets, and incorporates decentralised plant rooms that reduce operational costs and maintenance demands. These modules can also be easily secured, enhancing safety while ensuring clinical efficiency remains uncompromised.
Implications: The design, which prioritises net-zero outcomes, security, and affordability, has the potential to influence healthcare infrastructure implementation across the country and wider Southern African region and offers further opportunity for replication in smaller-scale healthcare sector projects. By demonstrating agility and embedding sustainable thinking into the design process, the project signals a shift in approach; showing how net-zero principles can be successfully integrated into healthcare infrastructure without compromising clinical functionality and other critical priorities.Learning Objectives
- Net Zero public healtcare infrastrcuture
- Intergovernmental partnership development
- Social Responsibile Design
11.25Reducing carbon footprint via adaptive reuse: The award-winning project in Skåne Univesity Hospital
Cristiana Caira
Architect, White Arkitekter, SwedenCristiana Caira MArch, is partner and board director at White Arkitekter, artistic professor of healthcare architecture at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, member of the Board at the European Health Property Network, and member of the programme committee for the European Healthcare Design Congress. Cristiana has 25 years of experience in planning complex healthcare environments in Scandinavia and internationally. Focused on increasing collaboration between practice, research and education, Cristiana has led major White Arkitekter healthcare projects, including the award-winning Södra Älvsborg Hospital Psychiatric Clinic, the Queen Silvia Children Hospital in Gothenburg, and a large-scale extension of Karlstad Hospital. Her latest international project is the award-winning extension for the Panzi Hospital in Congo, in collaboration with the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege. Cristiana is currently healthcare design lead architect within the expert international team appointed to design Cambridge Children’s Hospital.
Jens Axelsson
Architect, White Arkitekter, SwedenJens Axelsson is an architect and employed at White Arkitekter in Gothenburg since 2015. Jens works with healthcare projects from early stages to project planning, in Sweden and abroad. He is responsible for White's internal network for healthcare architecture and a board member of the Swedish organization Forum Vårdbyggnad (Swedish Healthcare Facilities Network). Jens teaches at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, dept. of architecture, as a guest teacher, at master's and bachelor's level.Reducing carbon footprint via adaptive reuse: The award-winning project in Skåne Univesity Hospital
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Reusing existing buildings within hospital campuses, particularly for low-to-middle technology healthcare services, is a crucial strategy for reducing the carbon footprint of healthcare. This approach offers sustainability advantages over new construction by minimising environmental impact from materials, transport and building processes.
This complex redevelopment project at Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden, is an example of handling existing buildings’ limitations while achieving modern, functional, attractive, and sustainable premises. The project was awarded Best Swedish Healthcare Project in 2025 by Forum Vårdbyggnad.
The clinics include departments for endocrinology and diabetes, gastroscopy and day surgery, allergy, physiotherapy, dietitians, social workers, cardiology, plus premises for administration and research.
The existing building was erected in the late 1960s and features limited floor heights, window bands, built-in installations, and prefabricated facades. The refurbishment included only three floors, while services continued during construction on the other floors. The project’s major challenge, given the conditions above, was to achieve good and functional premises for the services, with a good working environment, daylight, excellent orientation, and a place where patients and relatives can feel respected and valued. In particular, the project focused on the following aspects
• Wayfinding: Existing floorplans had long corridors, few views, and neutral finishes, making orientation difficult. A clear design concept with colour schemes and integrated artworks now guides patients easily to the waiting rooms.
• Daylight: The building’s external dimensions are 70x25m, which limits the building’s potential for good daylight conditions, primarily in the central part. The solution to this challenge was to work with transverse corridors/waiting rooms facing the facade and using glass partitions in strategic positions. Where these transverse corridors extend to the facade, part of the window band has been replaced with floor-to-ceiling window sections.
• Technical installations: New duct routings and installation requirements were difficult with low floor heights. Modern standards were achieved with installations above suspended ceilings, while space-intensive routes were placed centrally, allowing higher ceiling heights near facades and better daylight.
To conclude, Forum Vårdbyggnad’s jury stated: “A healthcare environment that starts from a strong idea, consistently designed with clear concepts, welcomes both young and old. With challenges presented by the existing structure, norms and perceptions have been questioned, paving the way for transformation. A refurbishment executed unusually well, standing as a shining example for future projects across the country.”Learning Objectives
- Sustainability and adaptive reuse
- Wayfinding and orientation
- Interior concept and art
11.45Sustainable healthcare modernisation in heritage structures: The Hietzing Hospital A+E Transition
Günther Niemeck
Director, BDO Austria, AustriaTrained originally as a medical doctor at the Medical University of Vienna, he later changed focus to healthcare consulting and now leads the organizational management team at BDO Austria’s Health Care and Life Science Advisory division in his role as Director. During his more than five years of experience within the company, he has been able to consult on a multitude of different projects, from completely new and modern hospital builds to reuse and extension of existing buildings. His main area of projects involves process development and organizational optimizations in hospitals and similar healthcare facilities. His main driver is the sustainable and future-centric optimization of the healthcare industry in Austria, through building structures that last from a construction and process point of view. He has been an active voluntary contributor to the Red Cross in Austria for over 25 years and currently acts as a Head of District Office.
Lucia Devitt
Consultant, BDO Austria, AustriaTrained originally as a biochemical researcher with a PhD in molecular medicine, she now applies her training to healthcare consulting. During her time in consulting, she has gained experience in a variety of projects, focusing on the complex interplay of the different avenues for optimization. Her main area of projects involves strategy development for the public healthcare sector in Austria as well as workforce planning and staffing requirement calculations. Her goal is to foster a deep understanding for the needs that arise in the healthcare industry from both the employee, patient and systems side, to help shape a sustainable healthcare future. Due to her training background, her interest also lies in the scientific exchange and monitoring of these change processes to create a reliable base of best-practice cases and applicable guidelines for improvement pipelines.
Sophie Noll
Manager, BDO Austria, AustriaTrained originally as a licensed physiotherapist with a Master’s degree in Healthcare Management and Digital Health she collaborates on the organisational management team at BDO Austria’s Health Care and Life Science Advisory division. Throughout her more than three years with the company she has worked on projects both within Austria and internationally. Her main area of projects involves process development and organisational optimisation in hospitals, physical rehabilitation centers and similar healthcare facilities as well as staffing requirement calculations and workforce planning. Her goal is to foster a better understanding for the collaboration needs during the planning, building and running of healthcare facilities of all focuses. This has the chance to improve both the employee and patient experience, leading to an overall improvement in the healthcare system. Her interest in the field extends to the current need for digitalisation regarding prevention, patient journey and overall healthcare system streamlining.Sustainable healthcare modernisation in heritage structures: The Hietzing Hospital A+E Transition
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The healthcare sector is confronted with multiple structural and procedural challenges; in Austria in particular, substantial modernisation needs persist within publicly funded healthcare provision. Vienna’s public hospital system serves more than two million inhabitants and a broader metropolitan catchment area. Its largest provider, the Vienna Hospital Association (WIGEV), operates seven major hospitals and is currently implementing a long-term development framework that includes the complete reconstruction of the Hietzing Hospital in the city’s 13th district.
Originally built between 1908 and 1913 as Vienna’s first municipal hospital, the site is characterised by a historic pavilion architecture comprising 26 pavilions. By 2039, this dispersed layout will be replaced by a centralised, functionally integrated hospital structure. During the transition, and partly within the footprint of ongoing construction, the Accident and Emergency (A+E) department must be relocated into a disused heritage-listed pavilion, which is being comprehensively modernised for interim clinical use.
The relocation process revealed a set of challenges that are instructive for similar redevelopment projects, particularly in Central Europe, where protected historical buildings constitute a significant share of urban healthcare infrastructure. Key constraints arose from the monument-protected facade, which precluded modifications to window dimensions, window placement, and entry/exit configurations. Compliance with Austrian occupational safety requirements – mandating access to natural daylight in staff workspaces – necessitated careful spatial planning. The existing building geometry and structural walls generated additional barriers, including restricted sightlines between treatment areas and limitations in widening corridors essential for contemporary equipment transport. Moreover, designing safe and efficient patient pathways (e.g., for infectious patients or stretcher transport) within a rigid early-20th-century floorplan proved particularly complex.
Despite these limitations, a combination of architectural adaptation and process redesign enabled the development of a clinically functional and user-centred interim A+E facility. The planning phase (2023–2025) and subsequent implementation (2026) were supported by continuous stakeholder engagement and a structured operational governance framework. This approach demonstrates how sustainability-oriented modernisation of heritage healthcare facilities can be successfully achieved, even under stringent architectural and regulatory constraints.
Learning Objectives
- 1. Evaluate clinical and operational design requirements for A+E departments
- 2. Analyse the implications of redeveloping historic healthcare facilities
- 3. Apply principles of planning and governance in complex redevelopment projects
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 13.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking13.45 - 15.15Session 10- Green hospital design
John Cooper
President, Architects for Health; Director and co-owner, JCA, United KingdomJohn is a leading figure in healthcare design and has been a principal in practice for 35 years. He is actively engaged in reshaping the healthcare environment and improving and re-forming its architecture, combining an expert understanding of health planning with genuine design skills at both a strategic and a detailed level. He set up JCA in 2009 with Hrafnhildur Olafsdottir. The practice has worked in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Iceland and Australia and is currently working in Switzerland and Palestine. This provides John with an international perspective and a wide ranging knowledge of best practice. He has led government report panels and provided peer review on major projects in the UK and Australia. John co-founded Avanti Architects in 1981, pioneering social architecture and designing a wide range of residential, community and regeneration projects. In 1995 he led the design team for the ACaD Centre and on the strength of this project Avanti developed rapidly as a major healthcare practice under his leadership. After 20 years at Avanti, John joined Anshen Dyer (reformed as Anshen + Allen in 2006) as Healthcare director and in his seven years at the practice A+A won and designed 12 major projects from complex tertiary hospitals for oncology, paediatrics and maternity to innovative community facilities and competition winning mental health units. He is a regular speaker at conferences in the UK and overseas and has written for the major architectural journals in the UK. He was chair of Architects for Health (2009–2014) and is still actively engaged in this organisation.13.45Timber in Swedish healthcare architectureCristiana Caira
Architect, White Arkitekter, SwedenCristiana Caira MArch, is partner and board director at White Arkitekter, artistic professor of healthcare architecture at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, member of the Board at the European Health Property Network, and member of the programme committee for the European Healthcare Design Congress. Cristiana has 25 years of experience in planning complex healthcare environments in Scandinavia and internationally. Focused on increasing collaboration between practice, research and education, Cristiana has led major White Arkitekter healthcare projects, including the award-winning Södra Älvsborg Hospital Psychiatric Clinic, the Queen Silvia Children Hospital in Gothenburg, and a large-scale extension of Karlstad Hospital. Her latest international project is the award-winning extension for the Panzi Hospital in Congo, in collaboration with the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege. Cristiana is currently healthcare design lead architect within the expert international team appointed to design Cambridge Children’s Hospital.Jens Axelsson
Architect, White Arkitekter, SwedenJens Axelsson is an architect and employed at White Arkitekter in Gothenburg since 2015. Jens works with healthcare projects from early stages to project planning, in Sweden and abroad. He is responsible for White's internal network for healthcare architecture and a board member of the Swedish organization Forum Vårdbyggnad (Swedish Healthcare Facilities Network). Jens teaches at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, dept. of architecture, as a guest teacher, at master's and bachelor's level.
Anna-Johanna Klasander
Architect SAR/MSA, PhD, White Arkitekter, Chalmers University of Technology, SwedenAnna Johanna Klasander took her MSc in Architecture at Chalmers in 1997, and finished her PhD here in 2004 with the thesis 'Suburban navigation. Structural coherence and visual appearance in urban design'. After almost ten years as a practitioner she came back to the division of Urban Design and Planning in 2014; since then, she has split her time between Chalmers and White Arkitekter. Her main professional interest is urban design and human settlements (of any size) as form and phenomenon, issues that she has addressed at Chalmers, as well as at Gothenburg City Planning Office, where she worked for three years, and at White Arkitekter, where she is director of R&D.Timber in Swedish healthcare architecture
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The Swedish building sector is moving towards climate neutrality in 2045. Healthcare buildings are particularly challenging in this transition, as hospitals are among the most carbon-intensive building types with high-performance load-bearing structures and advanced technical infrastructure. In a hospital building, the structural system alone can account for up to half of the total carbon footprint. The choice of structural system becomes crucial for reducing climate impact. Although interest in using wood as a structural material has grown in recent years, its application remains challenging owing to a lack of experience. Building such experience, however, requires testing new solutions in real projects.
In Sweden, two major initiatives in recent years have contributed to this development. One is the new building for outpatient care at Karlstad Hospital, the country’s first hospital building with a timber frame and currently under construction, designed by White Arkitekter. By using a timber frame and reused bricks for the facade, the building is estimated to achieve a significantly lower climate impact than the average hospital building. In parallel, the research and development project Health in Timber, in which White Arkitekter was one of 14 partners, published its final report this autumn.
Unlike the outpatient building in Karlstad, which serves as a realised example of timber construction in healthcare, Health in Timber extended the exploration further by examining the feasibility of timber and hybrid structures for more high-tech hospital functions, including inpatient wards, intensive care units and operating theatres.
The project brought together healthcare architects, constructors, suppliers, stakeholders and field-specific experts to develop a broader understanding of where timber and hybrid structures may be suitable in hospital environments. It compared structural, technical and functional requirements, and reviewed how different timber systems could meet these demands. The project identified scenarios where timber has strong potential to reduce climate impact, as well as limitations.
In contrast, the outpatient building in Karlstad offers insights from a real-life project. While its programme is less technically demanding than, for example, intensive care or surgical environments, it provides valuable experience in, for example, co-ordination, prefabrication and integration of technical systems. These practical experiences are important for future hospital projects where timber may be used in more advanced settings.
These two initiatives form a foundation for advancing the use of timber in Swedish healthcare architecture. Together, they expand the knowledge base needed to support the ongoing transition towards more climate-efficient and resource-conscious hospital buildings.Learning Objectives
- Sustainable hospitals
- Healthcare facilities
- Timber construction
14.05Designing for resilient healthcare environments: Evaluating green roof microclimates and air-intake safety in hospital campuses
Mohamed Imam
Senior research lead | Executive director, Perkins&Will | AREA Research, United KingdomDr Mohamed Imam is a senior research lead and architect at Perkins&Will with over 15 years of experience in architecture, computational methods, and performance-driven design. He also serves as executive director of AREA Research, overseeing applied research initiatives that advance urban resilience, climate adaptation, and circular resource systems. He holds a PhD in Architecture and an MSc in Sustainable Buildings and is a certified passive house designer (CPHD) and LEED AP BD+C. Mohamed’s work integrates computational modelling with design practice to support evidence-based decision-making across buildings and urban systems. As a researcher, educator, and public speaker, he is committed to closing the gap between architectural research and practice, promoting innovative approaches to sustainable and resilient environments.
Gonzalo Vargas
Health practice lead – associate principal, Perkins&Will, United KingdomGonzalo’s passion lies in healthcare architecture, where complexity and functionality intersect with the human experience. Over his 20-year international career, he has successfully led creative projects across the UK and Europe through a client-focused approach. From inception to completion, he delivers excellent design outcomes – creating spaces that optimise patient care, streamline workflows, and promote healing through thoughtful layouts, consideration of operational and maintenance factors, and innovative, sustainable solutions.Designing for resilient healthcare environments: Evaluating green roof microclimates and air-intake safety in hospital campuses
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As healthcare estates move towards climate-resilient and net-zero operations, green and blue roofs are increasingly integrated to mitigate heat island effects, support stormwater management, and improve environmental quality for patients and staff. Within acute-care settings, however, these systems introduce risks associated with airborne contamination, infection control, and ventilation safety. This study investigates how rooftop vegetation may influence the dispersion of fungal spores, pollen, and bioaerosols in proximity to hospital ventilation intakes and operable windows.
The research was conducted with a confidential healthcare client and is grounded in established infection-control frameworks, including HTM 03-01 and the client’s Aspergillosis Management Protocol (2023). A multi-method approach was used: 1) evidence-based review of infection-control risk pathways; and 2) advanced microclimate modelling using ENVI-met v5 and Morpho to simulate airflow, thermal behaviour, and bioaerosol dispersion across baseline and future climate scenarios (RCP 8.5 for 2050 and 2080). Bioaerosol emission parameters were derived from published field measurements and cross-checked against NHS ventilation and outdoor-air risk standards.
Findings show that green and blue roofs can significantly improve roof-level thermal performance and microclimate comfort but may influence airborne dispersion pathways depending on prevailing wind directions, roof massing, location and height of air intakes, parapet geometry, and filtration performance (ePM1 ≥ 50 per cent or HEPA). The study identifies spatial thresholds and configuration strategies necessary to reconcile the environmental benefits of rooftop ecology with stringent infection-control requirements.
The work contributes a replicable assessment framework that quantifies interactions between building-integrated greenery and critical healthcare infrastructure. The framework supports evidence-based decision-making for NHS design teams, enabling the safe and resilient integration of ecological systems in hospital campuses under both current and future climate conditions.Learning Objectives
- Understand how green and blue roofs affect airflow and airborne contamination risks near hospital ventilation systems.
- Learn how microclimate simulations can evaluate thermal and dispersion conditions on healthcare rooftops.
- Apply a simple risk-assessment framework to guide safe, climate-resilient roof design in clinical settings.
14.25Building the UK’s greenest cancer centre: A holistic, collaborative home for future-focused healthcare
David Powell
New Velindre Cancer Centre project director, Velindre University NHS Trust, United KingdomDavid is project director at Velindre University NHS Trust responsible for the new Velindre Cancer Centre. He joined Velindre in May 2020 to develop the new Velindre Cancer Centre. David is also combining this with a role at the Alder Hey Health Campus for Alder Hey CNHSFT. David joined the Alder Hey Board as development director in December 2012 and has more than 30 years’ experience working in the NHS. Prior to his role at Alder Hey, David held development director posts in Bristol and London overseeing new hospital programmes.Michael Woodford
Partner and Director, White Arkitekter, United KingdomMichael is an Architect, Partner and Director of White Arkitekter’s London Studio. He brings over 20 years of design leadership to the team. Having designed, delivered and led multi-award-winning buildings in the UK and the Netherlands, Michael has a broad and thorough understanding of the architectural, cultural, and commercial contexts of architectural practice. Michael is responsible for White’s UK healthcare portfolio which includes the new Velindre Cancer Centre. Under Michael’s leadership, White’s London Studio is leading the way with low carbon design and the implementation of regenerative and biobased materials.Building the UK’s greenest cancer centre: A holistic, collaborative home for future-focused healthcare
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The new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC) represents a step-change in how major healthcare infrastructure can be conceived, delivered and operated. Designed and delivered through a partnership between Velindre University NHS Trust, Sacyr and the Acorn consortium, the project demonstrates how a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary approach can produce a building that is not only clinically excellent but climate-smart, human-centred and capable of adapting to the needs of future generations. Central to this is an emphasis on agility, ensuring the nVCC can shift with evolving models of cancer care.
Grounded in an evidence-based design framework, the nVCC sets a new benchmark for low-carbon, high-performing cancer services. From the earliest design stages, the team applied circular economy principles and net-zero ambitions to shape every major decision - achieving an exceptional gross-to-net efficiency ratio of 1.71 (compared to a UK hospital average of 1.79), operational energy use of just 17GJ/100m³ (against the UK norm above 60), and embodied carbon significantly below current sector benchmarks. This performance is underpinned by a building form optimised for daylight, thermal stability and passive resilience, supported by Wales’ first solar-powered acute hospital energy strategy. Smart hospital features, including flexible digital infrastructure and adaptable clinical spaces, further strengthen the project’s long-term agility.
The project also redefines the relationship between design and clinical medicine. Clinical teams, architects, and the project and construction team work as one integrated unit, enabling rapid design of layouts, improved patient flows and enhanced therapeutic environments. This collaborative approach extends to the project’s innovative funding model, which includes a structured community benefit programme to ensure social value, local employment and skills development are embedded from day one.
Equally central is the project’s emphasis on workforce wellbeing. With rising pressures on staff, the nVCC has been designed as a restorative place to work – incorporating biophilic design, access to nature, quiet respite areas, ergonomic clinical spaces and digital systems that reduce operational friction.
This session brings together Velindre, Sacyr and the project’s architectural leads to share a practical account of how this approach was achieved, and how an agile, climate-smart, community-focused model can inform future tertiary care projects worldwide.Learning Objectives
- How integrated clinical, design and construction collaboration can maximise social value and system-wide impact
- How agile, climate-smart design can futureproof specialist facilities
- Practical strategies for embedding patient experience and staff wellbeing into complex healthcare design
14.45Panel discussion15.15 - 15.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking15.45 - 17.00Session 11- Designing climate-resilient hospitals
Esme Banks Marr
Strategy director, BVN, UKEsme is strategy director at BVN. She specialises in the intersection of human behaviour and the built environment. With a career spanning design, research, communications, and business intelligence, she translates data into actionable insights that shape the future of spaces and places. Esme has worked across diverse sectors, exploring how strategic briefing influences outcomes at every scale – from individual wellbeing to system-wide efficiency. Her expertise lies in bridging gaps between disciplines, ensuring environments are not just functional but deeply responsive to human needs. She is passionate about understanding how people interact with space and how this, in turn, impacts experience. A recognised commentator on the built environment, Esme has contributed to global conversations and publications on design and strategy, the future of work, sustainability and regeneration, and digital transformation. Committed to breaking down industry silos, Esme integrates research, data, and strategy with design, to create holistic and future-focused environments. Her work ensures that the built environment evolves in a way that enhances both human experience and organisational outcomes.15.45Demand and capacity modelling for climate-related healthcare impacts: A case study
Lucy Symons-Jones
Net zero director, Lexica, now WSP, United KingdomLucy is the director of net zero at Lexica, where she is liaising at executive level with public-sector organisations – particularly in health and life sciences and leading suppliers and innovators to reach national net-zero targets. Trained in public administration and practised as an entrepreneur, Lucy knows how to make big ideas happen. She has worked on the business and policy of the national rollout of heat networks, electric vehicle charging and demand-side response, and has close connections in the clean technology industry from her time liaising with cabinet ministers on behalf of members of the Association for Decentralised Energy.
Andrea Buckley
Technical director, Lexica, now WSP, United KingdomAndrea Buckley is a technical director at Lexica (member of WSP) with over 15 years of experience in public/private-sector partnerships in the UK construction and development industry, with a focus on corporate social responsibility policy. Andrea led the strategic development of the Demand and Capacity Climate Impact Model development for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, a model that forecasts benchmark climate-related spells in the future, mapping flooding, overheating, air pollution and health deprivation. She has successfully led high-impact projects across the public sector, including net-zero strategy for the General Medical Council, heat decarbonisation across NHS trusts in the South East and Midlands, and secured funding through LCSF, PSDS and local funding schemes. Her previous roles in development funding and social value with organisations, including Morgan Sindall Investments and GB Partnerships, have given Andrea expertise in finance structuring, public private partnerships, PFI, ESG and stakeholder engagement.
Ridhi Shah
Net zero analyst, Lexica, now WSP, United KingdomWith more than two years of consultancy experience in sustainability, Ridhi graduated with a BA in Human Geography and worked in ESG consultancy across sectors including transport, mining and agriculture. Ridhi is experienced in writing environmental and social impact assessment reports as compliance for financial institutions and various net-zero, climate and decarbonisation projects in healthcare sustainability for organisations including the NHS.
Andrew Jackson
Environmental sustainability manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, UKAndrew Jackson is the environmental sustainability manager at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, focusing on climate change adaptation, greenspace and the sustainability of our food within healthcare. Andrew has spent more than 12 years working within public and private organisations to improve environmental performance. His focus currently is to make climate resilience tangible to key decision makers within the Trust. GSTT has partnered with Lexica (member of WSP) to develop an innovative approach to healthcare planning to help understand the impact of climate change on patient demand at GSTT’s sites to plan for the future.Demand and capacity modelling for climate-related healthcare impacts: A case study
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As a consultant to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust (GSTT), Lexica, now WSP, supported its climate adaptation and healthcare planning across four of its sites – a key priority for the health system serving around 2.6 million people annually across its acute and community services. From changing rainfall patterns and storms to frequent heatwaves and the accelerating spread of diseases, London and the UK are already experiencing the effects of climate change. With the UK Net Zero 2050 target close approaching, and NHS Net Zero Carbon and Carbon Footprint Plus targets being 2040 and 2045 respectively, there is an urgency to be prepared for the climate impacts on health.
Adapting healthcare buildings to climate change aligns with the journey to net zero by improving energy efficiency. Insulation, double glazing, and renewable energy reduces energy costs and carbon emissions, improving indoor air quality and thermal comfort – enhancing the wellbeing of staff, patients and visitors.
Following on from developing a climate adaptation plan for GSTT, Lexica found extensive research around the impact of climate change on health. However, there is less awareness about how climate change impacts the ability of healthcare bodies, e.g., the NHS, to cope with increased patient demand and spells.
Realising this gap, Lexica developed a pilot Demand and Capacity Climate Impact Model for GSTT focusing on Harefield Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital, Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital. Lexica mapped flooding, overheating, air quality (particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions) and health deprivation. Using secondary research, patient spells data, climate data sets and population projections, the model forecasts benchmarks for climate-related spells in the future.
The next phase of work will involve primary research, supporting validation of our secondary research and projected patient spells. Lexica is working in collaboration with GSTT and King’s College to develop the primary research methodology, supporting data gathering and analysis. Lexica wants to drive healthcare systems to become climate-resilient and implement the right adaptation measures.
In this way, Lexica is developing a practical framework for driving meaningful change, tackling climate change and healthcare sustainability. This project helps manage emerging risks from shifting climate patterns on health and healthcare services, not only within the trust, but across London and at the integrated care system level.Learning Objectives
- Exploring climate related impacts on health in the NHS and across London
- Collaborating across healthcare sustainability: securing funding to build research across healthcare systems through stakeholder engagement
- The importance of adaptation in building climate resilience, supporting decarbonisation and the journey to net zero
16.05Born to survive, or destined to fail? How to design hospitals that can withstand climate change
Mark Walker
Director, healthcare, Stantec, United KingdomMark is a highly experienced chartered engineer with more than 40 years in the construction industry, specialising in the delivery of complex healthcare projects across the UK and internationally. As Stantec’s healthcare sector lead in the UK, he provides strategic direction and technical leadership across a wide portfolio of hospital and clinical infrastructure programmes. Mark is a registered authorising engineer with IHEEM for both medical gases and ventilation and serves as chair of the CIBSE Healthcare Group, contributing to industry standards and best practice. A strong advocate for building safety, Mark champions rigorous governance, improved compliance culture, and early-stage risk mitigation to ensure safer, more resilient healthcare environments. He is committed to advancing decarbonisation within the healthcare sector and promoting design solutions that reduce backlog maintenance. His work focuses on creating sustainable healthcare facilities that minimise risk and address the growing impacts of climate change, ensuring safe, efficient environments for patients, staff, and communities.Born to survive, or destined to fail? How to design hospitals that can withstand climate change
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The hottest day of the year in the UK is getting hotter, and heavy storm downpours and total rainfall are getting more intense. Today’s buildings were not designed to cope with these changes, leaving them vulnerable to issues such as overheating, power outages, disrupted water supplies, building subsidence, leaks, and flooding. These risks are already materialising, as evidenced by the annual ERIC (Estates Returns Information Collection) report. This is having devastating effects on patients, staff, visitors, and estates maintenance.
To give an engineering example, we frequently see air-cooled chillers being procured that are designed to withstand ambient temperatures from ten years ago. These are increasingly likely to fail as temperatures go up, increasing the risk of overheating, reducing cooling output, and increasing maintenance costs.
So, what does climate adaptation look like? What must we stop/start doing? How can we design hospitals that are born to survive, not destined to fail? This paper will provide the evidence for this growing issue and draw parallels between our work with the University of Nottingham and the NHS estate to explain why we need an evidence-based approach to climate-resilient design.
Due to heatwaves and heavy rainfall, the university was forced to close buildings, pause research, and experienced wildfires. We used climate datasets within the UK Green Building Council’s Physical Risk Framework methodology to understand and prioritise key risks against a wide range of climate hazards. We looked at specific physical thresholds, likeliness, and consequences to determine the overall climate risks. This process enabled us to identify and recommend adaptation measures, including design interventions, tree-planting, and sustainable drainage systems. We helped the university visualise the risks, prioritise the solutions, and enhance its sustainability strategy.
The number-one driver among our clients to take action against climate change is business continuity. The ability to secure insurance and the impact on employee health and wellbeing are also high priorities. There is still time to act, but we need to start thinking about the future now and make this a priority. We need to build for the realities of today’s climate and future climate trends.
This presentation will cover:
• the link between climate change and NHS incidents;
• examples of high-risk designs in the NHS;
• the benefits of an evidence-based approach to climate risk management;
• NHS buildings and infrastructure that are likely to be at risk; and
• practical solutions for the NHS, and their impact.Learning Objectives
- The link between climate change and risk
- The benefits of an evidence-based approach to climate risk management
- How to design hospitals that are born to survive, not destined to fail
16.25Small steps, big impact: Low-cost climate solutions for healthcare
Marta Czachorowska
architect, m.plus.design Marta Czachorowska, PolandMarta Czachorowska is an architect who dedicates her professional and academic pursuits to the design of caring environments, encompassing medical facilities, therapeutic settings, as well as spa and wellness centers. She holds a firm conviction in the restorative influence of well-crafted design. She belives in the healing power of good design. Marta advocates for the notion that thoughtfully planned urban areas and architectural structures can contribute significantly to the physical and emotional well-being of those who dwell within them. Her exceptional work in designing a maternity ward for a gynecological hospital was honored with the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in 2023, and she also received acclaim by winning the "Designed for People" award from Gazeta Wyborcza's contest. Her insights on medical design have been featured in esteemed publications like RZUT, Miej Miejsce, and Architektura Murator, and she is a familiar presence at design festivals, such as the Łódź Design Festival, where she champions the concept of health-promoting design. Marta leads the creative team at m+design office. Visit mplusdesign.eu to explore more of her work.Small steps, big impact: Low-cost climate solutions for healthcare
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Healthcare facilities face the dual challenge of delivering high-quality patient care while responding to the urgent need for climate adaptation. Large-scale technological interventions are often cited as solutions, but they are costly, complex, and can serve as an excuse for inaction. This study explores practical, low-cost strategies that hospitals – regardless of size or budget – can implement to enhance sustainability and resilience. We hypothesise that small, incremental interventions guided by the Do No Significant Harm (DSHN) principle can create meaningful environmental and operational impact in healthcare facilities. By starting with manageable steps, such as a single ward, hospitals can monitor results and scale-up interventions, demonstrating that climate adaptation is feasible even in resource-limited, local hospitals.
The study combines a literature review of leading hospital systems with observational analyses of existing facilities. Data were collected on building materials, historical ventilation channels, pavilion layouts, and passive design features, including building orientation and solar exposure. Implementing these measures on a small scale – starting with one ward – allows hospitals to track energy savings and indoor air quality improvements, gradually expanding interventions to other areas. This demonstrates that local, incremental action can outperform large, centralised initiatives, which often remain stagnant despite advanced design.
Incremental, low-cost interventions provide a practical roadmap for climate-resilient healthcare. By focusing on reuse, adaptation, and small evidence-based steps, even modest hospitals can achieve measurable results while maintaining safety and efficiency. This approach illustrates a green evolution in healthcare, showing that sustainable change does not require large budgets or radical infrastructure. Hospitals can achieve impact by preserving terrazzo or ceramic floors instead of replacing them with PVC, using historical underground ventilation channels to improve airflow between pavilions, and installing wind-driven ventilators instead of mechanical air conditioning. Importantly, small hospitals can feel part of a broader network addressing the climate crisis, finding meaning and support in shared efforts – similar to the small community depicted in the TV series Northern Exposure, which pooled resources to fund a young doctor’s education at a top medical university. By starting with small, manageable interventions, monitoring outcomes, and gradually expanding initiatives, even limited resources can nurture local expertise and generate substantial impact. The ultimate result of this research is a catalogue of practical, context-specific interventions in hospitals, serving as both a roadmap for sustainable improvements and a source of pride and inspiration for healthcare communities taking meaningful action against the climate crisis.Learning Objectives
- Green Evolution in Healthcare: Starting with What We Have
- Explore how local hospitals can participate in a broader network of climate action.
- Apply the principle of Do NExplore how local hospitals can participate in a broo Significant Harm (DSHN) in healthcare climate adaptation
16.45Panel discussionEnd of Climate-smart healthcare stream -
Design showcase
Abbey Room
10.45 - 12.30Session 12- Designing for children and young people
Jacqueline Foy
Global health director, HDR, USAJacqueline is a healthcare architect with more than 23 years of experience designing environments that advance healing, equity and well-being. Known for her empathetic leadership style and collaborative approach, Jacqueline brings deep expertise in paediatric design as well as research and translational health sciences facilities. Across her career, she has built a reputation for championing design excellence while aligning architectural solutions with the missions of healthcare organisations and the communities they serve. Jacqueline serves as the global health director for architecture, leading HDR's worldwide healthcare design practice. Based in its Kansas City, Missouri, architecture studio, she collaborates closely with health architecture directors and leaders across design, operations, marketing and business development to strengthen HDR's integrated, multidisciplinary approach to healthcare design. Her focus includes advancing quality and innovation, fostering high‑performance teams and supporting clients as they plan and deliver resilient, people‑centred healthcare environments around the globe. Certified by the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA), Jacqueline is an active member of the Center for Health Design Pediatric Environment Network and a respected thought leader within the healthcare design community. She is deeply committed to mentorship, talent development and creating collaborative cultures that enable teams and the people they serve to thrive.10.45A tale of two cities – differing neonatal care models and their impact on design and service delivery
Neil Whatford
Director, Gilling Dod Architects, United KingdomNeil is an award winning designer of health, well-being and science facilities, with a strong track record over the last 20 years of delivering high quality patient focussed environments in the NHS, Private Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences sectors. Experienced in engagement at all levels and across all scales of projects, Neil is a strong communicator, keen collaborator and a passionate advocate for considered people centric design. Neil has been involved in a wide range of notable projects during the last twenty years, principal among these being the new Surgical Neonatal Unit at Alder Children’s Hospital, CityLabs 2.0 at the Royal Manchester Infirmary and Stratford Ambulatory Hospital in South Warwickshire. As a Director and senior leader within Gilling Dod, Neil’s is passionate about sharing his strong belief in the ability of architecture to positively change the way we deliver improvements in health and social care, enabling people to take control of their own health and wellbeing.A tale of two cities – differing neonatal care models and their impact on design and service delivery
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Over the last six years, Gilling Dod has led the design and delivery of new neonatal units for two large NHS trusts, and while both units share the same aim in relation to increasing and improving neonatal care for their location populations, the way in which these projects have delivered this differs greatly, as do the lessons learned from their delivery.
The new neonatal unit at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool has been in development and construction for over six years and is due to open in early 2026, providing specialist care for babies from Liverpool, Merseyside and North Wales, who have had surgery at the Alder Hey Hospital. The design of the unit has been based from the outset on delivering a family-centred care model, which includes the family within the daily care and routine of the baby, as well as all key clinical decision-making. This approach is facilitated through the provision of 21 family suites, which combine the principal clinical space of a cot room with a connecting ensuite family room, thereby allowing the parents and siblings of the neonatal baby to live as a family unit throughout the baby’s care in a way that may not be possible in a more traditional setting based around parents visiting rather than living with their child.
By contrast, the new neonatal unit at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham was designed, delivered and in operation within three years in direct response to the recommendations outlined in the Ockenden Review (2022), which again emphasised the importance of placing families at the centre of their baby’s care while, at the same time, fostering a skilled, supported workforce. While reflecting these aims, the design also recognises the constraints and nature of the existing clinical space available for the new unit. It focuses on improving the patient and parent experience through 40 dedicated family bays and a wide range of supporting family spaces while, at the same, creating a unit that would attract, train and retain its own staff, who are central to delivering the care improvements necessary and a more than doubling in capacity.
Both projects have ultimately shown that the same outcomes can be delivered by very different means and in very different circumstances if a clear commitment to the brief is maintained throughout.
Learning Objectives
- How the same outcome can be delivered using a different approach and in a different setting.
- Importance of detailed engagement throughout with parents and stafff
- The central role the quality of a clinical facility has on the ability of staff to undertake their job and the ability of the Trust to retain and recruit them.
11.00Innovative community care through child health awareness
Mohammed Ul Haq
Associate, healthcare, HLM Architects, United KingdomMohammed joined HLM in 2016 and leads its healthcare sector. He has a wealth of experience in the design and delivery of healthcare buildings, both nationally and internationally. Mohammed’s recent experience includes the delivery of a 25,000m2 rehabilitation hospital in Abu Dhabi and the multi-phased redevelopment of a live acute hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Overseeing a team of accomplished and experienced healthcare architects, designers and technicians, Mohammed champions excellence and innovation in clinical design and healthcare architecture, promoting the need for a holistic approach to healthcare design and understanding how the built environment and good healthcare design can positively contribute to prevention as well as cure. Mohammed is also responsible for developing HLM’s elderly care sector. Approaching the sector with a healthcare-led design ethos combined with HLM’s expertise in residential placemaking, Mohammed looks to encourage ageing in place sooner and flexibility for occupants through the years.
Jude Stone
Programme director, Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS, United KingdomJude leads the team of people who are bringing the National Centre to life. He has been part of the NHS for 15 years, and more than ten of those have been working at Sheffield Children’s. Throughout his career, Jude has led on lots of exciting projects, often with a focus on transformation and innovation. He’s motivated by how to make things better and has helped to improve the way things are done in the NHS by using quality improvement methods to build on systems and processes, often through a greater use of technology.Innovative community care through child health awareness
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Sheffield Children’s National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT) is set to be a world-class facility dedicated to delivering a healthier future for children and young people on the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. Its aim is to bring people together to work in a way that has never been seen before. Not only will this building be the first of its kind, it will bring together experts from across academia, healthcare, industry and technology to radically transform healthcare delivery for children.
The main goal of the NCCHT is to find better wellness solutions and awareness for children, who make up 25 per cent of the population and 100 per cent of our future. Its focus will be addressing some of the biggest health challenges of our time: obesity, mental health, long-term conditions, health inequalities, disabilities and cancer. Sited on the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park the building has already made a mark on the community through the social value commitments of the contractor and client. The immediately adjacent University Technical College (UTC) and Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) have been involved in regular workshops with feedback from the UTC that pupils are already seeking more information on health and employment impacts.
A key feature to the successful operation of the new building will be the design of the ground floor, developed to allow collaborative use for third parties, paediatric patients, their carers and facility staff. The main approach gives access to public transport, public car parks and the canal. Vehicle drop-off, cycle parking and accessible parking is provided immediately adjacent. Controlled entry allows access to reception and self check-in for clinics with direct access to the central collaboration space.
The simplicity of the interior design emphasises that the “Connection to Nature” in healing is vitally important, through views out to landscape and references to timber in the feature atrium.
Chance encounters at the accessible cafe can easily be moved to more discreet discussion pods, allowing greater depth of private conversion without having to leave the central hub. Our designs have allowed spaces for choice and access – consideration of hypersensitivity and the option to choose a quieter way to the clinical spaces (avoiding the atrium). The power of positive distraction and the use of subtle finishes will be achieved by using artwork and wayfinding to encourage users to move around, explore and encourage an interaction with the building and spaces.
Learning Objectives
- Finding better wellness solutions and awareness for children
- Collaborative healthcare environments
- Healthier futures for children
11.15The Path of Hope: Designing a resilient paediatric cancer hospital for renewal and healing
Majd Ebwini
Principal medical planner and head of healthcare planning, Dar (a Sidara Company), JordanMajd is a senior architect, healthcare planner, and PMP-certified professional with 30 years of experience, including 24 years specialising in clinical, operational, and facility planning. She has led the design and planning of more than 60 healthcare facilities across the Middle East, including Jordan, the GCC, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and African countries, including Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Applying evidence-based design to create efficient, patient-centred environments, she brings a refined design vision reinforced by deep technical expertise, with project experience spanning nearly all clinical disciplines. Her scope of work includes developing comprehensive space programmes in accordance with international and local guidelines and standards, as well as leading concept design, estate planning, and masterplanning activities.
Bissan Chalich
Senior medical planner, Dar Al-Handasah, JordanBissan Chalich is a senior medical planner at Dar Al-Handasah in Amman, Jordan, with 28 years of experience in the design and delivery of complex projects. Fourteen of those years have been dedicated to healthcare, with a strong focus on planning and designing care environments across a broad spectrum of services. Drawing on this experience, Bissan applies an evidence-based, user-centred approach to create healthcare spaces that support clinical operations, enhance patient and staff experience, and adapt to evolving models of care. She is particularly interested in how architecture can contribute to better health outcomes by delivering environments that are efficient, resilient, and genuinely responsive to the people who use them.The Path of Hope: Designing a resilient paediatric cancer hospital for renewal and healing
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In an era where healthcare environments must adapt to rapidly evolving patient needs, the design of paediatric facilities requires a particularly agile and human-centred approach. The King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) Pediatric Expansion, a new 100-bed hospital connected to the existing KHCC, builds on the institution’s legacy and the inspiration of the late King Hussein bin Abdullah. The project honours the values, history, and core of KHCC while introducing a playful, human-centred vision. Also, it redefines how paediatric healthcare spaces can foster resilience, emotional wellbeing, and hope for patients and families. Its design directly reflects the conference theme, demonstrating how agile thinking and strategies can create a built environment that supports renewal and regeneration throughout the patient journey.
This project began with a simple premise: paediatric environments must adapt to the child. Paediatric design is shaped by fear, curiosity, and family presence. The design team engaged clinicians and families to understand the invisible layers of stress and uncertainty that define the cancer journey. These insights informed a flexible planning strategy that supports both clinical efficiency and emotional wellbeing, avoiding rigid design rules in favour of adaptable spaces that respond to shifting care models. At the heart of the project is the “Path of Hope”, a guiding design narrative that shapes the physical and emotional journey of patients from arrival through treatment. This pathway symbolises courage and hope that defines the paediatric cancer experience. The journey concludes in a beautifully landscaped healing garden situated between the existing KHCC and the new hospital. This garden acts as a transition zone, offering a place of nature, respite, and emotional renewal.
Complementing the Path of Hope is an interior design theme inspired by the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter, paying homage to Jordan’s four seasons, which are translated into colours, textures, and artwork that create a comforting and uplifting environment. This offers a sense of progression and continuity, helping children orient themselves while providing positive distractions during difficult moments. The seasonal theme adds depth to the healing environment by connecting patients with the natural cycle of renewal and growth.
The KHCC Pediatric Expansion demonstrates how agile, resilience-driven design can shape a healthcare environment that meets clinical needs while nurturing the emotional and psychological wellbeing of children. It illustrates a holistic model where architecture, interior design, and therapeutic concepts converge to create a place of hope and healing.Learning Objectives
- Apply agile, human-centered approaches in pediatric healthcare facilities.
- Apply child-centered principles when designing pediatric healthcare environments.
- Incorporate natural and seasonal elements to enhance healing in Pediatric healthcare facilities.
11.30Making the big feel small
Thomas Hardin
Senior associate, Perkins&Will, United KingdomThomas is a senior designer at Perkins&Will with over 20 years’ experience across the US and UK. His expertise spans large-scale placemaking, adaptive reuse, healthcare, life-science and education projects, working across scales from masterplans to interiors. Thomas brings a collaborative, global perspective and values open dialogue across cultures and disciplines. He has a passion for finding innovative solutions to complex problems, working across scales and project stages. He balances respect for the past with confidence in innovation, maintaining the belief that thoughtful design strengthens communities and creates lasting value.Making the big feel small
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At 4.9 million square feet (gross) and sitting on a 34-acre site, the New Pediatric Campus for Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas is far from small. Yet the design team, led collaboratively by HKS and Perkins&Will, was tasked with crafting a building around the experience of ‘making the big feel small’. This is most poignantly seen in the ‘perch’ – an individual bay window in each patient room that acts as an enveloping cocoon crafted to the size of the paediatric patients while also giving them a moment to escape beyond the plane of the hospital enclosure. This interior intervention aggregates to break down the scale of the facade, adding a rippling texture across the elevation as a dynamic experience when approaching the hospital.
The scalar, experience-driven concept has driven the design at all levels. Masterplanning of the brownfield site considered how the NPC fit within a wider medical district with multiple hospitals, academic and research facilities and developing regeneration strategies. Simultaneously, the hospital worked as a campus itself, connecting the diverse users and their experience as either routine or occasional visitors. We sought to provide meaningful opportunities for collaboration, teaching, and engagement for staff and visitors – drawing on the resources of the wider district but creating a landing point for them.
Planning of the hospital similarly took ‘making the big feel small’ as its charge. At the heart of the strategy was recognising benefits and efficiencies of a hospital of this scale, yet organising it in a way that kept patient and staff experience at the centre. We carefully considered adjacencies and flows to streamline movements and prioritise intuitive wayfinding, opportunities for collaboration and moments of respite. A total of 24-bed inpatient units with mid-board toilets provide excellence of connection for care and quality of experience for patients and families, with accessible outdoor terraces and family lounges dedicated to each unit for respite and support.
The interior design further concentrates the concept, celebrating the enchanting quality of awe and wonder in the scale of the building, while providing human-scaled moments for comfort and connection. Currently under construction and scheduled to accept its first patients in 2031, the New Pediatric Campus serves as an excellent case study in capitalising on the opportunity of a major regional centre of clinical excellence while keeping the experience of the individual patient and staff member at the heart of the design.Learning Objectives
- How can consideration for the experience of the individual user shape the design of a monumentally scaled project?
- What are the organisational principals for a 34-acre, 4.9bn sf hospital?
- What are innovative architectural strategies for experience-focussed paediatric hospital design?
11.45Extended Soulspace – Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, Vienna
Semir Zubcevic
Architect, Albert Wimmer ZT, AustriaSemir Zubcevic pursued his education at the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Architecture, and furthered his studies at the University of Venice. He has been a dedicated member of the Sarajevo Architects Association since 1985. Since 2003, he has played a pivotal role as a partner at AWZT. Semir is a member of the board of Health Team Vienna and brings a wealth of expertise to the field, particularly in healthcare and hospital planning. His professional focus includes the conceptualisation and strategic planning of innovative future developments. In addition to his expertise in healthcare, Semir is recognised for his specialisation in masterplanning and urban design. His work includes the development of forward-thinking urban design projects, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, future resilience, and the creation of healthy cities.
Monika Purschke
Architect, Albert Wimmer ZT, AustriaMonika Purschke pursued her studies in architecture at the Technical University of Vienna and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a partner at AWZT and holding the position of CEO at Health Team Vienna, she brings a wealth of expertise to the realm of innovative hospital projects. Monika is highly regarded for her proficiency in steering the development of cutting-edge healthcare facilities. Beyond her professional roles, she actively contributes to the academic sphere by conducting research and delivering insightful teachings on healthcare design at various institutions. Moreover, she is frequently called upon to lend her discerning perspective to numerous juries. Monika's specialisation extends to the seamless integration of technical specialist planning into building construction, particularly in the context of historical structures.Extended Soulspace – Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, Vienna
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In 2010, the City of Vienna, through the Vienna Health Association, initiated a comprehensive network of low-threshold psychiatric facilities for children and adolescents. These outpatient units integrate ambulatory and day-care services, complemented by residential groups that provide transitional support to in-patient care.
The network comprises five clinics serving different districts of Vienna. One of them was initially located at Hietzing General Hospital before being relocated in 2025 to a renovated facility originally built in 1901 as part of the Emperor Franz Joseph Landwehr Barracks.
The project, 'Extended Soulspace', extends beyond conventional architectural design and re-presents a flagship example of adaptive reuse within public health infrastructure. In an era where sustainability is a fundamental prerequisite, the creative transformation of existing buildings has become a key strategy in resource-conscious urban development. Adaptive reuse not only preserves cultural heritage but also generates new functional and emotional value, bridging historical continuity and contemporary societal needs.
The building’s complex history posed both challenges and opportunities. Successive alterations had eradicated most original architectural elements, requiring a nuanced design approach. The project team sought to transcend generic institutional typologies by developing a custom spatial and material concept that addresses patient wellbeing, therapeutic function, and staff workflow within a historically significant framework.
Design solutions emphasise natural, durable materials and a vivid, tactile aesthetic intended to foster emotional accessibility for young patients. The use of full-body natural materials – whose beauty evolves through traces of use – reflects a belief in the transformative potential of imperfection, resonating with both the therapeutic process and the renewal of the existing structure. Our intention is, metaphorically speaking, to reverse the broken window theory – to reactivate a vacant building structure and create new, contemporary values with multilayered impacts on its users. Handmade Moroccan cement tiles, 3D-pigmented reinforced concrete, and solid white fir furniture exemplify this philosophy.
The resulting environment is domestic rather than institutional in character, with generous daylight, high ceilings, and a clear spatial orientation that supports calmness and security. While long-term evaluation of outcomes remains ongoing, the Extended Soulspace project demonstrates how adaptive reuse can integrate architectural, cultural, and psychosocial dimensions within contemporary psychiatric care.
Learning Objectives
- reuse within public health infrastructure
- creative transformation of existing buildings
- psychosocial dimensions within contemporary psychiatric care
12.00Panel discussion12.30 - 13.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking13.45 - 15.15Session 13- Designing for children and young people
Lianne Knotts
Director, Medical Architecture, United KingdomLianne is a director of Medical Architecture and a senior healthcare architect with 18 years of experience shaping complex clinical environments. She brings deep sector knowledge across stakeholder engagement, health planning, feasibility studies, and full design-to-construction delivery. A specialist in mental health facility design, Lianne serves as a trustee of the Design in Mental Health Network, contributing to global thought leadership in therapeutic environments. Her strength in user consultation has led her to collaborate closely with local architects and clinical teams internationally, including recent work in Toronto and Prince Edward Island. Lianne’s portfolio spans award-winning projects recognised by RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, the Design in Mental Health Network, and the International Academy for Design & Health, reflecting her commitment to creating safe, dignified, and healing spaces for patients and care teams.13.45Healing architecture for an integrated psychiatric care campus: The New Institut de Psychiatrie Intégré in Brussels
Roelof Gortemaker
Architect, director, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, NetherlandsRoelof is an architect-director and one of the three partners at Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects. He has been working as an architect for over 35 years, delivering a wide range of projects, including hospitals, psychiatric facilities, healthcare buildings, offices, and educational facilities. Roelof has been the project lead on dozens of projects, both new-build and redevelopment, in the Netherlands and abroad. Notable examples include St Antonius Hospital (NL), Máxima Medical Center (NL), Institut Roi Albert II (BE), Institut de Psychiatrie Intégré (BE), Centre Hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (CHEM) Südspidol (LUX), and Centre Hospitalier d'Antibes (FR).Healing architecture for an integrated psychiatric care campus: The New Institut de Psychiatrie Intégré in Brussels
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The Institut de Psychiatrie Intégré of the Université Saint-Luc and Valisana in Brussels represents a new generation of psychiatric infrastructure where architecture and care philosophy form an inseparable whole. Unique in French-speaking Belgium, the project unites all psychiatric care for children, adolescents, and adults on a single campus. Architecture plays a key role: the building is conceived as a trident, inspired by the Greek letter Ψ (psy), creating a recognisable identity that is both symbolic and functionally meaningful.
The specific form of the building arises from the programme and the site, located at the threshold between city and nature. The three wings extend towards the adjacent Natura 2000 landscape, allowing each care zone to benefit from natural light, views, and privacy. This configuration anchors the building in its landscape and fosters a continuous dialogue between care and nature.
Each wing houses a distinct care zone. This structure promotes a natural organisation of functions and intuitive circulation, while the ends of the wings remain visually and physically connected through transparent linking zones. The architecture emphasises curved lines, soft geometries, and generous glazing to create a calm, sensorially balanced environment. Outdoor spaces such as gardens, therapeutic play areas, and patios are directly connected to the surrounding protected landscape, ensuring constant visual contact with greenery.
The design applies multiple evidence-based principles of healing environments: maximisation of daylight; views of nature; reduction of stressors; clear spatial orientation; and opportunities for autonomy and privacy. Special attention is given to the quality of the individual rooms: each features a generous bay window overlooking the green landscape, maintaining a strong visual and emotional connection with nature and the passing seasons. The 18,000m² building includes 94 inpatient beds for adult psychiatry; 30 day-hospitalisation places for children; 12 places for adolescent institutional therapy; and various outpatient expert centres.
Attention to human dignity and identity is reflected in the layout of living areas, family spaces, therapy rooms, and shared commons. The seamless relationship between interior and exterior, reinforced by strategically placed windows opening towards the Woluwe Valley, supports recovery and wellbeing for both patients and caregivers.
The Institut exemplifies how architecture can meaningfully contribute to therapeutic objectives while maintaining operational efficiency. It demonstrates how human scale, connection to nature, and strong architectural identity can converge in a progressive psychiatric care environment – a reference for more humane and regenerative care architecture.Learning Objectives
- Healhcare Design
- User Cooperation
- Biophilic design
13.45Mental health rehabilitation and resilience: Designing to remove the placelessness from place
Mark Wiltshire
Director | Architect, Wiltshire Swain Architects, AustraliaMark has had a number of careers prior to architecture. He trained and worked as a registered nurse within a range of areas, including paediatrics, critical care, and emergency care. He also undertook a Fine Art degree majoring in photography and print making, with his work represented in several public and private collections, including the Art Gallery of South Australia. He established Wiltshire Swain Architects in 2005 with co-director Andrew Swain, focusing on healthcare, education and projects that require a high degree of technical resolution.Mental health rehabilitation and resilience: Designing to remove the placelessness from place
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Framework: The Noarlunga Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit, located south of Adelaide, provides a new model of care for some of the most marginalised societies: people with chronic mental health issues who slip through the cracks; those unsuited to the acute mental health setting; and those who are not well enough to live within the community.
Noarlunga is surrounded by beautiful beaches, vineyards and the Adelaide hills; however, in contrast to the landscape, the area contains areas of significant underprivilege. A new 24-bed facility has been designed to adapt to the needs of consumers during their rehabilitation. This non-acute setting supports the ‘graduated threshold’, allowing consumers to explore and utilise the internal and external spaces at their own pace – from their bedrooms to social spaces, community, and therapy areas, all within a homelike, light-filled environment offering choice, dignity, and autonomy. Consumers may stay in the unit for up to 18 months.
Co-designed with lived experience consumers, and First Nations representatives, the building responds to its location, neighbourhood and context. Several strategies were developed to ensure the building belonged to the users and to place.
In collaboration with the Aboriginal Reference Group, a comprehensive inventory of flora indigenous to the area and culturally significant to the Kaurna (first nations) community was compiled. Local photographers were commissioned to capture images inspired by this list. The indigenous flora informed the colour palette and material choices throughout the building, anchoring it within its location, context, and cultural heritage; familiar and local.
Local beach and cliff forms are abstracted to inform the external brickwork patterning and colours. Large photographs are integrated into each 12-bed living pod, creating an identity for each space: ‘Dune Walk’ reflecting the coastal landscape and ‘River Walk’ showing the Onkaparinga river. The artwork isn’t on the walls; it is the walls.
Outcomes: A community event celebrated the opening in 2025. This strong community focus emphasises that the rehabilitation unit is ‘of the community’ not simply serving the community. It celebrates ideas of resilience, renewal and regeneration for the consumers and the wider community.
Implications: Contextual design principals that aim to resist the idea of placelessness can be incorporated within a healthcare building. The same principles reflect societal and community aspirations where the alienated, disenfranchised and those cast adrift can find grounding by connection to community, a familiar environment, a sense of place, and the idea of the local.
Learning Objectives
- Good design is more than capturing the brief.
- Health buildings belong to the community, they can be designed to emphasise the local and project community aspirations.
- Maybe 'one size' doesn't always 'fit all', context and place matter.
14.15Open minds, open spaces: Humanising psychiatric care in Madrid
Marta Parra Casado
Co-founder, architect, Virai Arquitectura, SpainMarta Parra is an architect and an international reference in the humanisation of hospitals and spaces for older adults, pioneering the application of person-centred design, neuroarchitecture, and sustainability in highly vulnerable contexts. She is co-founder and co-director of Virai Arquitectura and has developed award-winning projects such as the ALS Day Care Center in Madrid and the maternity area at Hospital Nuevo Belén. Recognised as Architect of the Year 2018 by the Spanish Council of Architects (CSCAE), she was appointed global community professor at the University of Monterrey (UDEM) in 2024. A specialist in universal accessibility, Marta combines professional practice with teaching in universities and master’s programmes, and with her advocacy work on architecture as a tool for care. She is co-founder and architecture co-ordinator of the Master’s in Hospital Engineering and Architecture at the University of Cádiz. Her latest book, 'Arquitectura de Maternidades', reflects her research as co-author on the design of spaces for childbirth and birth.
Juan Manuel Herranz Molina
Co-founder architect, Virai Arquitectura, SpainJuan Manuel Herranz is an architect from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, specialising in sustainability, bio-construction, and innovation applied to healthcare and social architecture. He is co-founder and co-director of Virai Arquitectura, leading projects recognised for their focus on natural materials, low environmental impact, and user quality of life. A prominent member of the Straw Bale Building Network, he has authored pioneering projects, such as the Public Care Center for Dependent Older Adults in Meliana (Valencia), widely awarded for its design using wood, straw and cork. Holding a Master’s in Heritage Conservation, he develops his professional practice through solutions that integrate traditional construction, sustainability and social commitment. He participates as a guest lecturer in various postgraduate programmes, contributing a vision of architecture as a driver of ecological transformation.Open minds, open spaces: Humanising psychiatric care in Madrid
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Background: Psychiatric hospitalisation has traditionally been associated with closed, restrictive environments that limit patient autonomy and reinforce stigma. Evidence increasingly supports open-door models, which promote freedom of movement, reduce coercive measures, and foster recovery. However, architectural design often lags behind these clinical advances.
Purpose: This project reimagines the inpatient mental health unit at Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias, a public hospital in Madrid, transforming it into a humanised, open, and therapeutic environment. The goal is to create spaces that prioritise dignity, social interaction, and emotional wellbeing while ensuring safety and compliance with hospital standards.
Methods:
• Setting: Comprehensive refurbishment of 1340 m² within an active hospital, executed under strict time and resource constraints.
• Design features: Opening the central corridor as a social spine, integrating natural light and greenery for biophilic connection, and using warm, domestic materials such as wood and vinyl. All rooms were converted to single occupancy to enhance privacy and comfort. Thresholds and semi-open communal areas were introduced to soften transitions and encourage informal interaction.
• Collaborative approach: A multidisciplinary process involving clinicians, hospital management, and architects ensured that every design decision aligned with therapeutic goals, accessibility, and safety regulations.
• Implementation and evaluation: Construction works are scheduled to be completed before 20 February 2026. Following completion, a comprehensive evaluation will be conducted to verify the achievement of the objectives defined in the original competition brief, ensuring that the design meets its intended impact on patient experience, autonomy, and safety.
Results: The redesigned unit is expected to significantly improve patient experience, reduce the need for coercive interventions, and strengthen therapeutic relationships. By shifting from an institutional model to a human-centred approach, the project sets a benchmark for psychiatric care environments in Spain.
Conclusions: Architecture can act as a therapeutic agent. Humanised design not only enhances comfort but also drives cultural change in mental healthcare, reducing stigma and promoting recovery. This model offers a replicable framework for hospitals across Europe, seeking to align physical environments with contemporary mental health strategies.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how human-centered architecture transforms psychiatric care and patient experience.
- Explore design strategies that reduce coercion and foster autonomy in mental health units. Learn how architectural design can promote dignity and autonomy for vulnerable patients and their families.
- Learn how architectural design can promote dignity and autonomy for vulnerable patients and their families.
14.30A neighbourhood approach to mental health and wellbeing
Teva Hesse
Design director, 4D Studio Architects, United KingdomTeva Hesse is a London-based architect who has designed major extensions to the Natural History Museum, the National Maritime Museum and a range of award-winning cultural, residential and healthcare projects. Over the past 15 years, his focus has shifted to redefining mental health architecture in the UK, culminating in his design and delivery of the new Springfield University Hospital, completed in 2023. He has consistently advocated for environments that reduce stigma and support therapeutic recovery. His approach emphasises: abundant natural daylight; quiet, well-controlled acoustics; free access to landscaped gardens; fresh air; natural materials; and varied spaces for self-directed, meaningful activity. This philosophy underpins his work on modern NHS mental health facilities, where he aims to create safer, calmer, and more humane environments for patients and staff. Teva currently serves as design director at 4D Studio Architects, where he leads a portfolio of acute and mental health projects for NHS trusts.
Andrew Simpson
Director, Andrew Simpson Planning, United KingdomAndrew trained in medicine but in the late 1980s was diverted into work as a campaigner for better mental health services as a director of Mind the mental health charity. This led to his work in planning improved services for the NHS and thus to a wider role in urban planning. Andrew focuses on the importance of wellbeing and sustainability in urban planning. As director of estates and regeneration for South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, he secured planning permission with a delivery model for the largest regeneration scheme on an NHS site in England at Springfield Hospital, based on a vision of integrated health and social care provision at the heart of a new community. Springfield Village is now substantially complete, representing the largest new neighbourhood in London since the Olympic Village, as well as the largest new mental health facility built in the capital in recent times. Since then, Andrew has been engaged on a number of regeneration projects aimed at creating new communities that respond to the housing, climate and ecological emergencies and which are great places to live, work and play. He was a founder director of Lewes Phoenix Rising, a community development company that successfully promoted the genuinely sustainable regeneration of the last large industrial site in the centre of Lewes. This project is now being taken forward by Lewes District Council. Andrew specialises in community engagement and stewardship, ensuring that development responds to the real needs of existing people and communities. He lives and works in Lewes, East Sussex.A neighbourhood approach to mental health and wellbeing
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The NHS has completed a wholesale redevelopment of the 35-hectare Springfield Hospital estate in South London. The estate was clapped out, in parts, fully derelict; and, as an alternative to an outright land disposal, the Trust embarked on a wholesale transformation of its estate.
The site has now fully emerged as a neighbourhood of new mental health facilities, 1300 new homes (of which over 40 per cent are affordable and social housing), refurbished historical buildings, a care home, a future primary school and a neighbourhood centre, with a new 32-acre public park.
The project provides an alternative model to the myopic selling-off of “surplus” healthcare assets. In 2001, the Trust started with a vision of creating a new urban neighbourhood openly focused on mental healthcare, de-stigmatising what previously had been hidden from view. The Trust, as the owner of the land, insisted on controlling the entire development so that it met its needs and delivered a new, exemplary neighbourhood embodying the principles of urban design based on (among others) the ideas of Jane Jacobs and adopting the objectives of the Marmot Review and its implications for spatial planning. The hospitals themselves were to be delivered in progressive, innovative environments “unencumbered by the more regressive aspects of traditional NHS mental health facility design”.
There were three key principles adopted right from the start:
• focus on supporting mental health from the scale of urban parks, squares, streets, and buildings down to rooms, fixtures and furniture;
• capture the value in the land for public benefit; and
• retain control of the design all the way through.
Twenty-five years later, the project has completed, and this presentation gives an unvarnished look at its successes and failures. Andrew Simpson, the initiator of the project, and Teva Hesse, the lead architect, will jointly present some key findings:
• considerations around placing healthcare facilities, and particularly mental health, as the generator of new development;
• models for how the transformation of NHS estates can be strengthened to maximise public benefit by delivering the required economic returns to attract private funding; and
• designing for mental health.
Lastly, the talk will examine the way a major healthcare redevelopment has been co-produced between citizens, designers, clinicians, funders and contractors. Through a multi-year process of design and delivery, what lessons can lead to the vision of better, safer and more therapeutic places?
Learning Objectives
- How to transform healthcare estates with a focus on mental health.
- How to turn clapped out assets to deliver tangible healthcare and community benefits
- How to create a brief that really meets the needs of the end users, not driven solely by the regulatory requirements.
14.45Panel discussion15.15 - 15.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking15.45 - 17.00Session 14- Agile and resilient hospital design
Jim Chapman
Independent design consultant, UKJim Chapman is a chartered architect and urban designer, with more than 36 years' experience as a consultant delivering a wide range of projects in many sectors. In 2006, he established an independent consultancy, which focuses on supporting and advising clients on the delivery of high-quality projects.15.45Albury Wodonga Hospital Redevelopment Project – a case study
Catherine Loker
Principal, Hassell, AustraliaCatherine Loker is deeply passionate about architecture as a tool for improving lives and shaping communities. Her work reflects a commitment to human-centred design, especially in healthcare and education, where thoughtful environments can profoundly impact wellbeing and learning. She thrives on the challenge of complex projects, bringing clarity and creativity to stakeholder engagement, planning, and delivery. For Catherine, architecture is not just about buildings – it’s about creating spaces that foster connection, healing and purpose.Albury Wodonga Hospital Redevelopment Project – a case study
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Albury Wodonga Health Service (AWHS) is a vital and enduring institution with a proud legacy of serving communities across regional New South Wales and Victoria since 1861. Operating across both Albury and Wodonga, AWHS is Australia’s only cross-border health service, providing essential care for a diverse population.
The redevelopment of Albury Hospital marks a visionary new chapter, consolidating all acute services into a state-of-the-art, 30,000 sqm building within the existing campus. Rising over seven storeys, the new Clinical Services Building (CSB) will deliver 194 inpatient beds, a contemporary interventional suite, intensive care, maternity, paediatrics, mental health, and ambulatory care – overcoming the limitations of the existing distributed service model. Through this centralisation, the project establishes a more agile, resilient health service, optimising staffing, supporting smarter operations, and generating new employment opportunities to sustain a dynamic future workforce.
The project is grounded in regeneration, both physically and culturally. Utilising a brownfield site maximises existing assets and invites innovative design solutions that respect the location’s history while creating space for sustainable growth.
Supported by world-class facilities, such as the Albury Regional Cancer Centre and education spaces from the University of New South Wales, the hospital is poised to lead in operational, environmental, and educational excellence.
Central to the CSB identity is its thoughtful landscaping, with integrated courtyards and green spaces reinforcing the therapeutic power of the natural environment. This strategy nurtures recovery, community connection, and flexibility, ensuring the facility can adapt to changing needs over time.
Inclusivity is embedded in the design, celebrating the multicultural heritage of the region and ensuring all community members feel welcome and represented. Special respect is given to the First Nations’ enduring connection to Country. The campus design recognises that this spiritual relationship with the land is fundamental to health, healing, and cultural identity, embedding opportunities for reflection and connection throughout the precinct.
Consultative engagement with staff and the community has been foundational to the project vision, guaranteeing an outcome that is shared, ambitious, and anchored in local aspirations. Beyond simply expanding health capacity, the new CSB stands as a civic landmark for the region – symbolising regeneration, confidence, and a commitment to excellence, inclusion, and opportunity.
Construction for early works is already in progress, with main works tendering scheduled for 2026, propelling this transformative, future-ready vision closer to reality.
Learning Objectives
- The value of designing for resilience and renewal: Understand how context-responsive design nurtures resilient healthcare environments that adapt to current needs while renewing and regenerating local identity. Witness how intelligent standardisation can c
- Regeneration through authentic connection to culture: Explore how genuine engagement with diverse community representatives regenerates both place and practice, cultivating a culturally safe environment. Learn how this approach not only respects, but activ
- Building resilience through true co-design: Examine how a comprehensive, inclusive co-design process—engaging over 100 stakeholder forums—underpins a regenerative design direction. See how embedding both clinical and community voices throughout the project
16.00Designing and building large hospitals in Chile
Luis Esteban Alberdi
Architectural head, Sacyr, SpainLuis is the architectural head of Sacyr and ARB Membership, with a vast professional experience in design, construction, maintenance, repair of large-scale developments across the hospitality, commercial, residential and healthcare sectors. He joined Sacyr more than 25 years ago and has always been responsible for the complete management of project construction works on some of Sacyr’s largest and most complex and challenging projects. Luis has built more than 6m sq ft as design manager on site, and has also led relevant healthcare international bidding competitions of design and build with Sacyr, many of which also included the O&M scope, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, UK, Chile and Canada. That’s why he has become one of the most experienced specialists in healthcare and singular buildings construction within the company. His core expertise lies in shaping complex projects from early strategic definition through to full delivery, commissioning and operational readiness. He is recognised for strong analytical thinking, decisive problem-solving and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around clear, achievable outcomes.
Maria Paz Godoy Casas
Project design manager, Sacyr, SpainPaz Godoy is an architect with extensive professional experience in the design and construction of healthcare facilities. She joined Sacyr in 2005 and has extensive knowledge of international healthcare planning, design and construction, acquired throughout her professional career. For more than 14 years, she has led the planning, design and management of large hospital projects as part of the teams that built some of Sacyr's largest hospitals. Paz has directed the design of more than 600,000m² of hospital facilities that Sacyr has developed in Chile under a design and construction model. Her personal and professional background allows her to bring a wide variety of solutions and resources to any project which, together with her professionalism, represent great added value. She has become one of the most experienced specialists in the design of healthcare and unique buildings within the company.
Carlos Acuña
Site engineering manager, Sacyr UK, United KingdomCarlos is an accomplished architect with extensive experience managing a diverse portfolio of projects across the commercial, residential, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. His core expertise lies in the latter two, where he has developed a strong reputation for delivering complex, high-value developments to the highest standards. Carlos has successfully led teams across both private and public sectors, working on the client and delivery sides. His leadership spans projects of varying scale, from smaller bespoke developments to large-scale initiatives. Notably, he played a key role in stakeholder engagement and delivery of multiple healthcare facilities, ensuring seamless handovers and stakeholder alignment. Carlos is quality-driven and highly detail-oriented, consistently focused on delivering exceptional outcomes and exceeding client expectations. His blend of technical expertise and strong operational leadership makes him a valuable asset to any project team.Designing and building large hospitals in Chile
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Sotero del Rio Hospital is a high-complexity design and construction healthcare project and the largest hospital in Chile, with a surface area of 250,000m2 serving a population of 1,600,000 people.
This building is fully seismically isolated with 543 seismic isolators. Seismic vulnerability solutions in non-structural elements help ensure the building remains functional after a severe earthquake
Sacyr has achieved the Sustainable Building Energy Certification (CES), the highest standard for the design phase in Chile, and is in the process of obtaining it for the construction phase. Sacyr designed off-site construction solutions to improve construction quality, project sustainability and construction deadlines: 524 prefabricated bathrooms pods, off-site solutions for facades, and industrialised support for MEP shafts.
The medical programme includes hospital care (inpatient and outpatient), and the most representative support services, including: imaging; laboratory; pharmacy; pathological anatomy; and sterilisation. The hospital comprises: 710 beds; 39 operation theatres; five delivery rooms; 380 exam rooms; 56 emergency rooms; 28 dialysis stations; 1562 parking spaces; and two Linear accelerators for radiotherapy and brachytherapy treatment.Learning Objectives
- Off site construction and Industrialization
- Seismic vulnerability solutions
- Sustainable Building Energy Design
16.15Speed, safety and surge: A blueprint for primary healthcare infrastructure in resource-constrained settings
Chris Richardson
Architect, principal and technical lead – health, Jacobs, AustraliaChris Richardson is an architect and principal in Jacobs’ Health Architecture studio in Brisbane, Australia, with almost 30 years’ experience designing and delivering buildings for public- and private-sector clients. His work spans the full project lifecycle, from briefing and masterplanning through to technical design, delivery, commissioning and handover. Health architecture has always been a part of Chris’s career and has become his primary focus for the past decade, particularly within Queensland and the broader ANZ region. He currently leads the Jacobs Health Architecture team for the New Toowoomba Hospital, an 80,000 sqm acute services development for Darling Downs Health, designed to expand clinical capacity and strengthen regional healthcare resilience, scheduled for completion in Q4 2028. Chris is driven by complex briefs and multifaceted design challenges. He is committed to creating human‑centred, inclusive environments that welcome diverse patient cohorts and support improved health outcomes for the whole community.
Stacey Mearns
Director, primary healthcare, Resolve to Save Lives, United KingdomDr Stacey Mearns is a public health physician with 17 years of experience across global health, including more than a decade working in humanitarian emergencies and outbreak response. She has led and supported major emergency health operations in over 20 countries, delivering both clinical care and large‑scale public health programmes in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Her experience spans senior roles with international NGOs, the World Health Organization, and the UK Government, where she has contributed to strengthening health systems, improving preparedness, and advancing equitable access to essential health services. Dr Mearns’ work focuses on translating evidence into operational practice, building resilient health responses, and supporting communities affected by conflict, instability, and disease outbreaks. In 2021, she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to humanitarian assistance. She continues to shape global health policy and practice through her leadership, technical expertise, and commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable populations.Speed, safety and surge: A blueprint for primary healthcare infrastructure in resource-constrained settings
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The increasing frequency of epidemic outbreaks and climate-driven disruptions has exposed critical vulnerabilities in primary health care (PHC) infrastructure, particularly in resource-constrained environments. Our blueprint presents a systems-based framework for designing PHC centres that respond to these challenges with agility, resilience and sustainability. Drawing on lived experience from frontline healthcare delivery during epidemic crises, the blueprint integrates global guidance, such as WHO standards, with contemporary design principles to create a practical, adaptable tool for stakeholders.
The framework addresses three imperatives:
1) Speed, ensuring rapid deployment and scalability to meet urgent healthcare needs;
2) Safety, prioritising infection prevention and control, healthcare worker protection, and community resilience; and
3) Surge, enabling flexibility to accommodate sudden shifts in demand during health and climate emergencies.
Beyond physical infrastructure, the blueprint embeds scenario planning, personas, and co-design methodologies to foster collaboration between designers, healthcare professionals and communities. This participatory approach ensures cultural relevance and enhances health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
A distinctive feature of the blueprint is its climate-conscious orientation. While many PHC centres struggle to meet basic functional requirements, this work suggests ways in which climate-positive strategies, such as passive cooling, renewable energy integration, and sustainable materials, can be incorporated into the design process from the outset to promote climate-conscious design alongside improved health outcomes. With the healthcare sector responsible for approximately 4.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, rethinking infrastructure design is not only a health imperative but also a climate necessity. By reframing design challenges through a climate lens, the blueprint positions PHC centres as catalysts for both health equity and environmental stewardship.
The practical application of this work lies in its role as a starter kit for design and delivery. It provides actionable guidance for governments, NGOs and investors seeking to improve PHC in underserved regions. Outcomes include enhanced collaboration across disciplines, improved preparedness for epidemic response, and a roadmap for embedding resilience and sustainability into PHC infrastructure.
Ultimately, this presentation calls for a paradigm shift: moving beyond reactive, short-term solutions towards proactive, systems-driven design that anticipates future health and climate challenges. By connecting global standards with local realities, and by capitalising on co-design to bridge gaps between policy and practice, the blueprint offers a scalable, adaptable model for transforming primary healthcare in resource-constrained settings.Learning Objectives
- Understand how a systems-based blueprint can accelerate the design and deployment of PHC infrastructure in resource-constrained settings, while addressing speed, safety, and surge capacity.
- Explore practical strategies for integrating climate-positive design principles into healthcare infrastructure projects that traditionally struggle to meet basic functional requirements.
- Identify methods for applying co-design, scenario planning, and cultural engagement to improve resilience, adaptability, and health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
16.30Agile construction, salutogenic result
Laura Sen
Partner, architect, Vitaller Arquitectura, SpainLaura Sen joined Vitaller Arquitectura in 2012 and is currently a partner. An architect having studied at ETSAB-UPC, she is also a BIM expert. Vitaller Arquitectura has developed projects in all phases, from the creation of master and functional plans to overseeing the construction. It has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social care architecture. It has worked on the design of several medical care facilities, developing and creating proposals that foster human scale, as well as the comfort and wellbeing of users.
Albert Vitaller
Founding partner, architect, Vitaller Arquitectura, SpainAlbert Vitalle is the founding partner of Vitaller Arquitectura. An architect who studied at ETSAB-UPC, he has a Master's in Large-Scale Architecture from UPC. Vitaller Arquitectura has developed projects in all phases, from the creation of master and functional plans to overseeing the construction. It has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social care architecture. It has worked on the design of several medical care facilities, developing and creating proposals that foster human scale, as well as the comfort and wellbeing of users.
Laia Isern
Partner, architect, Vitaller Arquitectura, SpainLaia Isern joined Vitaller Arquitectura in 2006 and is currently a partner. An architect who studied at ETSAB-UPC, she has a Master's in Architecture, Organisation and Management of Hospital Infrastructures from the Universidad CEU San Pablo. Vitaller Arquitectura has developed projects in all phases, from the creation of master and functional plans to overseeing the construction. It has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social care architecture. It has worked on the design of several medical care facilities, developing and creating proposals that foster human scale, as well as the comfort and wellbeing of users.Agile construction, salutogenic result
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Healthcare infrastructure is currently facing a dual crisis: the need for rapid expansion and the urgency of climate action. Traditional construction methods are too slow to meet demand and have too high a carbon footprint to achieve net-zero emissions targets (IPCC 2023; World Green Building Council 2022). The actual needs and requirements of healthcare systems demand a shift towards buildings that are designed for immediacy but built for longevity and adaptability.
This paper presents the New Hospital of Mataró (Intermediate Care) as a case study of agile construction. The project aims to demonstrate how industrialisation can compress construction timelines and reduce embodied carbon, while simultaneously generating a human-centric, non-institutional environment that supports patient recovery and staff wellbeing.
The proposed new building achieves seamless integration with its natural surroundings, adapting to the site's topography through landscaping and the creation of a green embankment. The structural solution utilises steel pillars and beams supporting large-span prefabricated concrete slabs, creating 14m clear span pavilions to maximise the open-plan flexibility and future adaptability. The prefabricated elements of the project, such as the industrialised facade and modular bathrooms, are manufactured in a workshop for subsequent on-site assembly, resulting in improved quality, reduced construction time and waste. The building's character is embodied in a strong bioclimatic strategy, the creation of a boulevard that serves as a biophilic space for interaction and community among all hospital users and features three atriums that facilitate cross-ventilation and natural lighting, acting as passive thermal regulators (Ulrich et al. 2008; Antonosky 1996).
The industrialised strategy significantly reduces construction waste and on-site execution time, addressing the sector's need for agility while simultaneously increasing the quality of the result. In environmental terms, the building minimises energy demand through a passive facade design (low transmittance, solar control) and the active generation of renewable energy, promoting decarbonisation.
The New Hospital of Mataró demonstrates that agility in healthcare design does not imply temporary or inferior solutions. By leveraging the advantages of industrialisation, we can achieve resilient infrastructure that responds to the climate emergency. The project shows that technical efficiency can co-exist with architectural quality, creating a non-institutionalised image that contributes to the community.Learning Objectives
- Salutogenic Environments: Explore the impact of biophilic design principles, specifically the creation of a central "Boulevard" and internal atriums, on patient recovery, cognitive function, and staff well-being.
- Define Agile Construction in Healthcare: Analyze how industrialized construction and prefabrication can compress timelines and ensure high-quality execution without compromising long-term resilience or architectural dignity.
- Community Connection: Illustrate how the design transforms the hospital into a community asset by providing accessible, high-quality public spaces that foster interaction between patients, staff, and visitors.
16.45Panel discussionEnd of Design showcase stream -
Workplace design, wellbeing and research
Moore Room
10.45 - 12.30Session 15- Workforce wellbeing and performance
Paul Barach
Professor, Thomas Jefferson University; Imperial College London, United StatesProfessor Barach is an internationally recognised clinician-scientist and leader in patient safety, healthcare quality, human factors and high-reliability design. A featured speaker at the European Healthcare Design Congress, he brings decades of global experience advancing safer, more resilient healthcare systems through evidence-based design and systems thinking. He is a practising clinician and former hospital chief medical officer and chief quality officer, grounding his research and policy work in frontline care delivery. He has played a pivotal role in shaping hospital design standards internationally and advised on the design of ten hospitals. He has collaborated with the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) in the United States and previously served as head of research for the Center for Health Design, strengthening the scientific foundation of healthcare facility design. He teaches healthcare design and safety at Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI). His leadership extends to disaster preparedness and public health systems resilience through the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). As head of public health accreditation at the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) and a former board member of the International Academy for Design and Health, he bridges public health policy and the built environment. Funded with over USD 100 million in federal European, British and American research support, he has authored more than 350 publications, cited over 17,000 times. At the 2026 Congress, he will present “Redefining what healthcare architecture research can do for society,” demonstrating how research-driven design advances disaster readiness, equity, and system-wide performance worldwide.10.45Staff welfare spaces standards
Elaine Turner-Lyn
Deputy director of workforce, NHS England – New Hospital Programme, United KingdomElaine Turner is the deputy director of workforce for the New Hospital Programme at NHS England, leading national workforce transformation across hospitals impacting more than 200,000 staff. She works with trusts to assess future workforce needs, develop sustainable skills, and maximise the benefits of Hospital 2.0 to improve operational efficiency and patient care. Elaine also leads work on Staff Welfare Spaces Standards, workforce planning and modelling capability, and the synthesis of evidence around delivering care in 100-per-cent single bedroom hospitals. With over two decades of NHS experience, she led major initiatives, including training London’s Covid-19 vaccinators and co-ordinating the Nightingale London volunteer workforce. Prior to NHS England, Elaine worked at Health Education England on nursing associate and apprenticeship programmes and began her career in market research, specialising in culture transformation across the hospitality and airline sectors.
Ab Rogers
Creative director, Ab Rogers Design, UKAb Rogers is a designer and founder of Ab Rogers Design (ARD), a design and architecture studio he established in 2004 and now runs with co-director Ernesto Bartolini. With specific focus on caring spaces, sustainability and inside-out design, the studio now works internationally across health, culture, hospitality and residential sectors, designing active, supportive, engaging environments that inject narrative and purpose into the everyday. In 2021 the studio won the Wolfson Economics Prize with its design for the hospital of the future. Following this, Ab co-founded the DRU+, a design research unit that explores the interrelationship between design, culture and neuroscience, using scientific rigour to deliver the art of care. He has taught all over the world, creating and leading the Interior Design MA Programme at the RCA from 2012 – 2015, and has delivered projects for clients such as Maggie’s, 180 the Strand, Tate Modern and Selfridges.Staff welfare spaces standards
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The UK Government’s ambitious New Hospital Programme (NHP) is set to revolutionise healthcare infrastructure, with £15 billion allocated over the next five years. At the core of this transformation is Hospital 2.0, a forward-thinking, standardised approach developed in collaboration with clinical professionals. Hospital 2.0 is designed to accelerate construction timelines while embracing modern building techniques, placing workforce wellbeing at the centre of these developments. The NHP Workforce team joined up with a Wolfson Economics Prize-winning design studio to create innovative solutions for the future of healthcare.
Central to this initiative is the introduction of the Hospital 2.0 Staff Welfare Spaces Standards. These pioneering standards redefine how staff wellbeing is prioritised, ensuring hospitals of tomorrow are not only places for healing but environments that support and empower those who care for others. The approach is backed by extensive global research, including insights from 65 national and international best practices and 120 academic studies.
Hospital 2.0 mandates that every new hospital allocate a minimum of 5-7 per cent of its total space to staff welfare. These spaces are designed to enhance staff experience, boost morale, and ultimately improve patient care. Key welfare spaces include:
• break rooms with locally designed kitchenettes, offering staff a vibrant, accessible space to recharge or connect with colleagues;
• changing rooms near high-traffic departments, featuring modern showers and ample locker bays for convenience;
• calm rooms for staff to take restorative breaks, inspired by lessons from the pandemic to promote mental clarity;
• on-call accommodation, allowing staff to rest before heading home after long shifts, ensuring they’re at their best; and
• a residential doctors’ mess.
The development of these spaces was shaped by direct feedback from over 1500 frontline staff through a listening expedition. These welfare spaces are crucial for reducing fatigue, supporting mental health, enhancing morale, and improving overall staff engagement, which directly benefit patient outcomes.
Learning Objectives
- Evidence-Based Design: Relying on a combination of global best practices and academic studies provided a solid foundation for the standards. The integration of diverse, evidence-backed approaches shows that data-driven planning can drive change.
- Long-Term Investment in Staff: Investing in staff wellbeing isn't just a short-term solution, it's a long-term strategy that leads to reduced turnover, improved retention, and a stronger organisational culture. This creates a sustainable workforce.
- Collaboration is Key: The development of these standards emphasised the importance of engaging front-line staff in the design process. Direct feedback through Listening Expeditions and workshops highlighted the real-world needs of healthcare workers,
11.05Environmental design for resilience in intensive care: Insights from nurses’ spatial awareness
Hamed Yekita
Assistant professor, Iowa State University, United StatesHamed Yekita is an assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design at Iowa State University. He holds a PhD in Interior and Environmental Design from Texas Tech University, where his dissertation examined the association between spatial awareness and situation awareness among ICU nurses. He also holds master’s degrees in Environmental Design and Healthcare Architecture. Hamed’s research focuses on how environmental design influences clinical cognition, decision-making, and patient safety in critical care settings. His work has been published in HERD: Health Environments Research and Design Journal and presented at major international conferences on healthcare design. With prior academic appointments in the United States and Iran, along with professional experience as an architectural designer, he integrates evidence-based design, sustainability, and systems thinking into both research and teaching. His scholarship advances resilient healthcare environments that better support frontline clinicians and improve care outcomes.Debajyoti Pati
Professor and Rockwell Endowment Chair, Texas Tech University, United StatesDr Debajyoti Pati is a professor and Rockwell Endowment Chair in the Department of Design, Texas Tech University. He has published widely in the areas of health and healthcare design. He has been listed on the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2 per cent Scientists List and twice voted among the 25 most influential people in healthcare design in the US. He is currently serving on the editorial board of HERD journal, and on the International Advisory Board of the Swiss Center for Design and Health, among others. He is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.
D. Kirk Hamilton
Professor emeritus, Texas A&M University, United StatesHamilton is a board-certified healthcare architect who had 30 years of active practice in hospital and ambulatory center design before adding a master's degree in organization theory and joining Texas A&M where he researches the relationship between evidence-based design and measurable organisational performance. He earned a PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University in 2017. He taught evidence-based design for health in the Texas A&M graduate programme and co-edits the peer-reviewed HERD journal. He is a widely published author and frequent national and international speaker. He retired after 18 years at Texas A&M in September 2022 to become professor emeritus.Environmental design for resilience in intensive care: Insights from nurses’ spatial awareness
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Intensive care units operate under continuous uncertainty, where nurses must make rapid decisions and adapt to changing clinical conditions to maintain safe patient care. While situation awareness is well studied in other high-risk industries, its relationship to the physical environment in critical care has received less attention. This study explores how spatial awareness and environmental conditions influence nurses’ ability to recognise cues, anticipate patient needs, and co-ordinate during high-pressure events. The goal is to understand how these environmental factors can either support or undermine resilient clinical performance.
This work draws on qualitative interviews with ICU nurses across a range of specialty units. Participants were asked to define situation awareness in their own words and describe specific recent events where their awareness was most challenged. Their accounts included detailed descriptions of what they saw, heard, thought, and did during these moments. Thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo to identify how spatial features shaped their ability to adapt and respond in unexpected or rapidly evolving situations.
The findings reveal that spatial awareness is a key factor in resilient performance. Nurses described how clear visibility, predictable room layouts, accessible equipment zones, and consistent spatial cues supported rapid recognition of deterioration and smoother co-ordination with colleagues. These features reduced cognitive load and allowed them to focus on patient needs rather than overcoming environmental obstacles. In contrast, restricted visibility, crowded or cluttered pathways, unclear access routes, unpredictable equipment placement, noise, and disorganised sensory environments created delays, uncertainty, and increased mental fatigue. These conditions made it more difficult to interpret cues, anticipate next steps, and escalate care efficiently during critical incidents.
By examining environmental influences through a resilience lens, this study highlights how the physical design of ICU spaces shapes nurses’ ability to adjust and maintain awareness when facing operational stress. The implications point towards design strategies that strengthen adaptability, including improved visibility, spatial predictability, reduction of sensory overload, and layouts that support efficient flow during escalating events. These insights provide a research-based foundation for designing critical care environments that better support nurses’ situation awareness, improve adaptive performance, reduce cognitive burden, and enhance the overall resilience of care delivery in high-acuity settings.
Learning Objectives
- Identify how spatial awareness and environmental conditions influence nurses’ ability to recognize cues and respond during high-pressure clinical events.
- Explain how specific spatial features, such as visibility, access routes, and sensory load, support or hinder resilient performance in intensive care settings.
- Apply resilience-focused design strategies that improve situational awareness, reduce cognitive burden, and enhance adaptability in ICU environments.
11.25Designing for healthcare workforce resilience: A comparative study of ambulatory clinic spatial configurations
Miyoung Hong
Assistant professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United StatesMiyoung Hong (PhD, EDAC, NCIDQ, LC, LEED AP, WELL AP) is a design researcher and educator focused on evidence-based design for healthcare and learning environments. Her research links design decisions, such as spatial layout to occupant health and organisational performance. Hong brings commercial interior design experience across South Korea and the United States. This practice background informs both her research and her teaching. She has presented at the Healthcare Design Conference and Expo, IDEC, and EDRA conferences.
Kevin Real
Professor, University of Kentucky, United StatesKevin Real, (PhD, 2002, Texas A&M University) is professor of communication at the University of Kentucky. Dr Real’s primary research focuses on communication in healthcare organisations with an emphasis on design and construction. His research on communication and healthcare design, healthcare teams, and patient safety has been published in Health Environments Research and Design (HERD), Health Communication, Handbook of Health Communication, American Journal of Infection Control, Advances in Neonatal Care, Journal of Nursing Administration, Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, and Qualitative Health Research.Designing for healthcare workforce resilience: A comparative study of ambulatory clinic spatial configurations
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Background: The healthcare industry has experienced a significant shift towards outpatient care delivery, with ambulatory facilities currently representing nearly half of US healthcare construction spending. This trend, which is increasing in Europe as well, underscores the critical need for evidence-based research on quality clinic design approaches that enhance staff efficiency, satisfaction, workforce resilience, and patient care outcomes. Despite substantial investment in outpatient infrastructure, limited empirical evidence exists comparing different spatial configurations and their impact on clinical workflows and staff experiences. Two predominant clinic design typologies – corridor-based layouts and pod-centred configurations – present fundamentally different approaches to organising clinical spaces and supporting healthcare teams, yet their comparative effectiveness in promoting staff wellbeing and operational efficiency remains under-explored.
Purpose: This study examined staff perceptions of design features and analysed patterns of work locations and activities across two contrasting clinic designs to inform evidence-based facility planning decisions that create supportive work environments, enhance staff wellbeing, improve work performance, and support clinical service delivery strategies.
Methods: Three complementary data collection strategies were employed for this study. First, surveys assessed perceptions among 98 clinicians (nursing, physicians, physician assistants, case managers, and medical assistants/technicians) across corridor-based and pod-centred clinics, measuring perceptions of design features, awareness, and satisfaction. Second, four focus groups explored qualitative experiences and perceived impacts on work performance across both clinics. Third, staff shadowing was conducted to systematically record work activities, interactions, and location utilisation during 24 days of observations across the two clinics.
Results: Pod-centred clinic staff reported statistically significant more favourable perceptions in clinic design features, design awareness, and satisfaction with design compared with corridor-based staff. Focus groups revealed corridor-based staff, identified distance concerns, and recognised pod-centred superiority, while pod-centred staff emphasised proximity benefits supporting collaboration and wellbeing. Shadowing data demonstrated distinct workflow patterns: pod-centred staff allocated significantly more time to direct patient care, whereas corridor-based staff spent proportionally more time on paperwork and reception tasks.
Conclusions/Implications: The findings of this study illustrate how workforce resilience is closely connected to design and supportive work environments in healthcare. Key recommendations include prioritising centralised staff work areas, reducing physical strain and promoting collaboration, implementing acoustic privacy solutions through strategic spatial zoning, and redesigning patient interaction points ensuring privacy compliance while supporting efficient workflows. Pod-centred configurations demonstrate superior performance in promoting staff satisfaction and enabling more time for direct patient care – critical factors in workforce resilience amid healthcare staffing challenges.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the relationship between clinic spatial configuration and staff perspectives, including how corridor-based versus pod-centered work areas impact proximity, distance, staff satisfaction, design awareness, and overall work environment perceptions.
- Analyze workflow patterns differences between corridor-based and pod-centered clinic designs, particularly regarding time allocation to direct patient care, charting medical records, and implications of these patterns for patient care practices.
- Identify evidence-based design strategies that create resilient and supportive healthcare work environments, including centralized staff work areas, acoustic privacy solutions through spatial zoning, and optimized patient interaction points.
11.45Designing the ‘learning hospital’: Enhancing learning outcomes, health outcomes, and the workforce pipeline
Megan Phelps
PhD student, University of Sydney, AustraliaMegan is a specialist paediatrician and educator from Sydney undertaking a PhD in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. She has worked mostly in Sydney, Australia, and Paris, France. Her experience in workplace learning and clinical education has intersected with an interest in the built environment to inspire her doctoral work.
Pippa Yeoman
Senior lecturer, University of Sydney, AustraliaPippa is an educational ethnographer and academic developer, with a passion for instructional and architectural design. As a senior lecturer (Learning Spaces) on the Educational Innovation team, she takes a central role in translating and implementing strategic initiatives related to the university's built environment.
Lynn V. Monrouxe
Professor of healthcare professions education research, University of Sydney, AustraliaLynn is an experienced academic professional with a career spanning multiple roles in higher education, international journal editorial work, and student supervision. Her work has taken her across different cultural and institutional landscapes, including the UK, Taiwan and Australia, allowing her to bring a truly global perspective to healthcare education and research.Designing the ‘learning hospital’: Enhancing learning outcomes, health outcomes, and the workforce pipeline
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Clinical education – learning with and about patients – is an essential part of preparing future healthcare professionals. However, students' learning needs are seldom considered in the planning and design of healthcare facilities. This risks compromising the development of clinical competence, with implications for the workforce pipeline. Given the international healthcare workforce crisis, all measures that strengthen this pipeline, such as improved learning environments and student experience, are crucial. This doctorate interrogates how student learning is considered in healthcare facility design.
Methodology: In collaboration with my supervisors, we published a scoping review, informed by sociomaterial theory, exploring the design of effective clinical education spaces. Following this, I conducted 29 semi-structured interviews with experts in architecture and design, planning, and clinical practice and education. These focused on participants' knowledge and experience of designing health facilities for students and their learning. Interview transcripts were examined using framework analysis, again informed by sociomaterial theory. Cognisance of my viewpoint as a paediatrician and educator with experience of a range of workplaces and building projects was maintained throughout.
Results: Four themes were identified. 'People' included participants' career pathways and motivations, various stakeholders with a focus on students, and the notable omission of students' views and needs in all but three interviews. The 'Design Process' considered the complexity and prolonged timelines often constrained by regulations and guidelines, and missed opportunities for the inclusion of students and their learning. 'Design Considerations' outlined key building elements and their attributes, including in-between and virtual spaces. The 'Building in Use' focused on the influence of accreditation standards, and a failure to create and share learnings through post-occupancy evaluation. The importance of simulation was identified across all themes: both for learning in dedicated spaces (simulation centre, in-situ simulation), and as a tool for co-design, benchmarking, change management (prototyping, mock-ups) and evaluation.
Conclusions: Those involved in designing healthcare facilities are generally caring and invested in their work. Although students have largely been sidelined, opportunities exist across all four themes to change this – while remaining vigilant that efforts are not 'value managed' out. Changes in policy, including regulations and guidelines, will play a role. Designing healthcare facilities with student learning in mind supports workforce resilience: better learning environments foster competent clinicians and strengthen the pipeline, upon which healthcare systems depend.
Learning Objectives
- 1. Appreciate the importance of healthcare professions to students to healthcare facility design.
- 2. Recognise the opportunities for consideration of simulation across disciplines as a concept and tool.
- 3. Understand value of in-between spaces to a zoned blueprint for clinical education and facility spaces.
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 13.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking13.45 - 15.45Session 16- Design research: Impacts in practice
Göran Lindahl
Professor, Chalmers University of Technology; Director, Centre for Healthcare Architecture, SwedenGöran Lindahl PhD is an architect and Professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden, Adjunct Associate Professor of Tampere University of Technology in Tampere, Finland, and visiting professor at Politecnico di Milano. He has 35 years’ experience working across academia and the AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) sector – among this, for example, eight years with the City of Gothenburg facilities planning department. Dr Lindahl is Director of the Centre for Healthcare Architecture (CVA) where he focuses on the planning of hospitals and other healthcare facilities through his understanding of healthcare processes and the strategies of the facility providers. Integrating approaches and transdisciplinary research is a strong aspect of his work. Previous projects include evaluations of usability of hospitals in Sweden and abroad, and educational aspects of clinical and non-clinical environments. He is currently involved with projects concerning design dialogues, maternity wards, health promotion in hospitals, real estate issues related to demographic changes, housing for the elderly and information management in healthcare construction projects. Dr Lindahl is author of 150+ publications, a keen reviewer and engaged in the development of knowledge and evidence relevant to practice.13.45Redefining what healthcare architecture research can do for societyPaul Barach
Professor, Thomas Jefferson University; Imperial College London, United StatesProfessor Barach is an internationally recognised clinician-scientist and leader in patient safety, healthcare quality, human factors and high-reliability design. A featured speaker at the European Healthcare Design Congress, he brings decades of global experience advancing safer, more resilient healthcare systems through evidence-based design and systems thinking. He is a practising clinician and former hospital chief medical officer and chief quality officer, grounding his research and policy work in frontline care delivery. He has played a pivotal role in shaping hospital design standards internationally and advised on the design of ten hospitals. He has collaborated with the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) in the United States and previously served as head of research for the Center for Health Design, strengthening the scientific foundation of healthcare facility design. He teaches healthcare design and safety at Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI). His leadership extends to disaster preparedness and public health systems resilience through the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). As head of public health accreditation at the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) and a former board member of the International Academy for Design and Health, he bridges public health policy and the built environment. Funded with over USD 100 million in federal European, British and American research support, he has authored more than 350 publications, cited over 17,000 times. At the 2026 Congress, he will present “Redefining what healthcare architecture research can do for society,” demonstrating how research-driven design advances disaster readiness, equity, and system-wide performance worldwide.
Evangelia Chrysikou
Associate professor, programme director MSc, healthcare facilities, University College London (UCL), United KingdomDr Evangelia Chrysikou is associate professor at BSSC UCL and founder/programme director of the MSc Healthcare Facilities. A multi-awarded RIBA architect and healthcare planner, she has published widely and won several prestigious grants and fellowships, including Horizon 2020, UKRI, Wellcome, British Academy, Royal Society of New Zealand, and Sasakawa Foundation. He research interests span the disciplines of built environment, health, digital technologies and social science. A key author and committee member of ISO 25553 (BS), she is also a member of the National Accessibility Authority, Hellenic Republic by invitation from the Greek Prime Minister, and led the working group on access and accessibility in healthcare. Former co-ordinator of the Environment Section of the EIP on AHA, EU, she has worked as a consultant for international government bodies, such as the Japanese MOFA, Peru Reconstruction Mechanism, and the British Government for projects related to healthcare planning and architecture. She is also a former vice-president of the Urban Public Health Section at the EUPHA, and was invited as a leadership committee member of the ULI Life Sciences and Healthcare.Redefining what healthcare architecture research can do for society
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Many patients are harmed by poorly designed healthcare built environments (BEs). These harms generate wider societal costs. Architecture is increasingly recognised as a health determinant of safety, quality, and sustainability, relevant to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite its originally rich theoretical lineage, the research remains methodologically underdeveloped, limiting causal inference, interdisciplinary impact, and societal value. Reframing BE as a component of complex socio-technical healthcare systems could remedy that.
Methodology: We employed a theory-driven scoping literature review spanning 80 years, across architecture, ergonomics, environmental psychology, patient safety, human factors, and health services research. We traced the evolution of therapeutic architecture theory from post-war systems-thinking and ergonomics, where physical BEs were conceptualised as integral to socio-technical systems shaping performance and safety, through evidence-based design and salutogenesis, to technology-oriented approaches. Analysis focused on clarity, rigour, and linkages between BE, health, safety, and organisational outcomes.
Results: Early systems theory and ergonomics research treated the BE as an active component of work systems, supporting causal reasoning through clear conceptual models and measurable outcomes related to performance, error, and risk. Much contemporary therapeutic architecture research though relies on loosely defined constructs, often supported by descriptive or correlational methodologies, obscuring mechanisms and weakening explanatory power. Recent clinical research demonstrates that BE interventions evaluated using controlled designs and physiological endpoints can be impactful.1 Emerging questions interrogate the responsibilities of architects towards ensuring the hospital building itself does no harm, reinforcing expectations for societal accountability.2,3
Conclusions: Reframing therapeutic architecture as a component of complex socio-technical healthcare systems, architectural decisions can be explicitly linked to processes of care, patterns of interaction, and conditions of use under uncertainty. Incorporating systems’ theory and established health services research methods,4 could contribute to patient and staff safety, performance, resilience, and societal objectives (SDGs 3 and 11). Strengthening healthcare architecture methodologies, enhancing its capacity to inform policy, guide responsible investment, and deliver measurable societal benefits is needed.
References
1 Hernandez-Garcia, E., et al. (2025). In-bedroom renewed air as anti-inflammatory adjuvant therapy in cancer survivors: BREATHS trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 43(16_suppl).
2 Chrysikou, E., et al. (2025). Editorial: The built environment as medical technology: Implications for safety, performance, and health systems. Frontiers in Medical Technology, 7:1726059.
3 Anderson DC. Bricks and Morals – Hospital Buildings, Do No Harm. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Feb; 34(2):312-316.
4 Lilford, RJ., et al. (2010). Evaluating policy and service interventions: Framework to guide selection and interpretation of study end points. BMJ, 341:c4413Learning Objectives
- Assess and explore why therapeutic architecture research has struggled to influence patient safety, health system performance, and societal outcomes, despite strong theoretical foundations.
- Identify how systems theory and health services research frameworks can strengthen the methodological rigor and societal impact of healthcare architecture research.
- Recognise how reframing the built environment as a health technology can support equitable, safe, and sustainable healthcare systems aligned with societal and global health goals.
14.05Considerations on the education of an architect for health
David Allison
Alumni distinguished professor and director, Clemson University, United StatesDavid Allison FAIA, FACHA is an alumni distinguished professor and has served as the director of graduate studies in architecture + health [A+H] at Clemson University since 1990. His teaching, research and scholarship involve the study of relationships between health, healthcare and the built environment. The A+H programme at Clemson is nationally recognised for its focused curriculum and emphasis on design excellence within the discipline of healthcare architecture. It is committed to the integration of innovative design with academic scholarship and research in healthcare environments and healthy community planning and design, and it has won numerous national and international programme and student awards for its work under Professor Allison’s direction. Professor Allison is also a licensed architect in South and North Carolina. He is a board certified, founding member and fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects [ACHA], currently serves as 2025 president on the ACHA Board of Regents, and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He was selected in 2007 as one of “Twenty making a difference” nationally by Healthcare Design Magazine and identified again in 2009, 2010 and 2012 by a national poll conducted by the magazine as “one of the most influential people in healthcare design.” Design Intelligence Magazine named him one of the nation's 30 most admired design educators in 2013-14 and again in 2019. He was also recently recognised as the Center for Health Design 2019 Changemaker.Considerations on the education of an architect for health
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Future architects and design professionals who will be engaged in the design of healthcare facilities should ideally have a formal education focused on the history, theory and practice of healthcare architecture to optimise the design of these settings and all other health-promoting environments. This is especially important for the design of hospitals and large healthcare facilities, arguably some of the most complex settings we build. However, designing for health extends well beyond the hospital and other formal healthcare settings. Architecture for health includes how we design cities, communities and landscapes, and is relevant to a wide range of places we inhabit and occupy daily, including where we work, learn and dwell.
An ever-growing body of evidence clearly suggests that the built environment impacts not only the delivery of healthcare and health outcomes but the promotion and protection of our health. It is only logical that the impact of the built environment on our health is proportional to the time we are exposed to any given environment. Therefore, the formal education of architects for health must inevitably go beyond the planning and design of healthcare settings to the broadest range of places, and that the fundamental principles in designing for health apply broadly to other built environments. It can be argued that all truly good design is inherently healthful design and that the work we do as design professionals impacts both individual and community health, as well as global health through its impact on ecosystems around the world.
This session will cover the evolution and design of one of the oldest and most comprehensive professional degree-offering graduate programmes in Architecture + Health. It will introduce the vision, core principles, pedagogy, curriculum, work and impact of the programme over its 58-year history. The programme focuses on understanding and addressing five basic forces that drive health and healthcare:
• optimising operational efficiency and effectiveness;
• optimising safety and health outcomes;
• optimising the health and healthcare experience;
• optimising the need to accommodate changing needs; and
• optimising the effective use of evidence in design decision-making.
Having directed and taught this internationally recognised graduate programme in Architecture + Health for 36 years and now approaching the end of an academic career, it is the hope that this session will provide useful insights into how others may expand the formal education of architects for health for an increasingly global impact.
Learning Objectives
- Undersatnd the value of professional education in Architecture and Health
- Understand the issues that future architects for health must address
- Understand the core principles, pedagogy and curriculum designed to prepare future arrchitects for health
14.25Merging research and design practice: A conversation on how empirical research on user behaviours can be embedded in healthcare design
Leonel Aguilar
Lecturer at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, SingaporeLeonel Aguilar is a lecturer and senior researcher at the Cognitive Science group (COG) and the Data Science, Systems and Services laboratory (DS3), ETH Zürich. Previously, he has held postdoctoral appointments at the Computational Social Science group (COSS), ETH Zurich, and the Research Center for Large-scale Earthquake, Tsunami and Disaster (LsETD, now CESERI) at the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo, Japan. Leonel pursued his PhD at the Computational Science and High-Performance Computing Laboratory at the University of Tokyo. Previously, Leonel held a principal lecturer appointment at del Valle University, Guatemala in both the Mathematics and the Civil Engineering departments. His research focuses on modelling and simulating social phenomena. In the context of an emergency evacuation, he has studied the interaction between different modes of transportation (i.e. pedestrians and vehicles), created models based on these interactions, and developed and optimised software to quantify large scale human mobility using high-performance computing infrastructure, such as K computer, Oakleaf/bridge, and Euler. Recently, in order to create more accurate behavioural models and simulations, he has explored the evolutionary properties of abstract agents driven by deep and shallow reinforcement learning. Additionally, he has performed VR experiments to contrast the behaviour of humans with that of AI-driven agents. His current aim is to bridge the techniques and experiences from the engineering of pedestrian dynamics models and simulations, the high-performance computing techniques used to compute these models efficiently, the data science and machine learning techniques used to perform knowledge extraction and create data-driven models and the experimental design and knowledge gathered in cognitive science about human behaviour and decision-making.
Sumandeep Singh
Vice-president, senior medical planner, Studio practice leader – health, HKS, SingaporeSumandeep is vice-president and senior medical planner at HKS, with over 18 years of experience in planning and delivering large and complex architectural projects over a wide variety of typologies, especially healthcare. He has worked across various geographies, such as India, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and China. He is extremely flexible to changing cultural environments that affect healthcare settings, and he is driven by the meaningful service to the community by designing efficient and well-functioning hospitals. He gains trust with clinical users, which has resulted in repeat clients over the years. He is effective in engaging clinical users and translating their vision into thoughtful design. He holds accreditation as an EDAC professional from the Centre for Health Design, California. His expertise extends to winning international hospital design competitions, such as the Shenzhen Children’s Hospital in China, which was widely acclaimed globally. He has recently been certified in 'AI for Healthcare' from the National University of Singapore, and he works at an intersection of planning, BIM, AI, automation, and technology in healthcare design. Suman is currently based in HKS's Singapore Studio. His recent notable projects as senior medical planner include: 1. Parkway Gleneagles hospital in Hong Kong (500 beds, 550,000 sq. ft) ; 2. Parkway Gleneagles hospital Shanghai (450 beds, 600,000 sq. ft); 3. Parkway Gleneagles hospital Chengdu (400 beds, 450,000 sq. ft); 4. Eastern General Hospital in Singapore (1500 beds, 3,000,000 sq. ft, USD 2 billion); 5. Grantham Hospital and HKU Research Labs in Hong Kong (500 beds, 1,500,000 sq. ft, USD 2.2 billion) ; 6. Macau Island Health Services Complex and Laboratory complex (1000 beds, 1,800,000 sq. ft); and 7. National University Hospital Redevelopment, Singapore, (1500 beds 3,000,000 sq. ft).
Lara Gregorians
Postdoctoral researcher, Architectural Cognition in Practice, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, SingaporeLara is a postdoctoral researcher and module co-ordinator in the Architectural Cognition in Practice group. She holds a PhD from UCL, in which she sought to bridge the worlds of spatial cognition and neuroarchitecture by exploring architectural experience as a combination of spatial, aesthetic and affective processing. Lara is experienced in analysing subjective, physiological and neural responses to spaces, having run real-world behavioural studies and fMRI-neuroimaging studies on architectural experience. As part of the ACP group, Lara will be carrying out empirical research exploring person-environment interactions, as well as collaborating with industry partners to work on translating architectural cognition research into practice.
Azrin Jamaluddin
Researcher, Architectural Cognition in Practice, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, SingaporeAzrin is a researcher in the Architectural Cognition in Practice group. He holds an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCL and a BSc in Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Nottingham. He has experience working with behavioural, survey, eye-tracking, and neural data. His current research in the group involves evaluating the usability and effectiveness of a pedestrian wayfinding system using various methodologies such as deep dive interviews, user shadowing, and behavioural experiments using mobile eye-tracking.
Panos Mavros
Assistant professor in ergonomics, design and digital, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, SingaporePanos Mavros is assistant professor in ergonomics, design and digital in the INTERACT team (Interaction, Technology, Activity) of the Economics and Social Sciences department. He studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece and Digital Media at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He completed his PhD at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College London, where he specialised in the perception and experience of urban spaces, focusing on spatial cognition research and the use of psychophysiological methods, such as mobile EEG, as way to understand the interaction between people and the environment. Subsequently, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher for several years at the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) of the Singapore-ETH Centre, conducting research on the topic of Cognition Perception and Behaviour in Urban Environments. He now also serves as Co-I on the module, Architectural Cognition in Practice at FCL.
Christoph Hoelscher
Chair, Cognitive Science, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, SwitzerlandProf Christoph Hoelscher has been a full professor of cognitive science at ETH Zurich since 2013, with an emphasis on applied spatial cognition research in built environments. Since 2016, he has been a principal investigator at the Singapore ETH Center (SEC) Future Cities Laboratory, heading a research group on ‘Cognition, Perception and Behaviour in Urban Environments’ and now on ‘Architectural Cognition in Practice’, with a more translational focus. He holds a PhD in Psychology from University of Freiburg, and he served as honorary senior research fellow at UCL, Bartlett School of Architecture, and as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture at Northumbria University Newcastle.Merging research and design practice: A conversation on how empirical research on user behaviours can be embedded in healthcare design
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This study will bring together practitioners from HKS Singapore and researchers from the Singapore-ETH Centre and ETH Zurich who are all actively working on empirical research that asks: how does the design of healthcare environments impact user behaviours?
The goal of this panel conversation is to discuss how we can implement research into practice – through the practitioner’s lens, the researcher’s lens, and a collaborative lens.
Speakers will each present projects in which different aspects of human experience in healthcare settings have been studied.
From a practice standpoint, medical planners will discuss how the cognitive wayfinding experiments conducted by the Singapore-ETH centre, on a hospital project under active planning and design, will find their way to influencing planning decisions early, thus making future user journeys rich with experience and care. Techniques for spatial prototyping will be discussed.
From a research standpoint, we also discuss how this new work coming directly out of the collaboration between HKS Singapore and the Singapore-ETH Centre, in which we study wayfinding of hospital staff through user behaviour experiments in case study sites, generates different types of real-world data on human experience. This project is being piloted in an effort to see how research methods and cognitive/behavioural insights can be embedded within design practice through pre-occupancy testing, so as to develop a pipeline to support evidence-based design.
From ETH Zurich, researchers will discuss their ongoing work at University Hospital Zurich under the project ‘EVIDENT: Evidence-Based Architectural Design of Emergency Departments for Greater Communication, Collaboration and Care Delivery’. In this, researchers study a real emergency care unit. They combine spatial configuration and visual connectivity analyses of floorplans with measures of face-to-face interactions using remote sensing to study how building design informs staff interactions and therefore healthcare performance in a functioning unit.
By discussing these specific examples, as well as different methods (e.g. real-world behaviour tracking overlaid with spatial analyses; to-scale prototyping and testing; controlled scientific experiments), this conversation will help address questions around how we can successfully and usefully integrate research methods and knowledge from different disciplines into healthcare design and practice.
Learning Objectives
- To learn about global best practices in current health planning landscape
- Learning about new procurement strategies like PPP, Design Build etc
- Learning about latest technology and AI , Data backed solutions for Healthcare
14.45Panel discussion15.15 - 15.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking15.45 - 17.00Session 17- Design method, insight and evidenceChair: David Allison, Alumni distinguished professor and director, Clemson University, United StatesDavid Allison
Alumni distinguished professor and director, Clemson University, United StatesDavid Allison FAIA, FACHA is an alumni distinguished professor and has served as the director of graduate studies in architecture + health [A+H] at Clemson University since 1990. His teaching, research and scholarship involve the study of relationships between health, healthcare and the built environment. The A+H programme at Clemson is nationally recognised for its focused curriculum and emphasis on design excellence within the discipline of healthcare architecture. It is committed to the integration of innovative design with academic scholarship and research in healthcare environments and healthy community planning and design, and it has won numerous national and international programme and student awards for its work under Professor Allison’s direction. Professor Allison is also a licensed architect in South and North Carolina. He is a board certified, founding member and fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects [ACHA], currently serves as 2025 president on the ACHA Board of Regents, and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He was selected in 2007 as one of “Twenty making a difference” nationally by Healthcare Design Magazine and identified again in 2009, 2010 and 2012 by a national poll conducted by the magazine as “one of the most influential people in healthcare design.” Design Intelligence Magazine named him one of the nation's 30 most admired design educators in 2013-14 and again in 2019. He was also recently recognised as the Center for Health Design 2019 Changemaker.15.45Subject matter expert (SME) peer review: A value add for healthcare designCharlie Prats
Architect and medical planner, Page/Stantec, United StatesCharlie Prats, RA, LEED AP BD+C, LEAN BB IISE, is a senior project architect and medical planner at Page Southerland Page/Stantec, USA.
Diana Anderson
Healthcare architect and physician, Jacobs, United StatesDr Diana Anderson is a triple-boarded professional – healthcare architect (ACHA-American College of Healthcare Architects), internist, and a geriatrician. As a “dochitect,” she pioneered a collaborative, evidence-based model for approaching healthcare from the medicine and architecture fields simultaneously. She has worked on hospital design projects globally and is widely published in both architectural and medical journals, books and the popular press, including The New York Times, The Lancet, Metropolis, etc. She is a past fellow of the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, which launched her current exploration of the ethics of built space. She is currently an assistant professor of neurology at Boston University and undertakes research in health design. She is a healthcare principal at Jacobs, contributing her thought leadership at the intersection of design and health, and was elevated to the Council of Fellows within the ACHA for her contributions to the profession.Akilah O’Brien
Disaster recovery specialist, VI Department of Human Services, United StatesAkilah O’Brien is a disaster recovery specialist at the VI Department of Human Services, St Croix, USA.
Chai Jayachandran
Healthcare architect, Jacobs, United StatesChai Jayachandran, AIA, ACHA is a healthcare architect with 23 years of experience specialising in planning and design of complex healthcare spaces across the care continuum. Chai plays an integral role in client business development, thought leadership, staff mentoring and project leadership.Subject matter expert (SME) peer review: A value add for healthcare design
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Background: Subject matter expert (SME) peer reviews, while commonplace in academic and scientific fields to ensure rigour and innovation, are infrequently integrated into the healthcare architecture industry. This oversight may result in environments that prioritise design strategies over evidence-based clinical efficacy. In this long-term care (LTC) facility project, Queen Louise Home for the Aged St Thomas US Virgin Islands, the SME peer review process was introduced as a deliberate value-add to enhance outcomes. Its primary purpose was to weave in specialised clinical knowledge, front-line research, and relevant census data – demographic trends in ageing populations, mental and social health determinants – as core design considerations. These elements were consolidated into actionable proposals for the client, bridging the gap between theoretical expertise and practical application to foster a more clinically responsive, resident-centred outcome.
Methods: The SME peer review was initiated in predesign to maximise its impact on foundational choices. A thorough analysis of limited LTC facilities in the region was undertaken, juxtaposed against escalating demand driven by an ageing population. Independent SMEs, external to the core design team, participated in weekly to bi-weekly virtual meetings. These sessions systematically reviewed key aspects including the program layout, building form, functional efficiencies, and spatial adjacencies for operational and clinical care concepts. Discussions incorporated data-driven insights such as census projections on facility shortages; mainland market trends for design of similar facilities were considered; and clinical literature was reviewed- all while addressing real-world constraints like resource scarcity and cultural sensitivities. The client, SME group, and design teams will collectively discuss this process.
Results: The integration of third-party SME peer review yielded a comprehensive value-add to the project's outcome, resulting in a design that is uniquely tailored to the Virgin Islands' contextual constraints (geographic and resource isolation, natural disaster vulnerability, and socioeconomic factors influencing healthcare access). The process produced an innovative semi-private room and optimised placement of clinical support space servicing residential areas. This approach enhanced safety, operational flow, and resident wellbeing, demonstrating how external expertise can transform an outdated blueprint into a contextually resonant solution.
Conclusion: Engaging independent SMEs for peer review outside the core design team delivers a net value-add to healthcare architecture project design, enriching spaces with clinical perspectives and mitigating blind spots. This case underscores the potential for such processes to elevate industry standards, suggesting that SME peer review become part of professional practice to consistently integrate clinical and data-driven insights for superior, innovative outcomes.Learning Objectives
- • Define and recognize how subject matter expert peer review is used in other professions and explain the purpose and benefits of its implementation
- • Understand the process and methodology for subject matter expert integration within a larger healthcare design project
- • Distinguish the need for a process of subject matter expert peer review in healthcare architecture and consider ways in which this change may be initiated
16.05The transformative leap from shared wards to single suites: Assessing the impact of 100-per-cent single-patient rooms on patient experience and staff operations at Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Deborah Wingler
Global practice director, applied research, HKS, United StatesAs partner and global practice director for applied research at HKS, Dr Deborah Wingler collaborates across sectors to develop and implement applied research services that drive innovation and achieve measurable impact across the firm and health practice, globally. She also serves as the executive director for the Center for Advanced Research and Evaluation (CADRE) and holds an appointment as adjunct faculty in the School of Architecture at Clemson University. Deborah’s research focuses on improving the user experience by eliciting insight into users’ affective responses to high-stress healthcare environments. Through her research, she has worked with some of the most forward-thinking Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organisations and manufacturers, to reimagine primary, specialty, acute, and home healthcare. She is a well-known passionate patient and family advocate for healthcare design, researcher, speaker, and published author. She holds a PhD from Clemson University in Healthcare Architecture and earned a M.S.D. in Healthcare Innovation from the Herberger Institute of Design at Arizona State University. Deborah holds several industry and academic awards. She was recently awarded HCD 10 researcher of the year for 2022 by Healthcare Design Magazine.
Rutali Joshi
Research lead, HKS, United StatesDr Rutali Joshi is the research lead for health at HKS, driven by a passion for evidence-based, data-driven design and dedicated to translating research into impactful, actionable insights for the design industry. Rutali specialises in creating design solutions that prioritise safety and elevate human experiences across healthcare environments. Rutali has been actively involved in research conducted in a variety of settings ranging from domestic violence shelter homes and homes for the ageing population to emergency departments, operating rooms, and ambulatory surgery centres. She is extremely passionate about developing visual means to translate complex research concepts and findings to recommendations that can be implemented by designers easily.
Jane Ho
Regional practice director, HKS, United KingdomJane Ho is a partner and regional practice director, health, at HKS. She works in the firm’s London office focused on developing the integration of concept and functionality and how people experience healthcare facilities. Jane designs with sensitivity for flexibility and adaptability, developing better buildings for a holistic user experience.
Sophia Hami
Advisory leader – EMEA, HKS, United KingdomSophia Hami is a health advisory leader at HKS. As a leader for the EMEA region, she has experience working across several clinical specialties in both NHS and private healthcare in the UK. Her goal is to support healthcare clients to provide high-quality, safe and sustainable services for their patients.The transformative leap from shared wards to single suites: Assessing the impact of 100-per-cent single-patient rooms on patient experience and staff operations at Royal Liverpool University Hospital
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Introduction: The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is moving towards standardising healthcare facilities, with policy increasingly advocating for 100-per-cent single-patient rooms to enhance privacy, dignity, and infection control. This shift, however, lacks extensive evidence in the UK context, where single-patient rooms previously accounted for less than 2 per cent of beds. This study evaluates the outcomes of this transformative model at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital (RLUH), one of the first and largest NHS facilities to fully transition to 640 single ensuite rooms.
Methods: This research employed a robust, triangulated methodology to assess the impact of the new facility and its 100-per-cent single-room configuration in the critical care unit and inpatient unit. Data collection involved a comprehensive approach spanning pre- and post-occupancy phases, including direct on-site behavioural observations (14 behaviour maps and seven hours of shadowing), spatial analysis, 14 staff interviews, staff surveys (31 responses), and pre-post archival data (infection rates, patient satisfaction). The study examined effects across three key domains: patient and family experience, staff workflow and efficiency, and patient safety/infection control.
Results: The transition to the 100-per-cent single-patient room model confirmed significant benefits in line with international evidence, including marked improvements in patient privacy, dignity, and comfort, and reduced hospital-acquired infection rates. Staff also reported enhanced workflows and optimised care delivery, facilitated by the standardised room layout. However, the study also identified persistent challenges related to staff and patient visibility, communication, and social isolation. The new design, despite its benefits, did not entirely mitigate issues around nurse-to-patient and peer-to-peer visibility, which were also noted in the old facility. Furthermore, patient feedback indicated limited access to outdoor spaces was a challenge.
Conclusion: The move to 100-per-cent single-patient rooms at RLUH represents a transformative leap forward for patient care and experience within the NHS. The model delivers tangible gains in privacy and infection control, laying the foundation for a resilient healthcare environment. However, fully realising the model’s potential requires targeted interventions in workforce training, technology integration (e.g., mobile alert systems), and physical design adjustments (e.g., dedicated communal spaces and improved access to nature) to address challenges related to visibility, communication, and social connection. The findings offer crucial, NHS-specific evidence to inform future New Hospital Programme designs and policy decisions.
Learning Objectives
- 1. Analyze the Trade-offs of Single Rooms: Compare the benefits (e.g., infection control, privacy) versus the operational challenges (e.g., staff visibility, communication) of moving to a 100% single-patient room design in an NHS setting.
- 2. Evaluate Research Methods for Hospital Design: Identify the specific methods used to assess the real-world impact of new hospital architectures.
- 3. Propose Mitigation Strategies for Visibility Issues: Idenitfy targeted solutions (e.g., technology, training, physical design changes) to address the staff visibility and communication barriers created by the shift to all-single-patient rooms.
16.25Understanding the impact of design-led healthcare innovation programmes: Qualitative case studies from frontline clinicians
Laney Hyland
Research assistant, Maynooth University, IrelandLaney Hyland is a research assistant on the HIVE project within the Design innovation Department at Maynooth University. With a foundation in Product Design and Innovation from her undergraduate studies, and a master’s in Design Innovation, she brings a rigorous, design-led approach to research. Her academic work has been recognised through several awards, including the Project of the Year award within Maynooth Universities Design Innovation Department, the Spark Innovation Programme Student Scholarships, IDI awards in the Medical Device Design Category, and the Frank Devitt awards for academic achievement during her master’s programme. These accolades reflect commitment to excellence in design research and innovation. Her research interests centre on healthcare design, with a particular focus on patient experience and service design. She is passionate about applying human-centred design methodologies to address complex challenges within healthcare systems. Through her role on the HIVE project, she continues to explore the intersection of design innovation and healthcare, contributing to research that seeks to demonstrate how design thinking and human-centred design methodologies can transform healthcare delivery, ultimately creating more responsive and effective systems of care.
Linda Ryan
Assistant professor, Maynooth University, IrelandDr Linzi Ryan is an assistant professor in Design Innovation and the PhD director for the Department of Design Innovation at Maynooth University. Her academic focus is on the implementation of design methodologies to address complex societal and organisational challenges, particularly in public-sector reform and healthcare. Dr Ryan's award-winning doctorate research progressed the study of product service systems (PSS), examining the cultural and structural transitions required for organisations to move from product to service-orientated models. She has applied her expertise to significant projects, including leading an INTERREG project that resulted in a permanent change to dementia services in the North West of Ireland, and training more than 170 public-sector staff in service design, leading to direct improvements in service delivery. Her recent projects include co-leading evaluation work for the national HSE Spark Innovation Programme and the development of a cooling sole for people with EBS. She continues to consult and collaborate with public bodies, leveraging design thinking to improve internal processes and service innovation.
Michelle Howard
Clinical design and innovation lead, HSE, IrelandDr Michelle Howard is the clinical design and innovation lead at the HSE Spark Innovation Programme. Michelle holds a doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology. With over 14 years' clinical experience working as a psychologist and further post-graduate qualifications in Healthcare Innovation and Service Design, Michelle has developed a specific perspective on the challenges in the healthcare system, focusing on how psychological insights can drive meaningful change. Michelle’s work traverses clinical practice, innovation and research, with a particular focus on using human-centred design (HCD) to create impactful, scalable solutions that address the real-world challenges of healthcare delivery. As clinical design and innovation lead, Michelle is dedicated to exploring and understanding new ways of applying design to improve patient care, enhance healthcare outcomes, and streamline processes within the system. With her expertise in psychology, design, innovation and clinical research, Michelle brings a holistic and data-driven approach, supporting healthcare professionals to develop capability within the system and work collaboratively to achieve sustainable results. Her commitment to advancing healthcare innovation reflects her ongoing drive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients and healthcare providers.
Threase Finnegan-Kessie
Assistant professor, Maynooth University, IrelandDr Threase Finnegan-Kessie is assistant professor in the Department of Design Innovation at Maynooth University and programme director of its Masters Programmes. She earned her PhD in Anthropology and subsequently conducted post-doctoral research on user-centred design for connected health technologies at University College Dublin. Threase applies human-centred design and ethnographic methods across sectors, including healthcare, higher education, and restorative justice, to address complex social challenges. Her recent projects include co-leading evaluation work for the national HSE Spark Innovation Programme and co-creating the 2025–2028 strategic plan for Restorative Justice Services in Ireland. Through publications and workshops, Threase explores how human-centred design and interdisciplinary methods can lead to innovation and organisational change.Understanding the impact of design-led healthcare innovation programmes: Qualitative case studies from frontline clinicians
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Framework: Human-centred design (HCD) is frequently recognised as an appropriate methodology for developing patient-centred care solutions. The HSE Spark Innovation Programme, within Ireland’s public healthcare service, recognised that HCD is more than just a process. It aims to use HCD to shape and support staff into problem-solvers and innovators, creating a dynamic culture of innovation that addresses existing and emerging patient needs. Like HCD itself, HSE Spark’s approach to embedding HCD has been dynamic, shifting to meet the diverse range of project needs, while using a core programme framework to provide consistent and scaled support. But how does HSE Spark provide this support for frontline clinicians in practice? How does it utilise HCD in its own operations to create a culture of innovators within the public healthcare sector? Drawing on champion theory (Howell & Boies, 2004; Shea et al., 2021) and employee-driven innovation (von Hippel, 2005; Cadeddu et al., 2023), we present four diverse in-depth design-led case studies that demonstrate the power of agile HCD from the programme providers perspective and within the projects themselves.
Practical application: Our presentation follows four HSE Spark supported HCD projects, from project scoping, HCD project development, and implementation. In order to gather a holistic understanding of the experience, the lead and a team member were interviewed from each project. Each interview was 60-90 minutes long, conducted online and recorded through Microsoft Teams. Interviews were transcribed, individually analysed for project insights, then collectively for trends and insights from a programme perspective. Semi-structured interview guides were used, which explored the logistics of the project (and the corresponding HSE Spark support), and programme participants’ changing perspectives and mindsets over time.
Outcomes: Findings explore the wider project, staff and cultural impact of the HSE Spark approach to design-led projects. Through inspiring, real-world examples, we demonstrate how HCD’s adaptability permeates into the solutions themselves, by empowering staff to develop dynamic, resilient solutions for their patients, and instils an innovative problem-solving mindset in the frontline clinicians. We demonstrate the critical factors required to implement a HCD methodology in innovative projects within the Irish public healthcare system.
Implications: Case study findings discuss the effectiveness of a HCD approach for establishing a culture of innovation within both the projects and the staff. It demonstrates that programmes such as HSE Spark need to look beyond projects to the body of staff and patients behind the projects.
Learning Objectives
- Understanding of the need for a HCD approach to healthcare innovation
- Identification of potential challenges faced with using HCD within the public health sector
- Understanding of the implicit and explicit benefits of a HCD within the public health sector
16.45Panel discussionEnd of Workplace design, wellbeing and research stream
Closing keynote plenary
Fleming Room
Supported by
17.00 - 18.00Session 5- Closing keynote debate
Max Farrell
Chair, Healthy City Design; Founder and CEO, LDN Collective, UKMax is the new Chair of the Healthy City Design Congress, guiding its next chapter at a pivotal moment for health, place, and public policy. In this role, Max will bring valuable knowledge, expertise and an extensive network of developers, investors, planners, designers, public health professionals, policymakers, and community leaders to strengthen the Congress as the leading interdisciplinary platform for evidence-led debate, collaboration, and action in the creation of healthier cities. Max’s interests and expertise closely align with the ambitions of the Congress. With a background in urban planning and strategic communications, he has long championed people centred placemaking, social value, and the integration of health into the planning, design, and delivery of the built environment, with a particular focus on improving quality of life and reducing inequalities through better places. Alongside his role as Chair, Max is Founder and CEO of the LDN Collective, a network of built environment specialists working to improve people’s lives and the planet’s prospects. The Collective brings together expertise in placemaking and urban design, social value and co design, branding, communications, and engagement. Current projects include major regeneration initiatives, new communities, and innovative approaches to public realm, retrofit, and reuse across the UK and beyond. Max is Immediate Past President of the LAI Land Economics Society, London chapter, Chair of Built Environment Policy for West London Business, Lead Judge for the Healthy City Design Awards, and a Fellow of the RSA. He was Project Lead and Author of the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment, commissioned by the UK Government, which made 60 recommendations, many of which have since been implemented. He advises a number of organisations working at the intersection of health, place, and policy, including Demos, Urban Design London, the Place Alliance, the Urban Room Network, and the Quality of Life Foundation.17.00The post-hospital era: Designing a neighbourhood health system
Sarah Beaumont-Smith
Chair, The Neighbourhood Health Forum, UKSarah Beaumont-Smith is an industry leader in the infrastructure sector with more than 15 years’ experience in financing, developing and delivering a range of public infrastructure, from schools and health centres, to property schemes and transport networks. As UK Strategy Director for health investor Fulcrum Infrastructure Group, Sarah has overseen the delivery of more than 40 health centres in England under the NHS LIFT Programme. Sarah has now taken on a wider new role to lead Fulcrum’s discussions with Government and industry about the use of public-private-partnership models in health and social infrastructure. Alongside this, Sarah continues to chair The LIFT Council (the representative body of investors in the NHS LIFT Programme) and in November 2025 Sarah became the chair of the Neighbourhood Health Forum, a collective new voice for private investors in neighbourhood healthcare. In 2025, Sarah was named the ‘Leading Woman in Infrastructure’ at an industry awards event, in recognition of her achievements in delivering vital infrastructure across the UK, and her work to create more opportunities for women to enter, thrive and lead in the industry.The post-hospital era: Designing a neighbourhood health system
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Healthcare is shifting from hospital to community, treatment to prevention, and analogue to digital care. The next stage is the neighbourhood health system—where health is shaped not only by clinicians, but by housing, planning, transport and the design of places.
As care moves closer to home, the debate asks: can healthcare, urban planning and the built environment truly align to support healthier communities, or does this vision risk fragmentation and inequality?17.45Closing remarksWelcome drinks reception
Britten Room
Hosted and supported by
18.00 - 20.30Welcome drinks reception, exhibition, Video+Poster Gallery -
08.00 - Registration opens
Opening keynote plenary
Fleming Room
Supported by
08.45 - 10.15Session 18- Opening keynote plenary
Jaime Bishop
Chair, Architects for Health, UKJaime is a director at Fleet Architects and chair of Architects for Health, and a proven project designer, competition winner and studio leader. During his professional career he has been responsible for multiple projects with values ranging between £8 and £120 million and was one of three associate directors responsible for the management of a 65-person firm under a managing director. He is an experienced all-round designer with specialist skills in healthcare and has sat on the executive board of Architects for Health (AfH) since 2006. He has significant experience as the lead architect in major PFI schemes, including the preparation of a reference project for a $2 billion teaching hospital in Adelaide, Australia. He has been a visiting tutor at various universities since 2002, including Nottingham, Cardiff and London Metropolitan. Since 2012, Jaime Bishop and Richard Henson have been teaching third-year degree level students at London South Bank University and established their studio, the Transpontine Laboratory, based at the university, in 2014. Jaime was educated at the Royal College of Art, Bath University and the TU Delft Highrise Scholarship. He has been ARB registered and a member of RIBA since 2006. He is a recognised figure in the healthcare sector with connections throughout the industry. Jaime has detailed knowledge of traditional and private finance initiative (PFI) contracts, fee negotiation and project cost control. Jaime has sat on the board of the City and Hackney NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and social enterprise East London Integrated Care. He has also served as an elected governor at the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.08.45Opening remarksJaime Bishop
Chair, Architects for Health, UKJaime is a director at Fleet Architects and chair of Architects for Health, and a proven project designer, competition winner and studio leader. During his professional career he has been responsible for multiple projects with values ranging between £8 and £120 million and was one of three associate directors responsible for the management of a 65-person firm under a managing director. He is an experienced all-round designer with specialist skills in healthcare and has sat on the executive board of Architects for Health (AfH) since 2006. He has significant experience as the lead architect in major PFI schemes, including the preparation of a reference project for a $2 billion teaching hospital in Adelaide, Australia. He has been a visiting tutor at various universities since 2002, including Nottingham, Cardiff and London Metropolitan. Since 2012, Jaime Bishop and Richard Henson have been teaching third-year degree level students at London South Bank University and established their studio, the Transpontine Laboratory, based at the university, in 2014. Jaime was educated at the Royal College of Art, Bath University and the TU Delft Highrise Scholarship. He has been ARB registered and a member of RIBA since 2006. He is a recognised figure in the healthcare sector with connections throughout the industry. Jaime has detailed knowledge of traditional and private finance initiative (PFI) contracts, fee negotiation and project cost control. Jaime has sat on the board of the City and Hackney NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and social enterprise East London Integrated Care. He has also served as an elected governor at the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.09.00Health policy reform and the infrastructure imperative: UK and global perspectives
Nigel Edwards
Chair, advisory group, PPL; Expert advisor, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, UK09.25Resilience, renewal and regeneration: A national perspective on UK healthcare infrastructure
Simon Corben
Director and head of profession, NHS Estates, NHS England and NHS Improvement, UKAfter some 16 years in the private sector, advising the NHS and successfully growing and managing a team of property, clinical planning consultants and analysts, Simon returned to the public sector in 2017 to lead the Estates and Facilities function across the NHS, which now includes both the secondary and primary care sectors. The role at NHS England is one he relishes, building on the Carter Implementation Programme and Naylor Review. Following initial success delivering the Model Hospital and efficiency savings, he is taking forward and broadening out the NHS Estates agenda. This includes the primary care estate, the ProCure23 construction framework, and delivery of the Health Infrastructure Programmes announced by the prime minister in 2019. Most recently, he led the NHS Estates response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the delivery of seven Nightingale hospitals alongside improved clinical infrastructure resilience across the existing estate. Since joining the NHS in May 2017, Simon has recruited a team aligned to the seven core initiatives of: commercial acumen; policy; workforce; sustainability; operational efficiency; standardisation, strategy and capital; and operational delivery. In doing so, Simon and the team have: • delivered both additional capital funding and investment into the NHS; • reinstated the NHS estates Standards and Guidance programme; • improved assurance of NHS estates safety, effectiveness and governance through the updating and mandatory implementation of the NHS Premises Assurance Model (NHS PAM); and • reconfigured and expanded the NHS Estates Division to cover primary care and regional teams; An accredited Gateway reviewer and project director, Simon understands the need for commercial, innovative and deliverable solutions. In his role at NHS England, he is using his skills and experiences to bring fresh ideas and drive to improve the quality and efficiency of estates and facilities management across the NHS.Resilience, renewal and regeneration: A national perspective on UK healthcare infrastructure
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This keynote will explore how national healthcare systems are embracing long-term, strategic infrastructure planning to build resilience, drive renewal, and generate lasting value. The UK perspective will highlight the £119 billion infrastructure plan, the New Hospitals Programme, and the publication of Estatecode, while the international counterpart will share insights from a system that has successfully made the mindset shift. Together, the speakers will reflect on how healthcare estates can become anchors in their communities, support integrated care, and deliver social and economic value beyond the hospital walls.
The UK’s healthcare estate stands at a pivotal moment. With the Government’s long-term infrastructure plan committing £119 billion over the next decade, £24 billion of which is allocated to the New Hospitals Programme, we have a rare opportunity to reshape the future of healthcare environments. With a four-year capital settlement in place, resilience in planning is not just desirable, it is essential.
This moment demands a shift from reactive, single-year capital allocation to strategic, multi-year development control. Over the past decade, the NHS has spent approximately £80 billion in capital, yet liabilities have increased, underscoring the cost of fragmented investment and the absence of robust planning frameworks. The publication of the new Estatecode marks a turning point, embedding strong development control plans and commercial asset management principles to guide smarter, more sustainable decision-making.
Resilience in this context means designing healthcare infrastructure that can withstand political, economic and environmental shifts. Our planning must transcend electoral cycles, ensuring that the foundations we lay today are resilient enough to support the NHS’s long-term vision, regardless of future shifts in policy or leadership, offering stability and long-term value for the NHS estate. These foundations must also enable delivery of the three major health shifts outlined in the Ten-Year Plan: moving care closer to home; integrating services; and harnessing digital innovation.
Renewal is not just about new buildings; it’s about renewing our mindset. Acute hospitals must evolve into anchor institutions, supporting the development of neighbourhood health centres and integrated care hubs. This wider lens enables us to build not just facilities but communities, embedding social value through local employment, inclusive procurement, and sustainable construction.
Generation speaks to legacy. The capital we deploy today must generate lasting value: digitally enabled, low-carbon, high-productivity environments that serve future generations. Automation and data-driven asset management offer new frontiers for efficiency and resilience. By embracing these tools, we can de-risk current practices and unlock smarter, more responsive estates.
This is a call to action. We must act now: collaboratively, strategically, and boldly, to ensure that our healthcare infrastructure is not only fit for today but ready for tomorrow. Through resilient planning, renewed purpose and generative investment, we can transform the NHS estate into a catalyst for health, equity and sustainability across the UK.
Learning Objectives
- Share strategic approaches to long-term capital planning
- Compare international models of resilient healthcare infrastructure
- Inspire cross-border learning and collaboration
09.50Panel discussion10.15 - 10.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networkingArchitects for Health networking programmeKnowledge + Innovation Theatre programmeSelect a Stream
- Stream 6Planning, partnering and delivery
- Stream 7Intersection of clinical medicine and design
- Stream 8Health planning and investment
- Stream 9Tertiary care
- Stream 10Art and architecture
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Planning, partnering and delivery
Fleming Room
10.45 - 12.30Session 19- Delivering national hospital programmes at system scale
Matthew Holmes
Global solutions director, health infrastructure, Jacobs, AustraliaMatthew Holmes is a chartered U.K. and French registered architect who leads Jacobs’ Global Health infrastructure business. After completing his professional training in the U.K., he worked in mainland Europe for 10 years working on a range of health projects. With the completion of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Clermont-Ferrand in France in 2011 he relocated to Australia where he has been instrumental in leading the Jacobs’ health advisory and design teams across a wide range of health projects across the world. His more recent work includes new facilities supporting the delivery of health services in rural locations across Australia, New Zealand and Kiribati through to the planning and design of major tertiary facilities such as the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide.10.45Strengthening service collaboration and sustainability – New Zealand context
Nick Baker
National clinical lead for health service delivery planning, Te Whatu Ora, New ZealandDr Nick Baker is chief medical officer for Nelson Marlborough and a community and general paediatrician. He has held leadership roles, including president of the Paediatric Society of New Zealand, chair of the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee, and interim national chief medical officer. His interests include health system design, clinical leadership, child health policy, and advocacy. Nick is currently on a secondment into the role of National Clinical Lead for Health Service Delivery Planning.Strengthening service collaboration and sustainability – New Zealand context
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Background: The healthcare landscape in New Zealand faces significant challenges with a widely distributed and often sparse population and varied geography. Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora inherited a large collection of district, regional, and national services that evolved over time independent of one another.
Current position: Challenges with current services often arise where they are not at the right scale for the workload and community they serve. Some are using a model more suited to a larger centre, while others are struggling to manage a workload for which they were never designed.
The impacts of these problems include unstable services with gaps; difficulties accessing care; inequity of health outcomes; inability to meet health targets; high costs of additional duties; difficulties with staff recruitment and retention; problems planning future workforce and training pipelines; missed opportunities for regional and national working; difficulties planning for infrastructure; and high-cost equipment.
Improvement approach: This paper outlines a vision for sustainable, collaborative healthcare delivery that focuses on patient-centred, multi-campus service delivery within programmes of integrated care. The frameworks define a five-step cyclical process to deliver programmes of integrated care to achieve equitable outcomes with smooth patient journeys. Collaboration across teams with defined support and communication obligations supports the workforce to deliver at top of scope. A workforce optimisation process develops the right balance between professional groups, generalism and specialism, and training pipelines. With these elements in place, the geography of care delivery and health infrastructure distribution can be planned.
Results: The service-level framework contains six levels of service, from core primary and community care to tertiary and quaternary care, which must collaborate within each programme of integrated care. Examples of regional and national outcomes that enhance service sustainability, improve access, and support equity of health outcomes are described. A novel Obstetric Services Index was developed to support access to procedural obstetrics.
The implementation of the frameworks is resulting in more stable services, reduced gaps in care, improved equity of health outcomes, and lower costs. A key principle is bringing care as close to home as possible with a model of disseminated care delivery.
Conclusion: This work presents a comprehensive approach to strengthening service collaboration in New Zealand's healthcare system. By addressing current challenges and emphasising integrated care, regional and national planning, and digital investment, the frameworks create a joined-up whole-of-system approach to sustainable and equitable healthcare for the future.
Learning Objectives
- Services that people use together or in sequence must be organized into programmes of integrated care that are easy to use if we are to achieve equity of outcomes
- The future includes a return to more generalism in health care delivery
- Health professionals must collaborate to support the care of people they may never see if they are to optimize their effectiveness
11.00Building hospitals better – health infrastructure delivery in New Zealand
Jorge Anaya
Principal, health architecture, Jacobs, New ZealandJorge Anaya is a health architect with more than 20 years of experience, based in New Zealand, specialising in the planning and design of healthcare infrastructure across New Zealand and Australia. Working within a multidisciplinary team of architects and health planners, he focuses on programme-based approaches to hospital delivery and the integration of standardised design methodologies. Jorge is currently involved in the development and implementation of Health New Zealand’s Building Hospitals Better programme and its national Kit of Parts across multiple hospital campuses.
Margo Kyle
Group manager, National Health Facility Planning, Health New Zealand, New ZealandWith over 25 years of experience in the health sector and more than a decade dedicated to health infrastructure, Margo is a passionate and purpose-driven strategic health planner committed to creating sustainable, efficient, and patient-centred healthcare environments. Margo's work is guided by a deep understanding of clinical needs, operational realities, and long-term community outcomes transforming health services through strategic planning and thoughtful infrastructure development. Her focus is on ensuring health infrastructure is standardised, resilient, and future-ready. Margo brings specialist expertise in interpreting and evaluating health services and data to inform strategic briefing and physical planning processes. She excels at aligning clinical requirements with functional design outcomes, ensuring a seamless integration of operational needs into the built environment.
Simon Trotter
Project director, Health NZ, New ZealandSimon Trotter is a project director in Health New Zealand’s Infrastructure and Investment Group, leading major hospital redevelopment projects across the country. He plays a key role in shaping national procurement and delivery strategies under the Building Hospitals Better framework, with a focus on standardisation, staged delivery, and building long-term strategic partnerships. Simon’s background spans complex capital projects, commercial strategy, and governance. Outside of Health NZ, he serves as deputy chair of the Council for Volunteer Service Abroad, bringing a strong commitment to service and community impact.Building hospitals better – health infrastructure delivery in New Zealand
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New Zealand’s Building Hospitals Better programme has been established by Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) to secure delivery of a large pipeline of health infrastructure in a small, capacity-constrained market. It replaces isolated, bespoke hospital projects with a programme-based model delivering “market-sized” tranches of work across multiple campuses. A core element is a national Kit of Parts – a family of standardised, site-agnostic building typologies, including a flexible, demand-led rural hospital concept designed for phased, scalable development.
Purpose: This paper describes the development and early implementation of the Kit of Parts within Building Hospitals Better and examines how it is being used to align national service planning, clinical models and campus redevelopment at Palmerston North, Tauranga and Hawke’s Bay hospitals, alongside a prototype flexible rural hospital typology.
Methods: A practice-based approach has been adopted, combining national clinical service and campus planning frameworks with programme-level governance and procurement innovations. In partnership with Health New Zealand, we have developed a Kit of Parts comprising standardised building typologies with optimised planning and technical strategies, designed to be independent of specific sites and compatible with modern methods of construction. The typologies are grounded in AusHFG units and standard components and are being iteratively applied and refined through live redevelopment projects. Scaled variants (e.g. S/M/L) and a modular rural hospital configuration enable phased addition of units in response to clinical priorities, demand projections and funding availability, supporting right-sizing of clinical units and standardised clinical and logistics flows.
Results and implications: Although formal outcome data are not yet available, early implementation is demonstrating several practice benefits: greater consistency in planning key clinical functions across campuses; clearer translation of national clinical models into repeatable building forms; and improved feasibility of staged, modular redevelopment on constrained existing sites and rural locations. The approach is also establishing a platform for anticipated reductions in delivery timeframes, improved cost certainty compared with recent new-build trends, and better national alignment of models of care, directly supporting the themes of population health, health planning and investment, and the intersection of design and clinical medicine. Building Hospitals Better illustrates how a small health system can use a programme-based approach and a national Kit of Parts to create a scalable, resilient hospital delivery model under capital and market constraints, offering lessons for other jurisdictions seeking to move from isolated “mega-projects” to portfolio-based investment in tertiary, regional and rural health infrastructure.Learning Objectives
- Describe the rationale and structure of New Zealand’s Building Hospitals Better programme and its relationship to population health, national health planning and investment in a capacity-constrained market
- Explain the design and technical characteristics of a national hospital Kit of Parts – including a flexible, demand-led rural hospital typology – and how it supports alignment between clinical models of care, campus redevelopment and staged, modular delive
- Identify governance, procurement and partnership arrangements that enable programme-based delivery using standardised, MMC-compatible building typologies, and consider how these arrangements and tools might be adapted for their own jurisdictions.
11.15Designing resilient healthcare systems in seismic and climatic extremes: Insights from Peru’s National Hospital Programme
Ignacio Higueras Hare
Ambassador of Peru to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Peru
Stephen Herbert
Regional director of healthcare architecture, AECOM, United KingdomAs the regional director of healthcare architecture at AECOM, Stephen leads a team of talented architects and designers who deliver innovative and sustainable solutions for a diverse range of healthcare projects in the UK, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He has over 25 years of architectural experience, with a focus on healthcare for more than 15 years.
Jason Pearson
Director of healthcare and science architecture, AECOM, United KingdomJason is passionate about delivering inspirational healthcare architecture that provides the very best therapeutic environments to enhance patient, visitor and staff experiences. He has over 16 years of sector experience working collaboratively with key stakeholders on major healthcare schemes, from masterplanning and concept design to identifying complex healthcare solutions to deliver high-quality and innovative clinical facilities. He has led AECOM’s UK & Ireland healthcare architecture team since 2017, working across the region on a wide range of facilities, including community health centres, acute hospitals, critical care centres, mental health facilities, children’s hospitals, and specialist maternity schemes. Jason led the design team that delivered the overarching estate masterplan vision for Oxford University Hospital; led the winning scheme for the new Moorfields and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology RIBA competition; led a new ambulatory diagnostic centre for Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust; and has provided peer review support on the new Belfast Maternity and Children’s Royal Victoria Hospital in Northern Ireland.Michael Toner
Regional director, AECOM, United KingdomTBC
Adam Bradshaw
Technical director, AECOM, United Kingdom
Richard Mann
Head of social infrastructure, AECOM, United KingdomRichard has 25 years' experience gained while working for client organisations, contractors and design consultants. During this time he has worked in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US, delivering a number of high-profile projects across a variety of sectors. He is passionate about good building design. Richard brings the knowledge from the diverse projects he has delivered to ensure process improvement, quality and value-driven efficiency in design are at the core of the projects he supports.Designing resilient healthcare systems in seismic and climatic extremes: Insights from Peru’s National Hospital Programme
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In a country where seismic shocks and climate extremes threaten lives and infrastructure, Peru is delivering one of the largest health investment programmes globally, a new generation of acute hospitals designed to withstand earthquakes, floods, and rapid urbanisation, and strengthening population health systems for over 34 million Peruvians.
The hospital designs for Piura, Trujillo, and Abancay, developed collaboratively with PRONIS while drawing on AECOM's major hospital delivery experience, offer an opportunity to redefine how health systems are planned, designed, and governed for resilience at both facility and population-health scales.
This abstract introduces an integrated model for health system resilience, developed through collaboration under the UK–Peru Government-to-Government framework. By combining Peruvian regulatory standards (NTS 119, RNE) with UK healthcare design guidance (HBN/HTM), the programme delivers hospitals that go beyond structural safety. These facilities are conceived as regional health anchors, supporting prevention, emergency preparedness, and continuity of care, while strengthening population health networks and long-term system resilience.
Through risk-aware planning, modular clinical zoning, and climate-smart healthcare design strategies, these hospitals act as adaptive hubs within a broader population-health ecosystem. They strengthen primary care networks, enable rapid emergency response, and maintain uninterrupted operations during earthquakes, heatwaves, and extreme rainfall, delivering resilience at both facility and system levels.
Building system-wide resilience
Beyond physical design, this programme establishes a new paradigm for sustainable health service investment and governance in politically volatile environments. The G2G Agreement between the United Kingdom and Peru provides a stable framework of assurance, transparency, and delivery oversight that reduces systemic risk and enables consistent, evidence-based decision-making across complex, multi-year projects.
This governance model strengthens institutional capacity within PRONIS, enhances quality assurance of national capital investment, and forms a replicable foundation for improving equity, quality improvement and long-term health system resilience.
The paper illustrates:
• integrating population-health planning linking acute care, community health services, telemedicine and preventive programmes;
• mitigating seismic and climatic risks through strategies including base-isolation, elevated platforms, flood resilience and passive environmental design;
• enhancing adaptability and operational resilience through modular expansion, flexible clinical adjacencies, digital integration and surge capacity planning;
• funding, delivery and governance innovations that support transparency, equity and sustainable, long-term system strengthening.
• replicable lessons for regions globally facing climatic extremes, rapid urbanisation and institutional instability.Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate how seismic and climate resilient design integrates with population health-driven service planning.
- Present new funding and governance models that reinforce system-wide resilience in uncertain political and climatic contexts.
- Share practical design strategies for adaptable, prevention-focused hospitals embedded within community health ecosystems.
Additional papers to be confirmed12.15Panel discussion12.30 - 14.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking14.00 - 15.30Session 20- Resilience by Design: the H2.0 Alliance and Partnership model
Natalie Forrest
Chief operating officer, New Hospital Programme (NHS England), UK14.00Resilience by design – how the H2.0 Alliance and Partnership model is enabling scalable delivery, organisational renewal, and the regeneration of hospital infrastructure across England
Rick Lennard
Executive commercial director, New Hospital Programme, UK
Emma Whigham
Alliance operations director, New Hospital Programme, UKResilience by design – how the H2.0 Alliance and Partnership model is enabling scalable delivery, organisational renewal, and the regeneration of hospital infrastructure across England
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A senior leadership panel exploring what NHP delivery means for resilience and regeneration in both infrastructure and delivery capability.
The key themes will be focused around:
• delivery at scale;
• partnership in action;
• digital and clinical design integration;
• sustainable and future-proof hospital design; and
• regeneration of NHS infrastructure.15.30 - 16.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking16.00 - 17.00Session 21- Delivering major hospital transformation
Chris Liddle
Group chair, HLM Group, UKChris is HLM Group chair and Strategic director of HLM's custodial, justice and defence sectors. He is hands-on in many of HLM's flagship projects and a champion of social architecture.16.00John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct 2025Esme Banks Marr
Strategy director, BVN, UKEsme is strategy director at BVN. She specialises in the intersection of human behaviour and the built environment. With a career spanning design, research, communications, and business intelligence, she translates data into actionable insights that shape the future of spaces and places. Esme has worked across diverse sectors, exploring how strategic briefing influences outcomes at every scale – from individual wellbeing to system-wide efficiency. Her expertise lies in bridging gaps between disciplines, ensuring environments are not just functional but deeply responsive to human needs. She is passionate about understanding how people interact with space and how this, in turn, impacts experience. A recognised commentator on the built environment, Esme has contributed to global conversations and publications on design and strategy, the future of work, sustainability and regeneration, and digital transformation. Committed to breaking down industry silos, Esme integrates research, data, and strategy with design, to create holistic and future-focused environments. Her work ensures that the built environment evolves in a way that enhances both human experience and organisational outcomes.
Kirstie Irwin
Principal, BVN, AustraliaRecently appointed BVN principal, Kirstie Irwin has over 20 years’ experience delivering technically complex healthcare projects in Australia and the UK. She is a strong conceptual thinker who has played critical roles in developing designs for many notable health projects. Kirstie has successfully led clinical and architectural teams to deliver projects with clarity and attention to detail. Kirstie's expertise spans masterplanning, health, aged care, mixed-use residential, and commercial schemes. She brings local and international perspectives to a project’s clinical planning and design, meeting key objectives while reflecting evidence-based design principles and best global practice. Every health project becomes an opportunity to enable collective thinking and embody a regenerative approach. Her goal is to achieve high-quality design initiatives that improve user experiences while enhancing the physical environment.Matthew Blair
Principal, BVN, United KingdomMatthew is an architect, technologist and principal at BVN, acknowledged for his cross-sector expertise and his ability to apply current and novel technologies and future of work knowledge to redefine spaces across industries such as health, education, and science. With a career spanning Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, North America, and the UK, Matthew now leads BVN’s UK studio, bringing a global perspective to his work. Passionate about driving change, Matthew also steers many of BVN’s transformational and innovation initiatives, collaborating with universities, start-ups, and other architectural practices to expand the boundaries of what architecture can achieve. His work reflects a deep understanding of how insights from workplace design can inform and enhance other sectors, from healthcare to life sciences, creating environments that foster collaboration, adaptability, and human connection.John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct 2025
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Opening in 2025, the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct (JHHIP) represents one of the most significant recent hospital redevelopments in Australia, marking a major transformation of one of New South Wales’ busiest tertiary hospitals. This presentation will explore the design and delivery of the new acute services building (ASB) – a seven-storey, 40,000 m² clinical facility that expands and redefines services for a rapidly growing region projected to increase its population by 22 per cent by 2036.
The session will outline how the project responds to increasing demand across emergency, maternity, neonatal and intensive care services. The new ASB increases emergency department capacity by more than 50 per cent, accommodates over 95,000 presentations annually, expands ICU capacity by 60 per cent, and delivers substantial growth in surgical capacity with 50 per cent more theatres. These clinical upgrades are framed within an ambition to create a future-oriented, highly resilient hospital that improves operational flows while strengthening connections to the existing hospital campus and the surrounding community.
A distinctive feature of the John Hunter Health & Innovation Precinct is its research-led, human-centred approach to patient wellbeing, with particular focus on the patient bedroom as the most critical space for recovery. The design process drew on patient, carer, and staff insights to embed emotional support principles without compromising clinical safety. Full-scale prototypes were tested with clinicians, allied health teams, and medical emergency simulations, ensuring functionality while strengthening comfort, dignity, and resilience. Collaborative design strategies – including practice-wide innovation challenges, targeted consultations, and rigorous value assessment – combined to create bedrooms that support emotional wellbeing, demonstrating how evidence-based, creative design can transform healthcare environments.
The presentation will also examine how a 'Designing with Country' approach guided the project’s cultural and environmental outcomes. Drawing on the knowledge and values of the Awabakal people, the design strengthens ecological connections, enhances access to existing cultural pathways, and incorporates materials and landscape gestures that honour Country and community. These principles were instrumental in shaping the architectural identity and the broader precinct vision. Sustainability was central to the project’s intent, with passive design strategies, extensive daylighting, landscape-integrated water management, and reduced operational energy supporting the local health district’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. As a major new hospital opening its doors in 2025, JHHIP provides timely lessons on how contemporary acute facilities can be conceived not only as centres of clinical excellence but also as places of healing, community connection and environmental leadership.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how the Acute Services Building expands emergency, ICU, maternity and surgical capacity to meet regional growth while strengthening operational flow and connections across the wider hospital campus and community
- Evaluate how human‑centred, research‑led design uses evidence‑based strategies and interdisciplinary collaboration to shape patient bedrooms and clinical environments that enhance comfort, dignity, resilience and overall wellbeing
- Analyse how Designing with Country and sustainability principles use cultural knowledge, ecological connections and passive environmental strategies to shape architectural identity, strengthen community integration and guide health precinct development
16.20Architecture of care: Designing a resilient urban hospital for human renewal
Juan Portuese
Partner, DIALOG, CanadaJuan Carlos is an award-winning architect with extensive experience delivering complex institutional projects across healthcare, civic, academic, and community sectors in Canada, the United States, and internationally. Juan’s work is grounded in a deep understanding of architecture as both a technical and cultural discipline. He has led and contributed to projects of significant scale and complexity, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to deliver environments that perform under real operational, regulatory, and social demands. His work focuses on projects where architecture carries real consequence, shaping how care is delivered, how institutions earn trust, and how communities experience clarity, dignity, and belonging. Juan Carlos balances rigour, accountability, and high-performance design with a strong commitment to environmental stewardship, pursuing architecture that endures, responds to climate, and supports a low-carbon future. Known as a collaborative leader, he unites clients, consultants, constructors, and communities around shared goals, creating distinct, context-specific solutions that advance both design excellence and architectural thinking.
Diego Morettin
Partner, DIALOG, CanadaDiego is an accomplished architect, driven by a strong belief in the transformative power of design to enhance community wellbeing. He specialises in large, complex institutional and healthcare environments, guiding multidisciplinary teams and diverse stakeholder groups towards clear, balanced, and human-centred solutions. His work reflects a deep commitment to addressing complex organisational challenges while delivering meaningful social impact. A collaborative and team-oriented leader, Diego is dedicated to mentoring emerging architects and fostering a culture of shared learning and design excellence. Grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the architectural process, from early visioning through delivery, he integrates diverse perspectives into cohesive, purposeful outcomes. His inclusive leadership style and strategic clarity have earned industry-wide respect and resulted in a body of work that leaves a lasting impact on both communities and the profession.
Chen Cohen
Partner, DIALOG, CanadaCohen (who goes by her last name) is an award-winning designer recognised for her expertise in large-scale, complex institutional projects. With a background in both interior design and architecture, she brings a holistic perspective to her work, shaping buildings from the inside out. Her projects are defined by a refined interplay of light, thoughtful material selection, strategic use of colour, and carefully curated furnishings that work in harmony to elevate the overall spatial experience. Known for her methodical, hands-on, and highly collaborative approach from early concept through completion, Cohen translates clients’ visions and aspirations into elevated, enduring design solutions that are both timeless and beautiful. Her commitment to equitable and universal design is integral to her process. She leads explorations around cultural, physical, and gender sensitivities, ensuring that each project meaningfully supports and enhances the user experience.Architecture of care: Designing a resilient urban hospital for human renewal
Abstract Copy
To respond to accelerating clinical complexity, workforce pressures, and rapid technological change, hospitals must be designed for performance, adaptability, and the renewal of human capacity. The Surgical and Patient Tower at Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), designed by DIALOG for University Health Network, offers a case study in how architecture can integrate clinical planning with artful, human-centred design to sustain performance, restore wellbeing, and support complex care in an uncertain future.
TWH occupies a unique role as a quaternary care, research, and teaching hospital while serving as a community hospital embedded within the culturally rich and historic downtown Toronto. The new 15-storey, 380,000 sq ft tower expands surgical and inpatient capacity with 20 ORs, including three hybrid ORs, and 82 inpatient beds supporting complex neuroscience and orthopaedic care. Beyond capacity, the project addresses a deeper question: how can the built environment actively renew the emotional, cognitive, and physical wellbeing of those who give and receive care?
Designing for human renewal: The design centres on shaping the patient and staff journey through form, material, light, art, and spatial experience. Architecture and interior design are used to create clarity within complexity, offering intuitive orientation, visual calm, and moments of relief within high-acuity settings. A welcoming ground plane establishes a civic threshold between city and hospital while warm, tactile materials and soft geometries counterbalance the technical intensity of surgical and inpatient spaces. Carefully choreographed circulation, supported by daylight and views, reduces cognitive load and reinforces dignity for patients, families, and staff alike.
Wellbeing as an operational imperative: Access to natural light, views, and outdoor space extends across patient, clinical, and support areas, acknowledging the role of environment in staff performance, retention, and recovery. Healing gardens, an elevated outdoor terrace, and restorative family spaces are integrated into the hospital’s vertical life, embedding opportunities for pause and reflection within daily clinical routines.
Design-led resilience: Advanced construction methodologies support delivery and long-term adaptability, including a prefabricated modular exterior building envelope that enables schedule certainty without compromising architectural intent. These strategies serve the design vision rather than define it, allowing industrialised systems to co-exist with a humane, contextually grounded architectural language capable of renewing the emotional, psychological, and cultural foundations of tertiary care.
The TWH Surgical and Patient Tower illustrates how clarity of planning, adaptability of space, and sustained attention to human experience together create resilient healthcare environments by continuously supporting the people who must navigate it.Learning Objectives
- Understand how architectural and interior design strategies, through form, materiality, light, art, and spatial experience, can actively support human renewal, wellbeing, and performance in high-acuity tertiary healthcare environments.
- Examine how design-led integration of clinical planning, patient flow, and staff workflows can create clarity within complex hospital settings, enhancing dignity, efficiency, and resilience for patients, families, and care teams.
- Explore how architectural intent, supported by adaptable construction and delivery strategies, can enable resilient healthcare environments that sustain emotional, psychological, and cultural foundations of care amid ongoing clinical & technological change
16.40Panel discussionEnd of Planning, partnering and delivery stream -
Intersection of clinical medicine and design
Westminster Room
Supported by
08.45 - 10.15Session 23- Reimagining urgent and emergency care
Cemal Sozener
Clinical professor, Emergency Department and Emergency Critical Care Center, University of Michigan, USADr. Sozener practices as clinical professor in the Emergency Department and Emergency Critical Care Center at the University of Michigan. With fellowship training in the care of neurologically injured patients, he also serves as a member of the stroke and telestroke teams. He leads multiple departmental and institutional initiatives; all aimed at improving operational efficiency and quality clinical care. He is the co-director of the Michigan Comprehensive Stroke Program and associate director of the Michigan Telestroke Program. In addition to rich hospital operations experience, his passion is in lean facility design and the intersection of healthcare engineering, operations, technology and patient safety. He is one of a very small number of practicing physicians internationally with EDAC credentials. As co-principal of Emerging Healthcare Design, the consulting firm he co-founded, Cemal utilizes his extensive clinical and lean operational expertise to optimize care delivery models and design facilities to enhance efficiency, staff satisfaction and improve clinical care.08.45Urgent treatment centres – the evolving model of frontline care
Sharon Cook
Architect and healthcare lead, P+HS Architects, United KingdomA senior architect at P+HS and one of the practice's healthcare leads, Sharon has over 12 years' experience of working on projects in the healthcare sector. Sharon’s expertise covers a wide range working for a cross-section of NHS trusts and private clients, leading on projects ranging in scale from small refurbishments through to larger new build schemes. Equipped with a broad range of skills Sharon has a passion for stakeholder engagement and also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Construction Project Management. Recent experience includes pathology labs, endoscopy departments, and urgent treatment centres, as well as a new-build health and care academy encompassing a primary care centre, nursing school, training and conference facility, She is also currently working on a new clinical trials unit for cancer research.
Tom Potter
Associate director and healthcare lead, P+HS Architects, UKWith over 20 years of architectural experience, Tom is an associate director and healthcare lead for P+HS Architects. An enthusiastic and conscientious architect, Tom has led an extensive portfolio of projects, focusing on sustainable primary and acute healthcare developments. Recently having worked on some of the practice’s largest acute schemes, Tom has led the architectural delivery of several new urgent and emergency care schemes across the country, while other projects have included paediatric assessment, surgical departments, major trauma wards, and endoscopy services. Alongside acute schemes, Tom has worked on many primary care schemes across the country, working with developers and GPs to adapt existing buildings or provide sustainable, new-build premises. As part of the cross-office team of healthcare leads, Tom is passionate about the sector, promoting exemplary design and emerging trends, sharing best practice and specialist knowledge across the industry.Urgent treatment centres – the evolving model of frontline care
Abstract Copy
Part of the current direction for healthcare provision in line with the NHS ten-year plan is the ‘left shift’ – moving the focus away from acute sites to the community; but how does this dynamic relate to the recent trend in development of urgent treatment centres and their relationship with emergency departments on acute sites?
Exploring a selection of recent and completed projects, we will look at this evolving model of frontline care and how these facilities integrate with acute settings, adding adaptability and agility.
The review will look at the completed urgent treatment centre at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, a key development in urgent care services on Teesside, opened to patients in April 2024. This project forms part of a series of developments designed to improve patient flow, ensure patients are seen in an appropriate environment, and reduce pressure on the hospital’s emergency department. The project made use of modular construction to facilitate working on an extremely constrained site, adjacent to the helipad for the regional major trauma centre, and to assist with the challenges of working on a live hospital site, reducing disruption to the existing emergency department front door. Now in use, the scheme is already delivering a huge benefit in easing pressure on emergency care, as well as providing an enhanced patient experience through design of the interiors, creating a calming environment and fostering a sense of place and community connection with internal murals featuring local Teesside landmarks; we will reflect on the project’s success through review of post-occupancy evaluation, which has been carried out.
Additionally, we will look at two urgent treatment centre projects currently under construction: one at Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle; the other at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne. The talk will reflect on how these schemes will improve patient flows at these sites, and how learnings from the previously completed scheme have been utilised.
Learning Objectives
- Look at evolving models of urgent care
- Review feedback from completed project
- Look at how models have been applied to currently ongoing projects
09.05Redesign of existing St Mary’s Hospital adult emergency department to support effective, efficient and safe patient flow
Debbie So
Senior innovation manager, Imperial College Healthcare Partners, United KingdomDebbie So is a healthcare innovation and strategy leader. Her current role is senior innovation manager at Imperial College Healthcare Partners, with a background in strategy consultancy and partnerships from Deloitte. Debbie is passionate about taking innovations from concept to practice across large-scale public and private organisations to deliver user-centred care, including obesity pathway redesign for NW London, Covid-19 testing pathways, and the Vodafone Centre for Health. Her work was awarded Innovation, Growth & New Business Models Gold by the Financial Times and British Media Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Top 100. Debbie graduated with an MSc in Healthcare Design from Imperial College of London and an MRes from the Royal College of Arts London. Her thesis was on the redesign of a NW London-based trauma emergency department to support effective, efficient and safe patient flow.Redesign of existing St Mary’s Hospital adult emergency department to support effective, efficient and safe patient flow
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St Mary’s Hospital is a major acute hospital with an around-the-clock emergency department, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and one of four major trauma centres in London. Like many emergency departments, St Mary’s is under considerable and sustained pressures, which can impact quality of care, patient flow, and staff and patient experience. These issues are compounded by St Mary’s ageing infrastructure, where piecemeal developments and a growing maintenance backlog over the decades have created complex patient pathways, counterintuitive configurations and limitations of the building to respond to increasing and changing healthcare demands and opportunities.
Given the lack of a near-term redevelopment programme and the risk of service closures due to the current poor estate, our objective was to identify and develop options to redesign the existing St Mary’s adult emergency department to support effective, efficient and safe patient flow.
Research was grounded in human-centred design, a method of designing solutions using a ‘double diamond approach’ that centres the needs of the individuals experiencing the problem, and then ideating, prototyping, and testing the solution in iterative cycles. We used a combination of interviews, site visits, mental maps, functional relationship diagrams, patient journey maps, review of local performance data, and a literature review to develop a deep understanding of the environmental psychology of St Mary’s emergency department.
Outputs include a current state assessment and recommendations on the future state design and design principles. Our future state design provides an improved initial assessment patient journey, enhances treatment and assessment areas in majors, and supports better communication and collaboration between staff using a combined central staff work core. While it is unlikely that the future state design can be executed in its entirety, together with the design principles, it can serve as input to Imperial Trust’s redevelopment strategy and guide piecemeal enhancements.Learning Objectives
- Human centered design
- Clinical design collaboration
- Optimising patient flow
09.25A computational BIM-based spatial analysis method for the evaluation of emergency department layouts
Aysegul Ozlem Bayraktar Sari
PhD candidate / researcher, Cardiff University, United KingdomAysegul Ozlem Bayraktar Sari is a PhD candidate at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. Her research focuses on computational Building Information Modelling (BIM) based methods for spatial analysis in healthcare environments. She develops graph-based and visibility-driven workflows integrating Revit, Dynamo, and Python to evaluate accessibility, integration, privacy, and movement patterns in emergency department layouts. Her work aims to embed spatial performance analysis directly within the BIM environment to support evidence-based design decision-making in complex healthcare settings. She has presented her research at international conferences and has published in peer-reviewed journals. Her broader interests include computational design, graph-based analysis, digital twins, and data- and learning-driven approaches in architecture, particularly in relation to healthcare design and performance-oriented environments.
Wassim Jabi
Professor and chair of computational methods in architecture, Cardiff University, United KingdomProfessor Wassim Jabi is course director of the MSc Computational Methods in Architecture at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, UK. He received his MArch and PhD from the University of Michigan and taught at several universities in the United States before moving to the UK in 2008. While in the US, he secured a $250,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant as principal investigator. He has published extensively on parametric and generative design, spatial representation, the role of light in architecture, and building performance simulation. He is the author of Parametric Design for Architecture (Laurence King Publishing, London). In 2013, he obtained £70,000 in internal competitive funding to acquire a six-axis high-accuracy industrial robot for research into digital fabrication processes. More recently, he led a £300,000 Leverhulme Trust–funded project investigating spatial topology in Building Information Modelling (BIM), resulting in the development of the Topologic software library.A computational BIM-based spatial analysis method for the evaluation of emergency department layouts
Abstract Copy
Emergency departments (EDs) are complex, high-pressure settings where spatial layout directly influences operational efficiency, clinical decision-making, patient experience, and staff wellbeing. Despite the central role of spatial configuration, healthcare design practice still lacks integrated, data-driven tools capable of evaluating spatial performance directly within building information modelling (BIM). Current approaches typically rely on exporting geometry to external analysis software, resulting in fragmented workflows, data loss, and limited applicability to early design decision-making. This study addresses these limitations by presenting a BIM-based computational workflow that embeds spatial network analysis within the design environment to support evidence-based evaluation of ED layouts.
The workflow integrates Revit, Dynamo, Python, and the AVA spatial analysis library to analyse accessibility, visibility, connectivity, and privacy. Spatial graphs are automatically extracted from BIM geometry and used to compute a suite of spatial metrics, including step-depth, metric distance, connectivity, integration, visual integration, visual choice, and isovist-based measures. To reflect real operational conditions, key patient and staff pathways – including entrance–waiting–triage–treatment and ambulance-to-resuscitation routes – are modelled to assess how spatial configuration shapes movement, communication, and situational awareness.
Applied to two contrasting real-world ED floor plans in the UK, the workflow demonstrates how corridor alignment, room clustering, door positioning, and sightline interruptions significantly affect movement efficiency, wayfinding clarity, staff visibility, bottleneck formation, and patient privacy. Comparative results highlight that small geometric variations can lead to meaningful differences in travel distance, depth from entrance, visual control of critical spaces, and the protection of sensitive patient areas. The BIM-native implementation enables rapid iteration and scenario testing, eliminating repetitive import–export cycles and ensuring fidelity between design intent and analytical output.
Embedding spatial analysis directly into BIM offers a scalable, transparent, and repeatable approach for evaluating ED layouts. The workflow enhances early-stage design exploration, supports evidence-based investment and planning decisions, and strengthens post-occupancy evaluation by linking performance insights back to the digital model. By integrating spatial reasoning, healthcare design knowledge, and computational modelling, this research contributes a practical method for improving the design and redesign of emergency departments. It also establishes a foundation for future integration with digital twins, simulation models, and machine learning to support continuous performance monitoring and adaptive healthcare environments.
Learning Objectives
- To demonstrate how a computational BIM-based workflow can evaluate emergency department layouts using evidence-based spatial performance metrics.
- To show how step-depth, integration, and visibility metrics reveal bottlenecks, flow inefficiencies, and privacy risks along patient and staff pathways.
- To explain how embedding spatial analysis directly in BIM enables rapid design iteration and supports data-driven decision-making in healthcare architecture.
09.45Panel discussion10.15 - 10.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking10.45 - 12.30Session 24- Designing modern surgical environments
Tom Best MBE, MD
Clinical director / Intensivist, King’s College Hospital, UKTom Best MBE, MD is Clinical director / Intensivist at King’s College Hospital, UK.10.45Operating in the park: Daylight and adaptability in the surgical environment
Edzard Schultz
Architect / Partner, heinlewischer, GermanyEdzard Schultz is a principal architect and partner of heinlewischer and spokesman for the entire office. He studied architecture at the TU Berlin. To this day, he is also involved in teaching and research, for example, at Clemson University South Carolina (USA) Architecture + Health. He is a member of the “AKG – Architekten für Krankenhausbau und Gesundheitswesen” and is active in the DIN committee. His work covers the broad spectrum of complex building tasks, primarily buildings for health, with a holistic approach from masterplanning through competitions and realisations to evaluation. He is especially interested in the structural and communicative synthesis in the architect's work.
Annette Dörr
Interior architect, heinlewischer, GermanyAnnette Doerr is an interior architect and project manager with more than 30 years of experience at heinlewischer. Throughout her career, she has led the conceptual and interior design of numerous projects in Germany and abroad, contributing significantly to the firm’s healthcare and workplace portfolio. Her expertise extends beyond practice to academia and professional discourse; she has taught seminars at the universities of Palermo and Napoli and has presented internationally on topics ranging from interior design principles to the planning and organisation of healthcare facilities. Annette served as the project manager for the surgical suite expansion at the Dortmund Hospital, North Clinical Center.
Austin Ferguson
Architect, heinlewischer, GermanyAustin Ferguson is an American architect based in heinlewischer’s Berlin office, specialising in the design and planning of healthcare facilities. With professional experience in both the United States and Germany, he brings a valuable understanding of the healthcare systems, regulatory frameworks, and design standards in both contexts. His cross-cultural expertise strengthens the firm’s local and international healthcare projects. Beyond his core work in healthcare design, Austin led the expedited planning and implementation of mass vaccination centres for the State of Berlin during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also played a key role in developing a refugee reception centre in Berlin for Ukrainians fleeing the war, contributing urgently needed expertise during a time of crisis.Operating in the park: Daylight and adaptability in the surgical environment
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Heinlewischer’s 2023 expansion of the surgical suite at Dortmund Hospital, North Clinical Center advances the firm’s long-standing commitment to innovative surgical suite design and to the incorporation of daylight. The project provides 11 new operating rooms, including two hybrid ORs, all equipped with floor-to-ceiling windows along the exterior wall. Daylight in both support areas and the ORs is carefully moderated through fixed louvres, exterior blackout shades, and translucent window film to ensure privacy for patients and to provide appropriate lighting levels for image-guided procedures. Although research on daylighting specifically in surgical environments remains limited, broader daylight studies suggest potential benefits, such as improved task performance and reduced staff fatigue, stress and errors.
The surgical suite’s modular, cluster-based organisation provides both immediate efficiency and long-term adaptability. The ORs are arranged in clusters of three, each supported by a dedicated induction room and sterile supply area to streamline workflow and resource use. Central to the suite’s flexibility is the 3-metre-deep interstitial “flex-zone”, positioned between each OR and the main circulation corridor. Rather than functioning as a typical alcove for beds or washbasins, this zone currently accommodates equipment and supply storage directly adjacent to the rooms. Additionally, the control rooms for the hybrid ORs are located within this zone.
Tall supply cabinets currently divide the flex-zone to give each OR its own dedicated area. However, these can be reconfigured or removed to create shared space for an entire OR cluster. Looking ahead, the flex-zones can support a wide range of future needs, including enlarging individual ORs, adding control rooms for advanced imaging, or creating dedicated prep or induction rooms. While such changes would require renovation rather than plug-and-play adjustments, the deliberate allocation of these flex-zones ensures that future upgrades can occur without reducing the number or functional capacity of existing operating rooms or support spaces.
Beyond the surgical suite, the overall building expansion and its structural system were planned to enable a future vertical addition to enable possible hospital growth. All mechanical services for the surgical suite are located on the basement level, directly connected to the suite. This placement ensures that a future vertical expansion would not require major service interruptions or relocation.
By integrating abundant daylight, flexible planning, and future-ready infrastructure, the Dortmund Hospital, North Clinical Center surgical suite is well positioned to adapt to evolving surgical techniques, emerging technologies, and new spatial demands for years to come.Learning Objectives
- Understand methods for incorporating daylight in the surgical environment
- Describe the modular and flexible planning strategies in surgical suite design
- Recognize how building and infrastructure planning supports long-term clinical adaptability and growth
11.05Enhancing operating theatre resilience through sensor-integrated lighting: Towards agile environmental and patient monitoring
Richard McAuley
National specification manager, Brandon Medical Co, United KingdomRichard McAuley is a highly experienced professional with a comprehensive background in technology, IT and audio-visual systems. His healthcare portfolio includes cutting-edge projects, such as surgical skills labs, integrated operating theatres, MDT facilities, endoscopy suites, and mortuaries across the UK. Notable collaborations include WMSTC, Newcastle Freeman Hospital, Keele University, and Leeds St James’s Hospital. At Brandon Medical, Richard authors master specifications that seamlessly integrate advanced technologies with the needs of healthcare professionals, estate owners, and end users, ensuring optimal outcomes for modern healthcare design.Enhancing operating theatre resilience through sensor-integrated lighting: Towards agile environmental and patient monitoring
Abstract Copy
In an era of rapid technological evolution and climate instability, healthcare facilities must prioritise agility and resilience to mitigate disruptions from workforce shortages, cyber risks, and environmental changes. Operating theatres, as high-stakes environments, demand innovative designs that bridge the gap between physical infrastructure and digital transformation. Traditional systems often lack integrated monitoring, leading to inefficiencies in energy use, air quality control, and patient data capture. We examine how advanced sensor-embedded operating theatre lighting can address these challenges, aligning with the conference theme of designing for resilience, renewal and regeneration. By focusing on science, technology, and digital transformation alongside climate-smart healthcare, we highlight opportunities to create adaptive spaces that enhance patient outcomes while reducing carbon footprints.
The study aims to demonstrate the potential of a new generation of operating theatre lights equipped with embedded sensors to enable precise, real-time monitoring of environmental factors (temperature, humidity, CO2, and particulate levels) and patient-specific metrics (body temperature and localised air quality). This integration seeks to optimise theatre efficiency, support sustainable practices, and facilitate data-driven insights for improved clinical resilience.
Drawing from practical implementations in prototype settings, the approach involves embedding multi-sensor arrays into LED-based operating theatre lights positioned directly above the surgical field. These sensors interface with intelligent control panels that unify medical devices, power systems, and building management protocols. Data streams can then be securely transmitted to healthcare databases, ensuring compliance with privacy standards. Testing in simulated operating environments assessed sensor accuracy, integration latency, and energy impacts using standardised metrics for air handling and ventilation control. AI algorithms were applied retrospectively to anonymised datasets to model correlations between environmental variables and procedural outcomes.
Initial findings indicate that sensor integration reduces response times for environmental adjustments by up to 30 per cent, enhancing ultraclean ventilation efficiency and minimising energy waste, key to net-zero carbon goals. Patient data capture showed high fidelity in tracking thermal variations, with healthcare record integration enabling holistic health profiling. AI analysis revealed preliminary trends, such as links between particulate levels and post-operative recovery rates, suggesting predictive models could reduce complications by identifying optimal conditions.
This technology exemplifies agile design by transforming static lighting systems into dynamic monitoring hubs, fostering resilience against climatic and operational uncertainties. Implications include scalable adoption for retrofitting existing theatres, promoting circular economy principles through energy-efficient upgrades, and empowering multidisciplinary teams with actionable insights. By sharing these learnings, attendees can explore adaptable strategies that prioritise patient-centred and sustainable innovation.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how embedded sensors in operating theatre lighting can enable real-time environmental and patient monitoring to foster resilient healthcare ecosystems.
- Explore integration strategies for digital technologies with building management systems and patient records to improve operational efficiency and climate-smart practices.
- Discuss potential AI-driven analyses of collected data to identify trends in patient outcomes, promoting proactive adaptations in surgical environments.
11.25One-size OR? How the ‘normal’ surgical hardware highlights barriers to equity in the operating theatre
Jessica Mudry
Professor, director, Toronto Metropolitan University, CanadaJessica Mudry is professor and chair of the School of Professional Communication and director of the Healthcare User Experience Lab (HUE) at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is a former organic chemist, and professional science communicator, media producer and researcher for the BBC and the Discovery Channel – and she continues to create for the annual World Congress of Science and Factual Producers, ZDF, and NSERC. She also holds a PhD (Communication and Rhetoric) from the University of Pittsburgh, United States. She is an annual invited professor at the École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique in France, and has completed Health Equity training at Harvard University's Medical School.One-size OR? How the ‘normal’ surgical hardware highlights barriers to equity in the operating theatre
Abstract Copy
Surgical instruments and environments are built around a morphological “normal” that excludes other-sized bodies, undermining surgical performance, training equity, and patient safety. This standardisation – rooted in outdated anthropometric norms – creates systemic ergonomic misfits that create barriers for equity and access for different sized bodies in the operating theatre (OR). This study investigated how these material inequities manifest in the OR and how inclusive design might restore adaptability, safety, and belonging within surgical practice.
This research builds on a completed project whose initial phase collected questionnaire-based testimonies from 140 surgeons across Canada and the United States. Respondents provided written reflections describing how the physical design of surgical tools and environments affected their practice, training, and wellbeing. Responses were coded thematically to identify recurring ergonomic and psychosocial patterns of misfit, exclusion, and adaptation. Collectively, the testimonies illustrate how the material culture of surgery – from instruments to workstations – reproduces gendered and morphological exclusion, creating both occupational health risks and barriers to career progression.
Survey results reveal that ergonomic misfits are endemic rather than exceptional in surgical practice. This paper will provide context and detail and future recommendations to address some of these inequities in the built environment of the OR. The current requirement of having bodies adapt is unsustainable and exclusionary and the goal is a shift from training surgeons to adapt, to redesigning tools and environments that adapt to surgeons. Inclusive, equitable, user-centred design thus becomes a key strategy for resilience and renewal – enhancing surgeon wellbeing, sustaining expertise, and safeguarding patient safety.
Learning Objectives
- Articulate the systemic inequities created by the standard-sized design of surgical instruments and spaces, specifically how they disproportionately compromise patient safety, trainee autonomy, and career advancement for surgeons with smaller hands, often
- Analyze the operational impacts of ergonomic misfit, identifying how it leads to cognitive disruption, physical strain, and fractured workflow, thereby undermining the overall agility and resilience of the surgical system.
- Evaluate the potential of participatory, evidence-based design methods—such as surgeon testimonies, Photovoice, and Design Jams—as a critical first step for co-creating equitable surgical tools, spaces, and policies that foster inclusion and safety.
11.45M Wing Modular Operating Room Expansion – advancing surgical capacity through modern methods of construction
Luke Le
Principal, NORR Architects and Engineers, CanadaSince joining NORR in 2005, Luke has been instrumental in developing the Health Sciences Studio in Toronto, ON. His commitment to building strong relationships with his clients and understanding their vision and goals has produced creative solutions. Luke is a hands-on Principal with diverse proven leadership experience as a Project Manager and Studio Manager and has led multiple projects across a multitude of healthcare facilities. He has worked to perfect the design process and protocols in partnership with project representatives and clinical leaders to solve operational and clinical challenges. Luke brings a deep understanding of healthcare practices combined with technical knowledge and business acumen, and champions positive transformational change and continuous quality improvement through project execution. Luke is passionate about helping others and reimagining how healthcare design services are executed and delivered.M Wing Modular Operating Room Expansion – advancing surgical capacity through modern methods of construction
Abstract Copy
Acute care hospitals across major urban centres face mounting pressure to expand surgical capacity while maintaining uninterrupted operations. Traditional construction approaches often intensify these challenges, introducing noise, vibration, infection-control risks, and workflow disruption – conditions that are especially difficult to manage around active operating theatres. Modern methods of construction (MMC), particularly volumetric modular construction, offer a compelling alternative that can accelerate delivery, while significantly reducing on-site impact.
This case study examines the M Wing Modular Operating Room Expansion Feasibility Study at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, one of Canada’s largest academic hospitals. The study evaluates the potential to deliver a four-suite surgical expansion through a turnkey modular solution within a dense and highly constrained campus. It explores how modular construction can mitigate the risks associated with building next to active ORs, compress schedules, and enable earlier operational readiness while meeting the stringent technical and regulatory requirements of modern surgical environments.
The feasibility process integrated clinical planning, architectural and engineering design, modular fabrication logistics, site constraints assessment, and operational risk modelling. Key focus areas included:
1. minimising disruption to adjacent ORs and critical support spaces through strategic siting and phasing;
2. capitalising on factory-controlled fabrication to enhance quality assurance and ensure precise integration of mechanical, electrical, and medical gas infrastructure; and
3. shifting intrusive construction activities off-site, thereby reducing vibration, dust, noise, and construction traffic in a live hospital setting.
Preliminary findings indicate that a modular approach can reduce on-site duration by up to 40 per cent, limit clinical disruption, and enable earlier commissioning compared to conventional construction. The approach also provides opportunities for future scalability, vertical expansion, and standardised module design, offering strategic advantages for long-term capital planning. Factory fabrication further improves schedule reliability, minimises rework, and enhances co-ordination of high-acuity clinical environments.
The M Wing study demonstrates how volumetric modular construction can redefine the delivery of complex healthcare renovations in operational hospitals – supporting increased surgical capacity without compromising patient safety, infection control, or clinical workflow. As health systems worldwide grapple with surgical backlogs, ageing infrastructure, and limited expansion zones, this case study offers a replicable model for safer, faster, and more adaptable approaches to surgical infrastructure delivery.
The feasibility study will outline the methodology, interdisciplinary collaboration model, challenges encountered, and key outcomes, illustrating how modular innovation can advance the next generation of high-acuity healthcare environments and present a replicable model for future modular surgical expansions globally.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), particularly volumetric modular construction, can minimize disruption and clinical risk when delivering surgical environments within operational hospitals.
- Evaluate the design, technical, and operational considerations necessary to deliver modular operating theatres that meet the stringent performance requirements of contemporary surgical environments.
- Apply a scalable, replicable framework for implementing modular surgical expansions across diverse healthcare contexts.
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 14.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking14.00 - 15.30Session 25- Designing for new models of care
Chair: Sasha Karakusevic BDS, MBA, Project director, NHS Horizons; Senior fellow, Nuffield Trust, UKSasha Karakusevic BDS, MBA
Project director, NHS Horizons; Senior fellow, Nuffield Trust, UKSasha has spent his career working in the NHS, initially in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery. He has spent 20 years at executive level in hospital systems and has a particular interest in the development of integrated systems. He now works for the NHS Horizons team supporting a wide range of change programmes. His current focus is on increasing the role of physical activity in health, working on a commission to support Sport England’s ‘Uniting the Movement’ strategy.14.00From fragmentation to continuity: A transitional design framework for future care settings
Azadeh Kazeranizadeh
Architect, Billard Leece Partnership, AustraliaAzadeh is a registered architect at Billard Leece Partnership, having joined the firm in 2021. Azadeh has worked with government agencies, local health districts, developers and consultants on complex public projects. Her work engages not only with building design but with the broader systems that shape healthcare and community environments. She advocates for holistic approaches to health design, spaces that support wellbeing clinically, spatially, culturally and emotionally. For Azadeh, healthcare architecture should be restorative, dignified and meaningfully connected to the communities it serves. Azadeh approaches architecture as both a technical discipline and a social project. Born and educated in Iran, she completed a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering where she developed an early understanding that the built environment must respond to how people live, heal, gather and belong. She moved to Australia in 2017 to pursue a Master of Architecture at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 2019.
Tracy Lord
Principal | Health lead, Billard Leece Partnership, AustraliaTracy Lord is a principal and health lead at Billard Leece Partnership (BLP), one of Australia’s leading architecture firms and global experts in social infrastructure design. An award-winning multidisciplinary practice, BLP designs for a healthy world by delivering people-based solutions that translate evidence-based research. With a career spanning 25 years in health design, Tracy has established her credentials in delivering health projects across multiple scales in Australia and New Zealand. Tracy is the Region IV director of the UIA Public Health Group. In addition to working across architecture and project management, Tracy has a particular interest in contributing to thought leadership in the architecture community. She is passionate about inclusive design, as well as creating healthier built spaces that improve people's lives – whether that be through designing hospitals, looking at the inclusion of healthcare within mixed-use precincts or using biophilic principles to improve commercial and urban environments.From fragmentation to continuity: A transitional design framework for future care settings
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Background: Contemporary healthcare systems increasingly acknowledge that health is not an episodic event contained within hospital walls but an ongoing, relational and community-based process. Yet the physical environments that support this process remain largely shaped by conventional design process, resulting in facilities that stabilise older models of care long after practice has evolved. This misalignment reinforces fragmentation, as patients navigate discontinuities between home, community, primary care and acute services. Emerging models of care call for care settings capable of supporting fluid transitions rather than fixed service boundaries. However, the spatial and experiential implications of such transitions remain under-examined.
Purpose: This paper proposes a re-imagined conception of care setting as an evolving translational interface, a system of physical and relational thresholds that mediates between clinical intent and lived experience. Rather than positioning design as a prescriptive driver of service models, we explore its role as a facilitator that translates clinical strategy into adaptive environments capable of holding complexity and change. We ask: How can transitional design processes and co-designed thresholds dissolve systemic silos and cultivate a more agile, continuous and relational care ecosystem?
Methods: The study draws on four complementary streams of inquiry:
• a critical review of literature on transitional care, continuity of care and distributed health delivery models;
• precedent analysis of facilities that embed care transitions;
• reflection on design practice through observational insights from recent hospital and community care projects; and
• a comparative critique of conventional health facility procurement and briefing pathways, identifying points where design currently loses and could regain agency.
Together, these establish a preliminary framework for transitional design as both process and spatial strategy.
Results: Practice-based evidence points to the most impactful design opportunities residing not in large-scale architectural gestures but in the creation of experiential conditions that can absorb change over time: spatial gradients between clinical and everyday life, touchpoints that support multiple modes of interaction, and co-designed thresholds that make transitions navigable and dignified. These strategies enable facilities to accommodate evolving care models while improving relational continuity between settings.
Conclusions: The research demonstrates that designers hold reciprocal agency in shaping systemic agility. Through closer alignment with clinicians, policymakers and communities, transitional design processes help bridge gaps between intent and implementation, enabling the healthcare built environment to evolve with practice rather than lag behind it. This work offers an initial framework for embedding continuity, relational care and adaptive capacity at the intersection of design and clinical medicine.
Learning Objectives
- Understand systemic fragmentation and transitional care needs
- Identify design opportunities that support evolving care models
- Define the concept of a “transitional design framework”
14.20Reimagining hospital pharmacy architecture in England: Designing future-ready systems for medicines access and care
Francine de Stoppelaar
Specialist advisor – medicines optimisation, Health Delivery Partnership, United KingdomFrancine de Stoppelaar PharmD, MSc, CertBA is an honorary associate professor and digital health and AI innovator. Francine is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 25 years of leadership experience across British, American, Dutch, and UAE health systems. Her career is defined by operational excellence, healthcare innovation, and strategic technology implementation, including AI-driven transformation. With expertise in both internal and consultancy roles, Francine has successfully led large cross-functional teams in delivering hospital activations, greenfield capital projects, and advanced clinical improvement programs. Her initiatives consistently enhance patient outcomes, safety, and medicines optimisation. A pioneer in digital health, Francine has led on the hospital-wide operational activation of Cleveland Clinic London, as well as spearheaded the implementation of the UK’s first Closed Loop Medicines Optimization model at Cleveland Clinic London, now fully operational and nationally recognised. Under her leadership, the initiative earned multiple accolades, including the Cleveland Clinic CEO Team Award and two consecutive nominations for the Laing Buisson Innovation Awards (2022, 2023). Her innovative contributions to healthcare earned her recognition as one of Intelligent Health Top 50 Innovators of 2023. She frequently presents at international conferences and serves on expert panels focusing on digital transformation and AI in medicine. As co-founder of the Asclepius Project, Francine is leading a pan-European initiative to automate and digitally transform hospital medicines optimisation using AI and intelligent automation technologies. She is an honorary associate professor at the University of Leicester and an associate at Deloitte UK. Her academic foundation includes a Doctor of Pharmacy and MSc from Utrecht and Maastricht Universities, a Certificate in Business Administration from Warwick Business School, and executive education in Digital Transformation Leadership from Harvard Medical School.
Joshua Igbineweka
Clinical fellow and pharmacy SME, NHS England, United KingdomJoshua Igbineweka MPharm (Hons), PGDip, IP, is an experienced pharmacist and senior healthcare advisor specialising in strategy, design, and transformation. As clinical fellow in the NHS New Hospital Programme, he is chair of the programme’s patient safety working group. Joshua’s work also centres around harnessing innovation at scale, redesigning the hospital medicines management ecosystem for the future and advancing medicines optimisation in modern healthcare environments, which integrates digital automation, robotics, and new ways of practice. Joshua has spent most of his clinical practice working as a specialist pharmacist in haematology and oncology at a major London teaching hospital, where he acquired his independent prescribing qualification.
Meera Ruparelia
Senior manager pharmacy subject matter expert, Health Delivery Partnership, United KingdomMeera is a registered pharmacist with over a decade of hands-on clinical experience, seamlessly integrated with seven years dedicated to driving digital transformation initiatives. This dual expertise provides a comprehensive understanding of both healthcare operations and technological innovation, enabling the development and implementation of strategic digital solutions that enhance efficiency, optimise patient care, and streamline complex healthcare operations.Fiona Lennon
Deputy clinical director, NHS England, United KingdomFiona Lennon is deputy clinical director in the NHS New Hospital Programme (NHP). An experienced NHS senior manager and registered nurse with a career spanning over 30 years leading complex NHS teams in major acute and specialist trusts. She has worked in strategic health roles at both a regional and national level. Throughout her career she has been involved in various design and build projects, including as a project clinician on the first-ever tripartite private finance initiative (PFI) hospital scheme. Her background gives her an understanding of healthcare management and operational leadership to support the NHP deliver hospitals that are safe, flexible, and efficient for the future.Reimagining hospital pharmacy architecture in England: Designing future-ready systems for medicines access and care
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Introduction: Hospital pharmacy services in England have remained largely traditional, evolving slowly despite growing complexity in medicines and care delivery. However, the increasing availability of advanced technologies offers an unprecedented opportunity to propel it to a futuristic state of transformed services – improving patient care models and access to medicines, optimising workflows, and enhancing staff experience. In the 24/25 financial year alone, hospitals in England spent over £11 billion on medicines and medical devices, most of which flowed through pharmacy departments, placing immense responsibility on pharmacy teams for safe handling and use.
Investment in the infrastructure underpinning hospital pharmacy services and medicines management has not kept pace with rising costs, sophistication of novel medicines, and operational pressures. This creates a critical need to rethink the system, by connecting the components of physical architecture, digital infrastructure, and clinical practice to meet changing patient needs. Harnessing innovation at scale could redefine hospital pharmacy as a cornerstone of future healthcare design.
Methods: Using the Design Council’s Double Diamond framework, we explored existing principles and pain points in hospital pharmacy workflows to develop a range of future-oriented models. Design research methods including journey mapping, patient interviews, and focused ethnography were employed to identify bottlenecks and leverage points for intervention. Engagement with participants occurred through voluntary participation in both remote consultations and in-person workshops. Insights were synthesised into thematic reports for analysis.
Results: Findings reveal strong demand for radical change in hospital pharmacy practice. Patients and the public prioritised timely, convenient access to medicines, and advocated for greater adoption of automation and digital technologies to reduce delays and improve efficiency. Intelligent use of technology not only streamlines processes but also reshapes spatial requirements within the built environment, influencing how staff practice, interact, and deliver care.
Conclusion: By creatively reimagining hospital pharmacy services, we can deliver a new model of medicines access for patients that enhances experience, supports staff practice, and optimises medicines use. Digital transformation offers a profound opportunity to reduce physical space demands, improve operational resilience, and align pharmacy practice with the future of broader healthcare design.Learning Objectives
- Understand the views of patients and pharmacy professionals on a hospital pharmacy of the future.
- Identify the key combination of technologies and digital capabilities for transforming a hospital pharmacy system.
- Determine and select the optimal hospital pharmacy model which integrates the physical architecture, digital infrastructure, and new ways of working.
14.40Co-designing clinical pain communication: Using participatory action methods and boundary objects to enhance patient-clinician dialogue
Domenica Landin
Associate lecturer, University of the Arts London, AustraliaDomenica is a a design researcher, consultant, and educator working between Bristol and London. Her research focuses on addressing the nature–culture divide and supporting people to close the sustainability value–action gap. She works across writing, spatial interventions, and consultancy, using collaborative and participatory approaches. She has contributed to funded research projects for the University of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art, exploring socio-environmental transitions, including shifts from extractive to regenerative practices in higher education. Her work prioritises relational methods and collective knowledge-making. Domenica's design strategies centre ecosystems and biocultural diversity, recognising the interdependence of nature, culture, and language. She advocates for perspectives that have been historically marginalised, including non-human voices, and seek to embed these into design and decision-making processes. As a freelance consultant with the Place Bureau, Domenica provides research-led insights to support placemaking for city planners and stakeholders, including futures-oriented participatory workshops. As an educator, she takes a facilitative leadership approach, supporting interdisciplinary collaboration and diverse learning methods, including non-human pedagogies.
Kiara Corso
Research assistant, Monash University, AustraliaKiara Corso is a health and design researcher with an interdisciplinary background in psychology, physiology and participatory design. She recently completed a Master's in Global Collaborative Design Practice at the University of the Arts London and Kyoto Institute of Technology, where her work explored the use of co-design tools to improve pain communication in clinical contexts. Kiara currently works as a research assistant in neurorehabilitation and neurodisability, contributing to projects in traumatic brain injury, chronic pain and health education. Her work employs mixed-method approaches, including participatory and creative workshops, qualitative interviews and systematic reviews, with a strong emphasis on collaboration with patients, caregivers, clinicians and multidisciplinary teams. Kiara’s research is nestled between healthcare, design and communication, with particular focus on patient-centred care, inclusive research methods and the translation of research into practice. She is predominately interested in developing interventions that enhance healthcare experiences, particularly for vulnerable and underserved populations.
Peter Hall
Reader, University of the Arts London, United KingdomDr Peter A. Hall is reader in Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Arts and Chelsea College of Arts. His research focuses on mapping and data visualisation as critical and participatory design practices. He is currently co-writing a critical guide to data visualisation with Bloomsbury Academic. He is the UAL lead for Plastic Justice, a pan-European collaboration involving five art and design institutions that investigates microplastics pollution and the role of design in communicating new knowledge, awareness, and responses to the issue. Previously, Dr Hall has held academic leadership and teaching roles internationally, including course leader of BA Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins; programme director of BA Design and Design Futures at Griffith University Queensland College of Art; senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin; and lecturer in Graphic Design at Yale School of Art. He is co-founder of DesignInquiry, a non-profit organisation dedicated to researching design through intensive, team-based educational gatherings. His writing appears in leading design publications, and his books include 'Else/Where: Mapping – New Cartographies of Networks and Territories' and Sagmeister: 'Made You Look'.
Nicole Pope
Implementation support lead, Monash University, AustraliaDr Nicky Pope is an experienced researcher, accredited Implementation support practitioner, and implementation support lead at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI). With a background in paediatric nursing, she brings strong expertise in clinical practice, research, and systems thinking. At MCHRI, Nicky leads initiatives focused on translating evidence into action to improve health outcomes, equity, and system performance. Her work spans co-design, capacity building, and the application of implementation science frameworks, supporting organisations to embed sustainable change through training, coaching, and strategic guidance. Her expertise includes child and family health, paediatric pain and chronic conditions, caregiver engagement, and digital health innovation. She has led national and international research projects, contributed to policy and programme development, and lectures in implementation science. As chair of the Pain in Child Health (PICH) Australia network, Nicky is dedicated to bridging research, policy, and practice to ensure evidence leads to meaningful system and life-level impact.Co-designing clinical pain communication: Using participatory action methods and boundary objects to enhance patient-clinician dialogue
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Pain is a subjective, individual sensory experience that does “not simply resist language but actively destroy it” (Scarry, 1985). In clinical contexts, the challenge of pain language can lead to miscommunication, hindering information sharing (Müller et al., 2023), diminishing trust in clinicians (Gu et al., 2022) and contributing to poor health outcomes (Lim et al., 2024), and Our research sits at the intersection of design and clinical medicine, aiming to enhance pain dialogues through co-designed, human-centred methods, and the use of boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989).
A participatory action-based approach engaged a diverse group of patients aged 8-78 with chronic and acute pain, clinicians (pain specialists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, podiatrists, psychologists, paramedics), researchers and designers. Visual ethnography and cultural probes provided insights into daily challenges and coping mechanisms, and a series of one-on-one semi-structured interviews explored the multifaceted nature of pain communication. Co-design workshops using clay modelling and object-making enabled participants to externalise pain through tactile engagement. These approaches facilitated both verbal and non-verbal pain dialogues, fostering a deeper understanding of pain and how it is communicated.
Four key insights were generated through thematic analysis: 1) malleable materials, such as clay, allowed participants to externalise inner experiences, fostering a sense of detachment, creating a safe therapeutic outlet and enabling non-verbal expression; 2) participants developed distinct physical representations, forms, textures, and patterns that communicate diverse attributes of pain, including radiation and intensity; 3) integrating malleability and physical representations was clinically valuable, enabling both literal and abstract depictions of pain; and 4) ethnographies demonstrated the influence of time on memory and pain perception. These insights informed the iterative prototyping and development of three distinct pain communication tools.
This study is the first to explore how participatory action and co-design methods can reimagine clinical pain communication. Our findings show that involving people with lived experience deepens understanding of the nuances of pain, enriching patient-clinician dialogue and improving how pain is understood, managed and treated. The study also demonstrates the value of unconventional, sensorial tools, such as malleable body parts, which challenge universalist approaches to ergonomic design. As boundary objects, these tools help to externalise internal experiences, providing autonomy and alternative modalities of communication, which support the co-construction of the meaning of pain. This enables pain to be more clearly understood and seen (Eccleston et al., 2021), reducing reliance on verbal description and facilitating bi-directional knowledge exchange that enhances communication and clinical outcomes.Learning Objectives
- Examine how co-design, participatory-action methods can enhance pain communication by integrating patient, clinician, designer and researcher perspectives.
- Describe the role of malleability, materials and boundary objects to facilitate bi-directional pain communication, making pain visible and understandable to improve health outcomes.
- Gain insight into how physical representations and communication tools can provide alternative, non-verbal modes of pain communication through the externalision of pain experiences.
15.00Panel discussion15.30 - 16.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking16.00 - 17.00Session 26- Design for infection control
Chair: Ganesh Suntharalingam OBE, Intensivist, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, UKGanesh Suntharalingam OBE
Intensivist, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, UKGanesh is an intensive care consultant with a specialist interest in leadership, service design and development. He is Honorary secretary and forthcoming President-elect of the Intensive Care Society.16.00Co-designing Ireland’s National High-Level Isolation Unit: A case example of how collective leadership and collaborative practice has helped to develop a world-class facility
Úna Cunningham
Head of transformation and executive lead, strategic projects, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, IrelandÚna is head of transformation and strategic projects at one of Ireland’s largest academic teaching hospitals. Together with her team, she promotes a culture of inter-professional collaborative practice and collective leadership, adopting a lean, person-centred philosophy and design principles. In 2021, Úna completed her PhD as part of the Co-Lead programme (https://www.ucd.ie/collectiveleadership/). Through application of her research findings to practice, she continuously demonstrates how interventions to improve quality and safety of care can be made more effective when conditions are created for interdisciplinary teams to flourish. Úna lectures on transformational systems-level change and team interventions at University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is also a leadership mentor with the Irish Management Institute. Her work has been published in BMC Health Services Research, BMC Medical Research Methodology, BMC Medical Education, BMJ Open and the International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health.
Deirdre Moreley
Clinical lead, National High Level Isolation Unit, Consultant Infectious Disease and Intensive Care Medicine, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, IrelandDeirdre is clinical lead for the National High Level Isolation Unit at the mater Miseriordiae University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. She is a consultant in infectious disease and intensive care medicine. She completed FJFICMI and EDIC examinations and is on the specialty register of Intensive Care Medicine since 2020. She completed Higher Specialist Training in Infectious Disease in 2017.
Kevin Bates
Director, Scott Tallon Walker Architects, IrelandKevin is a director of Scott Tallon Walker Architects (STW), with 25 years’ national and international experience, and is a recipient of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland Triennial Gold Medal Award, which is the highest honour in Irish Architecture. Kevin specialises in the design of complex, innovative healthcare, science, and research buildings and he leads the healthcare sector across the practice. He has played a key role in the design and delivery of award-winning projects, such as the University College London Hospital Grafton Way Building, the National Forensics Mental Health Service in Dublin, and the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, recognised as Europe’s leading research centre in integrated Information and Communications Technology. Kevin established and managed STW’s Middle East office from 2010 to 2014 and was design director in our London practice from 2014 to 2021, securing STW’s place on the University of Oxford’s Framework for large-scale projects. He is passionate about supporting and guiding the next generation of architects and has been a visiting tutor in Schools of Architecture in Cork and Waterford and King Saud University in Riyadh. He has also chaired the RIAI Scott Tallon Walker Student Excellence Award, and in 2016, he was a UCD Alumni guest speaker, celebrating the contribution UCD architecture graduates have made in London.Co-designing Ireland’s National High-Level Isolation Unit: A case example of how collective leadership and collaborative practice has helped to develop a world-class facility
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Ireland’s National High-Level Isolation Unit (NHLIU) is a bio-containment facility that has been specifically designed and commissioned for the care of patients with high-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs). These are rare conditions that pose a risk to close contacts and healthcare workers, have limited treatment options, and can carry a high risk of severe illness or death (e.g. Ebola virus disease, MERS-CoV). When fully operationalised, the NHLIU will play a pivotal role in containing potential future public health crises, thereby protecting the public and supporting the safe delivery of state-of-the-art care for patients with HCIDs.
This presentation will outline the design and implementation journey for the project. The executive, clinical and architect leads will share practical project insights on behalf of the wider team that will help inform the development of future HLIUs. They will detail the collaborative process between frontline healthcare workers, laboratory and infection control leads, architects, engineers and contractors, which resulted in a carefully considered clinical design brief. Drawing on European best practice guidelines (e.g. STAKOB, Germany & UK HCID guidance); regulatory guidance (e.g. World Health Organization (WHO); European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC); National Emerging Special Pathogen Training and Education Centre (NESPTEC)) and lessons learned from past outbreaks, presenters will outline the comprehensive framework for the planning, design, and operation of this facility.
Underpinned by co–design and collective leadership principles, the team problem solved their way through challenges in a timely and practical manner. The resultant outcome is a world-class facility with the capability to care for two critically unwell patients with viral haemorrhagic fever or high-consequence respiratory pathogens within a single secure footprint.
Importantly, from an infection prevention and control perspective, there is clear unidirectional flow for staff and waste. The NHLIU also encompasses a Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory (BSL3) for near-patient diagnostics. When not in activation, the unit will function as a national hub and spoke HCID training and education centre and a critical care simulation laboratory.
The audience can expect an overview of how the project was approached with detail of regulatory compliance, biosafety and bio-containment standards, architectural and engineering considerations, innovative equipping solutions, staff training, workflow optimisation and integration with broader hospital and public health emergency systems.
This presentation will stimulate interest for those involved in designing healthcare facilities and is of relevance to colleagues in the fields of bio-containment design and implementation science.
Learning Objectives
- To demonstrate the benefits of a collective leadership and co-design approach including collaboration with internal, external and international partners to ensure a world class output.
- To help the audience understand the importance of adherence to international best practice and standards.
- To demonstrate how the project team aligned project implementation with Ireland's National Health Protection Strategy and the need for integration with transport agencies, public health, Health Service Executive & key agencies in Health Protection.
16.20Designing resilient water and wastewater safety systems in healthcare: Past lessons, current strategies, and future directions
James Gordon
Associate director, P+HS Architects, United KingdomJames is associate director and healthcare lead at P+HS Architects with over 20 years’ experience in healthcare design and delivery. He has led complex acute and diagnostic projects across multiple NHS trusts, including critical care expansions, hybrid theatres, emergency departments and cancer facilities . His work draws on lessons learned across live hospital programmes, with a focus on patient flow, infection control, technical compliance, and ensuring the built environment actively supports safe, efficient clinical operations.
Michael Weinbren
Consultant medical microbiologist; Infection control doctor, UKMichael is a consultant medical microbiologist and infection control doctor with over 40 years’ experience in the NHS. Currently working as specialist advisor for microbiology to the New Hospital Programme, his key areas of interest include water and wastewater systems, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and occupant safety. His publications include membership of national guidance groups, including the NHS England technical bulletin on Mycobacterium abscessus, and he is author of 'Safe Water in Healthcare'.
Rachelle McDade
Director of healthcare planning, Currie & Brown, UKRachelle has over 28 years' experience of leading large healthcare redevelopments. She is experienced in developing models of care, whole hospital policies, design principles and schedules of accommodation to ensure the best brief is developed. She rigorously challenges the clinicians to ensure the best patient pathways are delivered and staff efficiency is prioritised – and ensures that an integrated digital strategy is delivered from the outset. Working collaboratively with the clinicians, patient and staff wellbeing are at the forefront of all her design solutions. She has experience in reconfiguration programmes, large complex acute hospitals, mental health facilities, medical education campuses, and wellbeing-focused primary and community facilities. Rachelle is an enthusiastic advocate of digitally-enabled and sustainable healthcare design, who supports clinicians and design teams in translating clinical and operational strategies into smart healthcare ecosystems.Designing resilient water and wastewater safety systems in healthcare: Past lessons, current strategies, and future directions
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Water and wastewater safety is a critical component of population health, extending well beyond individual patient protection in hospitals. New approaches in acute care environments are informing a broader, integrated strategy that strengthens both hospitals and emerging neighbourhood health centres. Hospital wastewater is a major source of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), carrying resistant bacteria, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals into local systems. Healthcare facilities are primary contributors to AMR contamination in urban areas, with research indicating higher concentrations of AMR determinants in hospital wastewater than other local sources.
Traditional reliance on pharmaceutical innovation has not successfully curbed AMR’s spread, as resistance mechanisms rapidly counter new antibiotics. This signals the urgent need for innovative solutions that focus on the built environment rather than on pharmaceuticals alone. Prevention and intervention must begin at the point of patient care – by restricting antimicrobials from entering wastewater – rather than depending solely on centralised treatment. In certain cases, outbreaks have only been contained by eliminating water and wastewater sources from critical care areas.
England’s New Hospital Programme, the largest global healthcare facility construction initiative, underscores the importance of designing hospitals to reduce AMR dispersal through infrastructure. A significant cultural shift is required, such as reducing clinical handwash stations with alternative mitigations. The concept of ‘water-free care,’ first introduced in a Dutch ICU in 2017, is since being adopted worldwide in response to persistent multidrug-resistant organism outbreaks, especially in critical settings like neonatal ICUs. Some modern hospitals now feature single-room occupancy and no handwash stations in or near patient rooms. However, the more holistic term “water/wastewater-safe care” better captures the strategy of risk assessing every route by which water or wastewater may reach patients – including indirect sources like floor scrubbers and bottled water – and implementing robust controls.
As healthcare delivery shifts closer to communities, rigorous water safety approaches must be extended to neighbourhood health centres. Applying hospital-based strategies – comprehensive risk assessments, dedicated water safety groups, and careful sanitary fixture placement – can proactively address water safety at the community level, reducing outbreaks and safeguarding vulnerable populations.
In conclusion, a comprehensive, ecosystem-driven approach to water and wastewater safety is vital for advancing population health and combating antimicrobial resistance. By integrating acute care lessons into community health infrastructure and prioritising resilient design, healthcare systems can protect individuals and communities, foster sector collaboration, and adapt to evolving public health challenges.
Learning Objectives
- Lessons from Acute Healthcare: Water Safety Challenges and Their Broader Implications
- Designing for Resilience: Qualitative Approaches Over Pharmaceutical Reliance
- Translating Insights to Community and Neighbourhood Health Centres
16.40Panel discussionEnd of Intersection of clinical medicine and design stream -
Health planning and investment
St James Room
Supported by
08.45 - 10.15Session 27- Evaluation, standards and guidance
Jonathan Erskine
Director, European Health Property Network, UKJonathan Erskine is the Executive director of the European Health Property Network (www.euhpn.eu) and a researcher at the Centre for Public Policy and Health (CPPH), School for Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, Durham University, UK. His research interests are in the areas of health service reform, the boundaries between primary and secondary care, and the relationship between the design of health service systems and the built healthcare environment. Jonathan has had a long association with the European Health Property Network and, until recently, was also a non-executive director with NHS Stockton Primary Care Trust, and vice-chair of the Board. He has co-authored chapters in two books, ‘Investing in Hospitals of the Future’, and ‘Capital Investment for Health: case studies from Europe’, produced in collaboration with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. His research at the CPPH, Durham University, has recently focused on the use of Lean in healthcare systems, particularly in relation to the ‘North East Transformation System’ – a region-wide quality improvement programme, which encompasses commissioning and provider NHS organisations. The report on this research was published in December 2014.08.45Standardisation of evaluation: The planning and construction process of hospitals in Norway
Unni Dahl
Hospital planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), NorwayUnni has been working in Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2015. The job covers early planning of hospitals, pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. Additionally, the job includes developing evaluation tools and guidelines. Previous work includes collaboration between hospital and primary health care services, developing specialist healthcare services for patients with chronic diseases, patient education programmes and patient participation. Unni has a background as a nurse and has a Master’s degree in Pedagogics, for which her thesis was a study of the doctor – patient communication. She also holds a PhD in Medicine, for which her thesis was about co-ordination of healthcare services and follow-up among elderly and chronically ill patients after hospital discharge.
Lilian Leistad
Hospital planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), NorwayLilian has been working in Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2017. The job covers early planning of hospitals (including estimating future hospital activity and capacity needs) and pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. Additionally, the job includes developing evaluation tools and guidelines, in co-operation with internal and external actors, including health authorities and other relevant institutions. Previous work has been related to research within molecular medicine and epidemiology, including health registries and health studies, as well as biological material and contribution to public reports (e.g. National health and hospital plan). She has a Master's degree in Cell Biology and holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Her thesis was about the role of inflammatory mediators in rheumatic diseases.Standardisation of evaluation: The planning and construction process of hospitals in Norway
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Background: The Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency, Sykehusbygg HF, has recently published an updated guideline for the evaluation of hospital projects. The guideline defines three evaluation stages: pre- and post-occupancy evaluation, and evaluation of the planning and construction process.
The evaluation of the planning and construction process assesses the success of project management and implementation, identifies contributing factors, and explores challenges encountered during the process.
The first objective of this study is to present the updated guideline, emphasising the evaluation of the planning and construction process. The second objective is to present results from recent evaluations conducted in accordance with the revised guideline.
Methods: A project group consisting of representatives from all four regional health authorities in Norway, together with Sykehusbygg HF, reviewed 16 evaluations of Norwegian hospital projects conducted between 2018 and 2025, as well as interim measurements from several ongoing construction projects. The purpose of this work has been to refine and update the evaluation guideline.
In 2025, the updated guideline was applied to evaluate the early-phase of the planning process for three hospital projects. The team developed and used a standardised questionnaire, conducted interviews, and analysed relevant project documentation.
Results: The updated guideline provides clearer specifications regarding when evaluations should be conducted, who is responsible for financing and implementation, and how results should be used for organisational learning and continuous improvement.
The review revealed a previous lack of common methodology, tools, and timing for evaluations of the planning and construction process.
Findings from the three early-phase evaluations show that structured evaluation can contribute to improvement of the phase. The following success factors were identified for future projects:
• clear project mandate and leadership;
• well-defined roles and responsibilities;
• effective information flow;
• use of lessons learned from previous evaluations;
• interdisciplinary collaboration toward shared goals; and
• timely communication of required premise changes to the appropriate level (steering committee or project owner).
Conclusions
• standardise timing for evaluations of the planning and construction process;
• standardise evaluation methods and tools;
• follow-up survey findings with improvement-focused dialogue within the project team.
Implications
• evaluation results should be used for improvement in the current and subsequent project phases, as well as in future hospital construction projects.
• standardised evaluations enable comparison and shared learning across different projects.
Learning Objectives
- Framework for evaluation of hospital projects
- Evaluation of the planning and construction process
- Lessons learned from early-phase evaluations
09.05Dynamic design standardisation: Leveraging post-occupancy evaluations to evolve design standardsEsme Banks Marr
Strategy director, BVN, UKEsme is strategy director at BVN. She specialises in the intersection of human behaviour and the built environment. With a career spanning design, research, communications, and business intelligence, she translates data into actionable insights that shape the future of spaces and places. Esme has worked across diverse sectors, exploring how strategic briefing influences outcomes at every scale – from individual wellbeing to system-wide efficiency. Her expertise lies in bridging gaps between disciplines, ensuring environments are not just functional but deeply responsive to human needs. She is passionate about understanding how people interact with space and how this, in turn, impacts experience. A recognised commentator on the built environment, Esme has contributed to global conversations and publications on design and strategy, the future of work, sustainability and regeneration, and digital transformation. Committed to breaking down industry silos, Esme integrates research, data, and strategy with design, to create holistic and future-focused environments. Her work ensures that the built environment evolves in a way that enhances both human experience and organisational outcomes.
Stephanie Costelloe
Principal, BVN, AustraliaStephanie is an experienced architect specialising in major healthcare infrastructure across Australia and Asia. She excels in masterplanning, briefing, and delivering complex health precincts, integrating architectural, technical, and health planning expertise. From 2015 to 2022, Stephanie led key projects in Hong Kong’s 20-year Hospital Development Plan, including the New Acute Hospital in Kai Tak. She also served as project principal for the New Shenzhen Children's Hospital, overseeing masterplanning and concept design. Her expertise in large-scale, high-value projects makes her well-suited to leadership roles. As a principal at BVN, she ensures critical project decisions are made efficiently while maintaining design excellence. With a proven track record in both Australian and international healthcare projects, she brings invaluable insight and strategic direction to every endeavour.
Kate O’Mullane
Practice Director, BVN, AustraliaAs a Practice Director at BVN, Kate brings extensive experience across healthcare, with a strong focus on clinical planning, standardisation and user engagement. Kate joined BVN in 2006 and has contributed to projects across all stages of the design process, from briefing and schematic planning through to detailed design, documentation and site involvement. Her healthcare experience includes departmental and clinical planning, user group consultation, FF&E selection and scheduling, and particular expertise in developing consistent, well-resolved 1:50 room layouts that support compliance, efficiency and quality of care. Kate combines a strong understanding of complex healthcare standards with clear and confident communication, enabling effective collaboration with clients, clinicians and project teams.Dynamic design standardisation: Leveraging post-occupancy evaluations to evolve design standards
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Health jurisdictions have capitalised on the benefits of standardisation in healthcare design for decades, with the goal of delivering high-quality, efficient outcomes that optimise patient and staff safety with streamlined operations. Historically, these standards were published documents which, owing to the volume of content and detail, struggled to keep up with contemporary and emerging models of care and service delivery models, patient expectations, building codes, and the constant shifts in technology and equipment. This has resulted in the move towards a dynamic model of delivering design standardisation guidelines using live documents, which are reviewed and updated frequently. These are developed from the outcomes from newer approaches to post-occupancy evaluation that focus on specific, repeatable health planning units across multiple hospitals, rather than an individual hospital.
This presentation will focus on BVN’s findings from our experience designing large acute hospitals, which have used iterative design standards, plus lessons learnt from undertaking a post-occupancy evaluation across inpatient units in five recently completed hospitals in Australia, and how the findings have been applied to update design standards as well as the development of a new standard inpatient unit design. The study provides cross-facility insight into how ward design affects staff wellbeing, workflow efficiency and patient safety – issues highly relevant to all health systems, including the UK’s New Hospital Programme and other NHS sites. Across the five hospitals, several consistent themes emerged including single-corridor circulation, visibility, staff travel distances, bedroom configurations, and storage.
One of the significant outcomes was the recommendation to discontinue or substantially revise the relevant design guidance, which was shown to reinforce patterns that undermine both staff workflow and patient-centred care. The POE identified the need for new planning models and structural grids capable of supporting diverse acuity levels, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the increasing complexity of inpatient mental health presentations.
The findings highlight how design directly contributes to workforce sustainability. Improved access to daylight, better acoustic separation, distributed support spaces, separated circulation paths and clearer lines of sight were repeatedly linked to reduced cognitive load, improved morale and a greater sense of safety. Adaptable bedroom modules also emerged as essential for long-term resilience, enabling spaces to evolve with changing clinical needs.
Learning Objectives
- Understand why dynamic, frequently updated design standards improve alignment with evolving models of care, technology, patient expectations and post occupancy evidence.
- Evaluate how cross facility post occupancy insights inform inpatient unit design, influencing workflow efficiency, staff wellbeing and patient safety
- Analyse how new planning models, adaptable bedroom modules and environmental design strategies support workforce sustainability and long term clinical resilience
09.25A tale of two cities: A case study on how overarching network design standards combined with different local input influenced the design and construction of two major concurrent hospital developments
Tara Veldman
Managing director and principal health lead, Billard Leece Partnership, AustraliaTara is the managing director and health sector leader instrumental in the expansion of BLP. She brings 25 years of experience and a dedication to designing a healthy world in a cross-section of spaces, including hospitals, health hubs, education precincts, high-tech research labs, and residential communities. Combining her interests in psychology, art, and architecture, Tara is fascinated by how buildings and spaces make people feel. Her passion for sustainable architecture is inspired by her time living in Australia, the Netherlands, Frankfurt, and the Middle East. These life experiences have driven her to create designed environments and places that work and complement their urban setting while using and integrating nature and the natural landscape where possible. Underpinning projects with evidence-based design, Tara's work exemplifies innovation, strategic thinking, and best practice. She is a regular contributor to health design conferences and seminars, presenting alongside some of the world's most respected thought leaders in the sector both at home and abroad. Grounded in research and insight, Tara's human-centred design approach and active stakeholder engagement allow the voices of those who will occupy the spaces to be heard. Design outcomes are considered and impactful and exceed both her clients' and the end users' expectations. In 2025, Tara was honoured with the inaugural Australian Health Design Council Gold Medal in recognition of her visionary leadership, a commitment to excellence, and her significant contribution to the healthcare design industry.
Tim Hoffman
Director – redevelopment, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, AustraliaTim Hoffmann is a director – redevelopment at the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, based in Westmead, New South Wales. He has extensive experience in both clinical nursing and operational management positions within NSW Health. Over the last 13 years, he has transitioned into planning, redesign, and redevelopment-focused roles. Tim has qualifications in nursing, health management, and public administration, and is passionate about transforming the healthcare system. He joined the Network in 2011, leading clinical planning and later redesign and integrated care portfolios. In 2016, he was appointed as director of planning and has since been working as an executive team member leading planning and redevelopment. His role involves leading the planning and redevelopment programme across the Network, utilising the programme to deliver new models of care and facilities that enable research-led care, education, and excellence.A tale of two cities: A case study on how overarching network design standards combined with different local input influenced the design and construction of two major concurrent hospital developments
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In 2020, the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network (SCHN) and Health Infrastructure New South Wales (HINSW) embarked on an ambitious $1.3b journey to concurrently redevelop two flagship campuses: Westmead Children’s Hospital (WCH) and the Sydney Children’s Hospital (SCH). Both projects have recently been completed.
These redevelopments followed the networking of children’s health care across NSW for better patient outcomes; the stakes were high in achieving a successful clinical network, while maintaining each location’s community focus.
This case study examines the key processes and design tools used to ensure both projects were strategically aligned, but unique, including:
• standardisation across the network using research around best practice spatial principles and frameworks;
• strategic local clinical services inclusion, with network specialisations; and
• local design outcomes – serving place, consumers, and community.
What is now the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network started with two paediatric hospitals operating on separate campuses from the late 1800s. In 2010, these two organisations merged to form the largest networked paediatric health service in Australia caring for the children and families of NSW and beyond.
This clinical strategy, coupled with the concurrent redevelopment of both campuses, provided the opportunity to deliver standardised brand new, state of the art ‘sibling’ buildings – each with their own personality.
• key for Westmead Children’s hospital, located in a vibrant, developing multi-cultural community, was to provide services and access for the local community;
• for SCH, located in an inner-city area close to transport and amenities and co-located with a children’s cancer centre, the top issues were integration into the already dense campus and provision of a place of respite.
Both hospitals have similar clinical layouts but the design response is specific to each.
Key attributes of the rigorous processes included:
Network considerations:
• a culture of strategy first;
• best for project approach;
• standards on space allocations and principles = equality; and
• clear governance – strategic oversight.
Local considerations:
• local ability to customise application of design principles;
• clear structure and design framework for project teams; and
• flexibility to include consumers and communities’ input.
These processes and the ‘all in’ team approach, the advocacy from the top, and the strategic planning frameworks throughout these redevelopments have resulted in spectacular and focused outcomes for the SCHN network and its communities.
Future practice can learn from a successful networked redevelopment programme – utilising standardisation, networked services, and local input – and the successful design outcomes achieved.
Learning Objectives
- Network Standardisation and Local Customisation
- Strategic Processes for developing Network Design Guidelines
- Successful Consumer Consultation - local input to realisation
09.45Panel discussion10.15 - 10.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking10.45 - 12.30Session 28- Strategies for healthcare estates renewal
Dan Gibson
Director, MJ Medical; Principal consultant and director, Healthcare Design Leadership, UK10.45How do you renew your estate when there’s no capital?
Matthew Custance
Partner, Burrum River Advisory, United KingdomMatt is the founder of Burrum River Advisory, a specialist firm advising on the financing, structuring, and delivery of major healthcare infrastructure. He has over 30 years’ experience in hospital business cases, private finance, and commercial strategy, working with both public- and private-sector clients on complex capital programmes. His work includes the new Royal Papworth Hospital and the proton-beam therapy centres in London and Manchester. He has advised on numerous PFI and privately financed schemes, as well as wider healthcare portfolio and corporate structures. Before founding Burrum, Matt was a partner at Grant Thornton and KPMG, where he led advisory teams on large-scale healthcare and infrastructure projects across the UK.How do you renew your estate when there’s no capital?
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Most NHS organisations are sitting on a decaying acute estate, a tight Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) envelope and a lot of noise about weird and wonderful funding models that never seem to arrive. The default response is either to hope for a full rebuild or to spread limited capital too thinly across too many failing buildings. Neither is realistic. This session sets out a practical, long-term route to renewing your estate when there is effectively “no capital” – at least, not at the scale or pace you would like.
The argument starts from a simple admission: you are not getting a shiny new hospital that fixes everything. Instead, you need to make deliberate choices about what your most expensive site is actually for, and that means a ruthless triage of the current estate, using standard condition categories and risk to identify what can be cheaply lifted to “good enough”, and what is unsalvageable.
From there, the session describes a different end-state: a defined anchor core hospital, focused on high-acuity, time-critical work, and a network of trust-run hubs in high-street or local-centre locations for most outpatient, diagnostic, elective and “medically fit” activity. The acute site shrinks in scope but improves in quality; the community presence grows in a way that is more convenient for patients and more useful to the local economy.
Crucially, this is not an accounting trick. It is a programme. The session will outline how to build a multi-year estates and digital plan that stays within realistic CDEL limits, uses PPP and leases for neighbourhood-scale schemes where appropriate, and treats technology and logistics as part of the estate strategy, not an afterthought. It will also cover how to phase moves so you minimise double-running and avoid pouring money into buildings you already know you should close.
The emphasis throughout is on what will stand up when the chief financial officer, the auditors and the regulators start asking questions: clear logic for what stays and what moves; a coherent funding story; and a credible link to national policy goals around moving care into the community, making better use of digital, and doing more on prevention. Attendees should leave with a practical framework they can adapt to their own organisation, rather than another theoretical capital wish list.Learning Objectives
- Accounting and regulatory rules
- New ways to think about the core acute site
- Health on the High Street
11.05Building resilience: One size doesn’t fit all, but one space can
Pollie Boyle
Senior healthcare planner, Mott MacDonald, United KingdomPollie is a qualified doctor and a consultant working for the healthcare planning team at Mott MacDonald. She has more than 25 years of healthcare strategy and planning consultancy experience. She fuses this knowledge and her clinical background to deliver solutions and improve pathways for both patients and staff on a number of high-profile projects, including two years working with the UK New Hospital Programme. Pollie’s areas of expertise include stakeholder engagement, demand and capacity modelling, clinical briefing, decant planning, estates strategies, evidence-based clinical pathway redesign, and the development of schedules of accommodation. Pollie has a particular interest in data analysis and will use her clinical expertise to interpret trust data intelligently.
Emily Leonard
Healthcare planner, Mott MacDonald, United KingdomEmily is a healthcare planning consultant with a scientific background in biomedical sciences and an MSc in Public Health. Emily has contributed to a number of large-scale healthcare planning projects across the UK and internationally, including four years working with the UK New Hospital Programme and supporting the development of a paediatric healthcare facility in Canada. Emily is experienced in developing schedules of accommodation, clinical briefs, standardised room designs, and facilitating clinically led hospital departmental design workshops. She also holds a Certificate of Professional Development in the TAHPI Health Facility Planning Course (CPD and IHEEM certified). Passionate about embedding best practice and clinical expertise into the future design of healthcare facilities, Emily focuses on optimising efficiency, productivity, and the experience for both patients and staff. With a strong commitment to resilience and flexibility, she strives to build towards future-ready facilities that deliver long-term value and adapt to evolving healthcare needs.Building resilience: One size doesn’t fit all, but one space can
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The only certainty we face in healthcare design is that the needs of the hospital will continually evolve. The bed and specialty mix that we plan for now are unlikely to represent that required on opening, and will continue to change day to day, month to month, and decade to decade. By embedding resilience into every stage of planning and construction, we can design hospitals that thrive in this uncertainty. This paper will demonstrate that designing facilities for patient pathways rather than specialties produces savings, achieves resilience, improves the productivity of the estate, and promotes flexibility.
Current hospitals often provide similar services from multiple locations. In an audit we completed for one trust, we discovered outpatient services were provided from more than 120 separate locations across two sites, with the vast majority being specialty-specific. This approach drives inefficiency: increased workforce demand, multiple receptions, complex wayfinding, poor utilisation, and space that cannot flex when speciality demand shifts. Departments often close when clinics aren’t scheduled, wasting resources and increasing operational costs.
Our evidence shows that flexible, multispecialty spaces deliver transformative benefits:
• Space savings: Consolidating outpatient services into a single adaptable hub can save trusts approximately 30 per cent of outpatient space, with associated capital savings;
• Operational efficiency: Reduced workforce demand, simplified wayfinding and improved patient safety by delivering the same type of care in co-located spaces; and
• Future-proofing: Facilities and accommodation that can adapt seamlessly to changing specialty mixes without costly rebuilds.
Applying these principles beyond outpatients to acute assessment, day surgery, theatres, and administrative areas has the potential to save 5-10 per cent of overall area, due to increased operational parameters and consolidated support facilities. Added benefits include increased patient safety (e.g., administrating general anaesthesia in one location), reduced peaks in activity minimising congestion, and increased staff interactions.
The benefits extend into the future. Pathway-focused design creates estate that can evolve with clinical innovation and unforeseen changes in service demand. We will also explore how our approach has implications for community hospitals, other non-acute sites, and existing estate, where similar principles can unlock further efficiencies. In this session, we will present:
• evidence-based strategies for embedding resilience in hospital design;
• real-world data demonstrating space and cost savings; and
• future-ready models that improve productivity and patient safety.
By creating healthcare facilities that are flexible, efficient and resilient, we can build estates that stand the test of time and deliver better care for decades to come.Learning Objectives
- Understand how speciality-specific spaces create inefficiencies and inflexibility, reducing the resilience of the estate
- Understand how pathway-focused design improves flexibility, increases utilisation, and reduces overall area requirements
- Visualise how these principles scale across hospitals and estates to deliver lasting adaptability, and explore how this can be delivered across non-acute sites and existing estate to unlock further efficiencies
11.25DAISY: AI-driven early stage design for net-zero healthcare estates
Matthew Palmer
Director, building structures, WSP, United KingdomMatthew Palmer is a fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a passionate multidiscipline project director. Over his 25-year career, he has designed and led the engineering of a number of landmark regional, national and international healthcare schemes. His passion for holistic design has led Matthew to adopt WSP’s award-winning early-stage optimisation platform, Daisy, and elevate its healthcare specific capability to create a step change in the performance led design of healthcare buildings and estate optimisation.DAISY: AI-driven early stage design for net-zero healthcare estates
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Optimising capital expenditure and enhancing workforce performance, while advancing net-zero strategies, through the implementation of WSP’s early-stage design tool, DAISY, powered by an AI engine at its core.
The need for healthcare estates to embrace the latest thinking in AI has never been greater in driving forward NHS net-zero strategies. Significant rework can often be avoided if decisions made at Stage 0: strategic assessment and Stage 1: strategic outline case are optimised, and if Trust boards are fully informed and equipped with the rationale behind prioritising certain parameters over others.
This is why we are developing DAISY, a user-led digital tool built around an AI engine capable of assessing and comparing thousands of potential building design options. DAISY evaluates a broad range of parameters, including embodied and operational carbon, energy use, MMC, clinical adjacencies, travel distances, FM, and site logistics. It provides trusts with the ability to quantify these factors and understand the strengths and risks of potential designs early in the project lifecycle.
Our clinical and engineering-led architectural approach greatly reduces, and often eliminates, the need for value engineering at later design stages. This ensures far fewer compromises, as the design and cost model are closely aligned from the outset, safeguarding the net-zero principles underpinning the design philosophy from late-stage changes.
What does this mean for the trust’s or board’s balance sheet? By optimising and de-risking designs early, capital funding can be redirected from costly rework towards subsequent capital projects. From the start of design development, DAISY incorporates lifecycle requirements and proactive maintenance alongside operational carbon impact, reducing long-term energy and maintenance costs. This, in turn, helps cut backlog maintenance and revenue spend.
Ultimately, the efficiencies DAISY delivers enable more funding to be retained for enhancing clinical services and investing in broader decarbonisation strategies.Learning Objectives
- How AI-driven tools optimise early-stage healthcare estate design
- Analyse sustainability and operational parameters in design optimisation
- Assess the financial and operational impact of early design decisions
11.45Integrated Data Platform (IDP) for specialist outpatient clinic
Ting Wang
Senior manager, National University Health System, SingaporeWang Ting is a senior manager in the engineering division of the NUHS Corporate Infrastructure office, specialising in smart and digital healthcare with a focus on building operational smart applications that translate innovative technology into daily hospital operation and maintenance practice. With her background as a mechanical engineer by training, she integrates and turns data into actionable insights with AI/ML, designing applications that streamline workflows to solve real-world challenges in space and resource allocation, hospital operation optimisation, and predictive maintenance. She piloted an integrated data platform (IDP) for NUH Medical Centre L18&19 in 2025 and saw big opportunities in scaling up to other hospital functions and operations in future infrastructure development.
Lee Boon Woei
Director, National University Health System, SingaporeHe is a director of NUHS Infrastructure Office and leads improvement and strengthening of engineering resilience, formulating solutions that enhance the resilience of services and optimise efficiencies. He is also deputy chief sustainability officer of NUHS Office of Sustainability. He is tasked to steer the NUHS Green Plan to meet the evolving development in sustainability, and roll-out sustainability initiatives so that healthcare facilities can transit towards a low-carbon economy. Having worked in building consultancy for over three decades and witnessed the evolution of green, digital technologies and increased awareness of sustainability in the industry, he understands the importance of adopting innovation in health facilities to capitalise on technological advancement to improve building operational efficiency and decarbonise healthcare operations. IDP is a pilot project where digital solutions are adopted in building operation to develop machine learning operating algorithms that identify operating patterns, detect operational abnormalities, and predict potential failures of equipment and systems.
Jordan Chow
Senior assistant manager, National University Health System, SingaporeJordan is working in the NUHS Corporate Infrastructure Office under the engineering team, where he focuses on integrating diverse building systems and elevating them through advanced digital technologies, such as data analytics, machine learning, preventive maintenance, digital twins, and AI applications. The aim is to improve operational efficiency and system reliability, and better inform decision-making across healthcare facilities. Recently, Jordan piloted the implementation of the integrated data platform at NUH Medical Centre, Levels 18 & 19. This project involves integrating multiple building systems into a unified environment, enabling real-time monitoring and deeper insights, and improving system efficiency. This pilot helps pave the way and sets the foundation for expansion and new hospitals in future.Integrated Data Platform (IDP) for specialist outpatient clinic
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Background: Singapore Green Plan 2030 and GreenGov.SG aim to save energy and achieve decarbonisation within the public healthcare sector. As the healthcare sector is responsible for 4 per cent global greenhouse gas emissions, it targets to push the technology boundary by embracing innovative digital solutions that reduce both operational and embodied carbon emissions.
Purpose: We piloted an integrated data platform (IDP) for two floors of specialist outpatient clinics (SOC). The IDP harvests data from building management system (BMS) and IoT sensors and conducts data analytics to develop operational insights and optimisation strategies to improve operational efficiency, space and resources utilisation, and minimise services disruption.
Methodology:
1. Automate data collection across different operational systems through integrative middleware.
2. Apply data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) for real-time monitoring, identify operational patterns, and develop predictive maintenance coupled with automated control to maximise space utilisation and achieve energy and resources optimisation.
Results:
1. Real-time system efficiency, energy and water consumption tracking with anomaly detection insights enables evaluation of resource distribution among departments and building systems, including their correlation with space utilisation. It also enriches the database and refines design parameters for future buildings.
2. Space utilisation analytics provide real-time space occupancy insights and usage patterns. Identify most/least used spaces using heatmap data analytics. This leads to increased caseload per space unit and better crowd management. This scientific approach helps in guiding space design and optimising resource allocation (including embodied carbon) in infrastructure development.
3. AI/ML automated zonal control of air conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) based on real-time indoor air quality (IAQ), occupancy and outdoor conditions data can save energy without compromising occupants’ thermal comfort. AI optimisation, simulation and forecasting provide holistic understanding on how building systems should react to space usage patterns and how flexible optimal control and design should be captured to achieve better efficiency.
4. The in-built domain knowledge and ML rules shift maintenance from routine to predictive with fault detection that stretches equipment’s useful lifespan, eliminating unnecessary preemptive parts replacement, self-diagnostics and root cause analytics capabilities, leading to reduced disruption, higher operational efficiency, and lower carbon emissions.
Conclusion:
1. IDP enables optimal usage of existing infrastructure and sets benchmarks for future projects.
2. Optimise space, energy, and resource allocation (including embodied carbon), achieve operation and maintenance cost avoidance by real-time system optimisation and shifting towards predictive maintenance.
3. Inspire innovations to simplify operations SOP, which leads to manpower and time savings.Learning Objectives
- Decarbonization with Data Analytics
- Digital Transformation
- Energy and resource optimization
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 14.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking14.00 - 15.30Session 29- New models for public private partnershipsMatthew Custance
Partner, Burrum River Advisory, United KingdomMatt is the founder of Burrum River Advisory, a specialist firm advising on the financing, structuring, and delivery of major healthcare infrastructure. He has over 30 years’ experience in hospital business cases, private finance, and commercial strategy, working with both public- and private-sector clients on complex capital programmes. His work includes the new Royal Papworth Hospital and the proton-beam therapy centres in London and Manchester. He has advised on numerous PFI and privately financed schemes, as well as wider healthcare portfolio and corporate structures. Before founding Burrum, Matt was a partner at Grant Thornton and KPMG, where he led advisory teams on large-scale healthcare and infrastructure projects across the UK.14.00Strengthening national laboratory and research systems in fragile settings: A PPP model for operationalising Somalia’s National Reference Laboratory and National Research Certification System
Shakir Ahmed Adem
Public–private partnership (PPP) co-ordinator, Ministry of Health & Human Services, Federal Government of Somalia, SomaliaShakir Ahmed Adem serves as the PPP co-ordinator in Somalia's Ministry of Health & Human Services, specialising in the development and execution of strategic health infrastructure projects. Leveraging innovative public-private partnership (PPP) models tailored to fragile settings, Shakir plays a crucial role in enhancing Somalia’s healthcare landscape. His decade-long experience spans healthcare, infrastructure, logistics, and investment, allowing him to expertly bridge public policy with sustainable private-sector outcomes. He spearheads the design and implementation of frameworks for Somalia’s National Reference Laboratory and the Research Certification System, with a strong focus on regulatory reform and financing mechanisms aimed at bolstering national health security. Beyond his governmental work, Shakir is an entrepreneur engaged across East Africa and the Middle East, actively fostering institutional transformation and nurturing sustainable partnerships. His leadership and vision contribute significantly to advancing health-sector resilience and capacity in challenging environments, ensuring long-term impact and progress.Strengthening national laboratory and research systems in fragile settings: A PPP model for operationalising Somalia’s National Reference Laboratory and National Research Certification System
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Somalia faces longstanding gaps in laboratory capacity, research governance, and quality assurance systems critical for disease detection and public health security. Despite increased investments by government and development partners, the country continues to rely heavily on external diagnostics, fragmented private laboratories, and limited regulatory oversight. To address this, the Ministry of Health & Human Services has initiated two flagship reforms: 1) the operationalisation of the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) under a public–private partnership (PPP) framework; and 2) the establishment of the Somalia National Research Certification System (SNRCS) in collaboration with the National Institute of Health.
This abstract outlines a dual-track PPP model that strengthens national laboratory networks while creating a unified research certification and accreditation platform. The NRL PPP introduces a sustainable model combining public stewardship, private-sector investment, digital connectivity, and nationwide sample-collection units. The model draws on regional and global best practices adapted from Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, India, and Turkey – countries that have leveraged PPPs to rapidly scale diagnostics, biosafety capacity, and quality systems.
The SNRCS complements this by establishing a structured framework for certifying research activities, approving research institutions, supporting digital registration, and enabling ethical oversight. The system integrates technical governance from the National Institute of Health with private-sector technology providers to ensure transparency, standardisation, and long-term financial sustainability.
Together, the NRL and SNRCS initiatives represent one of Somalia’s most ambitious efforts to modernise public health infrastructure through PPP-driven innovation. The proposed model enhances diagnostic accessibility, reduces cross-border testing costs, supports local job creation, and provides a long-term regulatory mechanism for research governance.
This paper will present the PPP design, financial model, governance structure, digital architecture, and implementation roadmap, while highlighting lessons relevant to fragile and post-conflict health systems. The model demonstrates how hybrid public–private approaches can accelerate health system recovery and advance universal health coverage in low-resource settings.Learning Objectives
- To demonstrate how PPP models can strengthen national laboratory systems and diagnostic capacity in fragile and post-conflict states.
- To present a scalable research certification framework adaptable to low-resource health systems.
- To share evidence, global benchmarks, and lessons for integrating public stewardship with private-sector innovation.
14.20Can a public–private partnership (PPP) hospital project be agile and resilient?
Sannah McColl
Principal, Architectus, AustraliaAs a principal at Architectus, Sannah brings more than 25 years' experience in designing and delivering major hospitals across Australia. She is a strategic thinker and meticulous planner who is focused on both the practical and the beautiful in all her projects to drive innovation and best practice outcomes.Can a public–private partnership (PPP) hospital project be agile and resilient?
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PPP hospital projects often have gestation periods of up to a decade. They emerge from extensive contractual frameworks – thousands of pages of paper; schedules and technical requirements issued by government describing the functions, regulations and performance outcomes expected of a contemporary hospital from masterplanning through its first 25 years of operation and beyond.
Beyond these obligations, a PPP hospital must be many things to many stakeholders:
• a robust, efficient asset for government;
• a viable long-term investment for financiers and builders;
• a commercially sustainable enterprise for the operator;
• a place of healing and dignity for patients;
• a contemporary, supportive workplace for staff; and
• a piece of architecture that sings.
Taken together, this can appear highly prescriptive, rigid and overwhelmingly complex. Yet our most successful PPP hospitals achieve all of this – and more. They remain light on their feet, able to adapt, regenerate and respond to change because they are designed from the outset with an unambiguous focus on flexibility and the future.
In this presentation, we will take a deep dive into two recent Architectus PPP hospital projects – the New Melton Hospital on a greenfield site, and the Frankston Hospital redevelopment on a brownfield site – to explore how we reconciled contractual requirements with the need for agility and resilience from masterplan through to delivery.
We will step through the strategies that underpin this approach, including:
• designing for future flexibility;
• responding to evolving models of care and acuity profiles;
• creating interchangeable (generic and bespoke) spaces;
• designing for workforce change;
• embedding spatial flexibility at multiple scales;
• enabling scalability over the life of the asset;
• building resilience for patient cohorting and pandemic response;
• integrating circular economy principles; and
• designing for rapid technological change.
Learning Objectives
- How a prescriptive PPP brief can yield agility in design response
- How PPP projects embed future flexibility/ scalability into hospital design (greenfield and brownfield project examples)
- How PPP projects bake in resilience for patient cohorts, workforce change and future technology (greenfield and brownfield project examples)
14.40De-centralised hubs of care
Valentina Chisci
Senior associate architect, healthcare project lead, Perkins&Will UK, United KingdomValentina Chisci is a senior Associate at Perkins&Will with more than 20 years of international experience in healthcare architecture spanning the UK, Italy, and Chile. Her work is driven by a commitment to establishing strong design foundations from the earliest stages of a project, ensuring that clinical needs, patient experience, and operational efficiencies are embedded from the start. Valentina collaborates closely with clinicians, healthcare organisations, and multidisciplinary teams to create environments that genuinely support healing, enhance staff wellbeing, and enable high‑quality care delivery. Specialising in early‑stage strategic planning and concept design, she helps clients articulate clear project visions and transform them into spaces that are functional, future‑ready, and rooted in evidence‑based design principles. Valentina brings a thoughtful, analytical, and human‑centred approach to every project, ensuring that design solutions respond intelligently to context, complexity, and the evolving demands of modern healthcare.
Elisa Cecilli
Senior associate – strategic Foresight, Perkins&Will,UK and Portland, United KingdomElisa Cecilli is a strategic foresight consultant at Perkins&Will and Portland Design with over 15 years of experience decoding socio-cultural change and its implications for business. With a background in economics, she distills complex trends into actionable strategic recommendations for the built environment. Her client portfolio includes the UK Government, Chatham House, Moody's, CNN, Samsung, Diageo, LinkedIn, and Transport for London. She leads international research and discovery programmes, applying futures thinking and design methodologies to unlock growth opportunities, and help companies respond strategically to emerging shifts in technology, culture, and end user behaviours.De-centralised hubs of care
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Healthcare is evolving beyond the walls of traditional hospitals. The future lies in distributed, community-based systems that make health services accessible to everyone, regardless of location or income. This shift is not just about convenience. It’s about creating a healthier society through prevention, education, and integration.
Imagine walking down your local high street and finding not only shops and cafes but also therapy centres and primary care clinics integrated within commercial activities. This model brings healthcare closer to daily life, reducing barriers and encouraging people to seek care early. By embedding health services in familiar environments, we normalise preventive care and make it part of everyday routines.
A cornerstone of this vision is health education for all generations. Teaching children, adolescents, adults and elderly people about prevention empowers them to make informed choices, reducing future health risks. Schools, community centres, and even retail spaces can become hubs for educational products and programmes, from interactive apps and games to wellness workshops and branded health campaigns. These tools make learning about health engaging and accessible.
Economic accessibility is equally critical. Affordable care options ensure that no one is excluded from essential services. Public-private partnerships can play a vital role here, combining resources and expertise to deliver high-quality care at sustainable costs. Such collaborations can also drive innovation, creating new models for basic diagnostics, preventive care, chronic disease management, physiotherapy services, and minor procedures outside hospitals.
Reducing unnecessary hospital visits is another priority. By shifting basic diagnostic procedures and routine therapies to community clinics, we can decrease patient loads in hospitals, improve the patient-to-staff ratio, and prevent overcrowding. Hospitals can then focus on complex cases, while local centres handle preventive care and minor treatments. This approach not only improves efficiency but also enhances patient experience.
Branded health services is an emerging trend that supports this transformation. Associating wellness with recognisable brands can make healthcare more approachable and appealing. When health becomes part of lifestyle branding, it encourages proactive engagement rather than reactive treatment.
Learning Objectives
- Distributed care models bring therapy and basic diagnostics to high streets
- Public-private partnerships ensure economic accessibility and scalability
- Branded Health enhances trust and encourages community participation, commercial products used for the prevention care
15.00Panel discussion15.30 - 16.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking16.00 - 17.00Session 30- Estatecode in action: Embedding resilience in NHS EstatesSimon Corben
Director and head of profession, NHS Estates, NHS England and NHS Improvement, UKAfter some 16 years in the private sector, advising the NHS and successfully growing and managing a team of property, clinical planning consultants and analysts, Simon returned to the public sector in 2017 to lead the Estates and Facilities function across the NHS, which now includes both the secondary and primary care sectors. The role at NHS England is one he relishes, building on the Carter Implementation Programme and Naylor Review. Following initial success delivering the Model Hospital and efficiency savings, he is taking forward and broadening out the NHS Estates agenda. This includes the primary care estate, the ProCure23 construction framework, and delivery of the Health Infrastructure Programmes announced by the prime minister in 2019. Most recently, he led the NHS Estates response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the delivery of seven Nightingale hospitals alongside improved clinical infrastructure resilience across the existing estate. Since joining the NHS in May 2017, Simon has recruited a team aligned to the seven core initiatives of: commercial acumen; policy; workforce; sustainability; operational efficiency; standardisation, strategy and capital; and operational delivery. In doing so, Simon and the team have: • delivered both additional capital funding and investment into the NHS; • reinstated the NHS estates Standards and Guidance programme; • improved assurance of NHS estates safety, effectiveness and governance through the updating and mandatory implementation of the NHS Premises Assurance Model (NHS PAM); and • reconfigured and expanded the NHS Estates Division to cover primary care and regional teams; An accredited Gateway reviewer and project director, Simon understands the need for commercial, innovative and deliverable solutions. In his role at NHS England, he is using his skills and experiences to bring fresh ideas and drive to improve the quality and efficiency of estates and facilities management across the NHS.
Fiona Daly
Director of sustainability and workforce and national deputy director of estates, NHS England, UKAs the national deputy director of estates for NHS England, Fiona is tasked with leading the strategies, policies and national programmes to decarbonise the NHS estate, improve operational resilience and patient experience, and develop the 100,000 strong estates and facilities workforce; driving innovation, engagement and delivery, and providing healthcare organisations with the critical support they need to implement their plans. Fiona has 17 years’ experience of working in estates and facilities management and is passionate about reducing health and social inequalities, establishing an estate that supports the transition to sustainable models of care throughout the NHS. She is focused on driving the delivery of a healthy, resilient healthcare estate; tackling organisational leadership, investment in the built environment, and developing the skills and capacity of the current and future NHS workforce. In 2018, she was made an honorary professor at University College London (UCL) for her contribution in supporting the development of students in her field.16.00Estatecode in action: Embedding resilience and strategic control in NHS estatesSimon Corben
Director and head of profession, NHS Estates, NHS England and NHS Improvement, UKAfter some 16 years in the private sector, advising the NHS and successfully growing and managing a team of property, clinical planning consultants and analysts, Simon returned to the public sector in 2017 to lead the Estates and Facilities function across the NHS, which now includes both the secondary and primary care sectors. The role at NHS England is one he relishes, building on the Carter Implementation Programme and Naylor Review. Following initial success delivering the Model Hospital and efficiency savings, he is taking forward and broadening out the NHS Estates agenda. This includes the primary care estate, the ProCure23 construction framework, and delivery of the Health Infrastructure Programmes announced by the prime minister in 2019. Most recently, he led the NHS Estates response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the delivery of seven Nightingale hospitals alongside improved clinical infrastructure resilience across the existing estate. Since joining the NHS in May 2017, Simon has recruited a team aligned to the seven core initiatives of: commercial acumen; policy; workforce; sustainability; operational efficiency; standardisation, strategy and capital; and operational delivery. In doing so, Simon and the team have: • delivered both additional capital funding and investment into the NHS; • reinstated the NHS estates Standards and Guidance programme; • improved assurance of NHS estates safety, effectiveness and governance through the updating and mandatory implementation of the NHS Premises Assurance Model (NHS PAM); and • reconfigured and expanded the NHS Estates Division to cover primary care and regional teams; An accredited Gateway reviewer and project director, Simon understands the need for commercial, innovative and deliverable solutions. In his role at NHS England, he is using his skills and experiences to bring fresh ideas and drive to improve the quality and efficiency of estates and facilities management across the NHS.Fiona Daly
Director of sustainability and workforce and national deputy director of estates, NHS England, UKAs the national deputy director of estates for NHS England, Fiona is tasked with leading the strategies, policies and national programmes to decarbonise the NHS estate, improve operational resilience and patient experience, and develop the 100,000 strong estates and facilities workforce; driving innovation, engagement and delivery, and providing healthcare organisations with the critical support they need to implement their plans. Fiona has 17 years’ experience of working in estates and facilities management and is passionate about reducing health and social inequalities, establishing an estate that supports the transition to sustainable models of care throughout the NHS. She is focused on driving the delivery of a healthy, resilient healthcare estate; tackling organisational leadership, investment in the built environment, and developing the skills and capacity of the current and future NHS workforce. In 2018, she was made an honorary professor at University College London (UCL) for her contribution in supporting the development of students in her field.Estatecode in action: Embedding resilience and strategic control in NHS estates
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This workshop will unpack the principles and practical application of the new Estatecode, focusing on how it supports multi-year development control, commercial asset management, and strategic capital deployment.
Participants will explore the mindset shift required to move from reactive investment to proactive planning, and how acute hospitals can act as anchor institutions within wider health and care systems. The session will include scenario-based discussions and peer exchange.
Learning Objectives
- Deepen understanding of Estatecode and its strategic implications
- Explore practical tools for embedding resilience and productivity
- Facilitate peer learning among estates leaders
End of Health planning and investment stream -
Tertiary care
Abbey Room
08.45 - 10.15Session 31- Reimagining rehabilitation design and careNirit Pilosof
Head of research in innovation and transformation, Sheba Medical Center; Faculty member, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Associate, Cambridge Judd Business School, UKNirit Pilosof, PhD, is an architect and researcher exploring the intersection of healthcare, technology and architecture. She is a Faculty member at the Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, and an Associate of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS) at the University of Cambridge in the UK. She is also Head of research in healthcare transformation at Sheba Medical Center, a Fellow of Cambridge Digital Innovation (CDI) at the University of Cambridge, and the Executive Member of Israel at the International Union of Architects (UIA) Public Health Group. Dr Pilosof holds a PhD from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, a Post-Professional MArch from McGill University, and an Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) from the Center for Health Design in the USA. She gained experience in the design process of major medical facilities as a project manager at leading architecture firms in Israel and Canada and won international awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architects for Health Award, the American Hospital Association (AHA) graduate fellowship, the McGill graduate fellowship and the Azrieli Foundation fellowship.08.45National Rehabilitation Centre – a new era for rehabilitation
Paul Bell
Principal, Ryder Architecture, United KingdomPaul completed his architectural education at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow in 1992 and has led several high-profile urban design, health and infrastructure projects. In 2006, he established Ryder’s Glasgow office and led the early development of the Hong Kong office. Prior to joining Ryder, he worked with Terry Farrell for 11 years in London and Hong Kong. Paul has spoken around the world on sustainable healthcare design and blurring the boundaries of healthcare to address health equity. Paul brings his expertise of leading integrated project teams to successfully deliver major healthcare projects. His passion for delivering design of the highest quality is recognised by excellent client testimonials and project award nominations.National Rehabilitation Centre – a new era for rehabilitation
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The country’s first NHS National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), based in Nottinghamshire, will soon open its doors to patients, heralding a new era for rehabilitation. The NRC is a 70-bed, state-of-the-art specialist centre for NHS patients who have experienced life-changing illness or injury and is run by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).
NUH has developed a clinical model to deliver more intensive treatments earlier in a patient’s journey and created a bespoke workforce and training to support this. The facility is co-located with the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate (SHRE) near Loughborough.
The NRC incorporates groundbreaking technology, providing earlier access and more intensive treatments to help people regain ability following serious illness or injury. It is home to the most comprehensive robotics suite in the NHS and the first 360 hoist in Europe. The integrated clinical and research environment will support a highly skilled workforce to deliver bespoke rehabilitation programmes for each patient.
The NRC is digitally advanced with a silent nurse call system and intelligent bedside screens to promote independence. Real-time location technology ensures staff safety and patient autonomy, including unlimited access to the 365-acre Stanford Hall Estate with a 5km trim trail, hand-cycle track, fishing lake, and pitch-and-putt golf course. Each patient bedroom has unobscured views across the estate.
As part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme, it is the NHS’s first operationally carbon-neutral building.
The NRC will lead rehabilitation research and innovation, and provide training through an NRC Academy in collaboration with 26 universities. Patients can take part in research during their stay, aiming to reduce the time between identifying effective treatments and benefiting patients. Clinical staff will also be encouraged to participate in research and education.
What happens at the NRC is anticipated to be of international significance – the research, innovation and evolution in rehabilitation technology and treatment are expected to have global impact. The long-term ambition is for the NRC to be the national ‘hub’ in a future ‘hub and spoke’ model, with regional units (‘spokes’) across the country to widen impact and benefit as many patients as possible.Learning Objectives
- Lessons from designing a new approach to support a new era in major trauma rehabilitation
- Lessons from designing an environment that supports research, innovation and evolution in rehabilitation
- 3 Lessons from delivering a digitally advanced facility
09.05Starting from worst case: Resilience through the eyes of a Ukrainian surgical rehabilitation centre
Alex Senciuc
Associate director, Archus, United KingdomAn experienced healthcare planner and architect, Alex has led the development and delivery of major healthcare infrastructure and transformation programmes across the UK, Europe, Africa, and North America. With over 11 years in the healthcare sector and a PhD in strategic healthcare planning, Alex specialises in system-wide transformation through data-driven, collaborative approaches that align clinical, workforce, infrastructure, and financial strategies. With a portfolio of more than 63 projects totalling over £6bn, Alex brings a blend of design thinking, system data modelling, and stakeholder leadership. Through his PhD at UCL, he pioneered the use of simulation modelling in integrated care system (ICS) planning, enabling health systems to make evidence-based decisions across organisational boundaries. A skilled facilitator and project leader, Alex is valued for the ability to unite diverse stakeholder groups around shared goals and deliver innovation at scale.
Katie Wood
Director, Archus, United KingdomAn experienced programme manager, project director and technical advisor, Katie has successfully led the development of strategy, business cases, planning and delivery for a wide variety of programmes and projects across the UK, Australia, Canada, Peru, Africa and Central Asia through her 34-year career. She is recognised as a leader in international healthcare infrastructure development. Katie brings together technical, people and process expertise and combines local capability with global best practice. Her project experience includes: • business cases, planning, design and implementation for large, complex healthcare facility developments; • international Public Private Partnership (PPP) and design-build delivery routes; • establishing and successfully implementing national healthcare programmes; • transformational change covering organisations, people, processes and digital systems; and • technical guidance leadership, including World Bank IFC as well as UK Health Building Notes and Health Technical Memoranda.Starting from worst case: Resilience through the eyes of a Ukrainian surgical rehabilitation centre
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In stable democracies, healthcare resilience is often treated as an optional add-on rather than an operational priority. Major emergencies are perceived as infrequent, and business continuity plans frequently exist as a “file on a shelf”. Healthcare estates are typically planned around incremental growth, predictable demand, and stable service configurations. As a result, long-term investment decisions tend to prioritise immediate performance over future adaptability, leaving infrastructure vulnerable to systemic shock. Yet, the last decade has demonstrated that uncertainty, be it geopolitical, climatic, technological, or epidemiological, is increasingly the norm rather than the exception.
But what happens when we start from the worst case? The First Voluntary Surgical Hospital (FVSH) in Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine, is a modest yet mighty 14-bed surgical unit receiving wounded soldiers from frontline and regional hospitals. For the clinical and management teams, war is not a hypothetical scenario; it is the daily context in which care is delivered. FVSH now plans to expand urgently with a new 40-bed rehabilitation centre to relieve constant system pressure and re-establish structured care pathways.
This expansion forces a fundamental rethinking of resilience: how do you design infrastructure that must simultaneously function in war and be immediately valuable in a future peacetime context?
The methodology included workshops, mapping current and future patient flows, and translation of real operational pressures into a clinical brief and functional requirements for the new centre. This process revealed a dual operating model. In wartime, the facility is a high-throughput healing machine delivering intensive inpatient rehabilitation on a 21-day pathway, supported by physiotherapy, outdoor recovery spaces, mental health services, and immediate access to surgical capacity next door. In peacetime, the same infrastructure could shift towards outpatient-led services, community follow-up, virtual wards and targeted outreach – enabled in part through repurposing military assets, such as secure communications technology, drones, or retrofitted vehicles for community outreach.
This demonstrates that planning from the worst case generates a different set of architectural, operational and strategic design priorities: ones that emphasise flexibility, adaptability, dual-use spaces, rapid reconfiguration and investment longevity. Similar initiatives are already emerging in regions such as Israel, Moldova and Scandinavia, where protective capacity is built from day one.
The insights gained are now informing the redevelopment of UK technical guidance, challenging assumptions embedded in current Health Building Notes that presuppose stability. This presentation invites delegates to question how resilience planning should evolve from planning for emergencies to planning with emergencies as a given.Learning Objectives
- Resilience planning scenarios
- Planning with duality of purpose in mind
- Emergency and disaster recovery strategies
09.25Designing a self-rehabilitation model for geriatric inpatient care
Sue Peleg
CEO, Modus Health, IsraelSue Peleg is a service and systems designer and founder of a health design consultancy advancing new operating models for patient activation within complex healthcare settings. Working at the intersection of strategic design, behavioural insight, and change management, she partners with hospitals to transform inpatient and rehabilitation services from passive, clinician-led care into structured, self-directed recovery ecosystems. With 20 years of experience in qualitative research, innovation development, and strategic consulting, Sue has spent the past three years leading system-level transformation initiatives across rehabilitation inpatient settings. Using co-design methods, she integrates spatial interventions, structured family training programmes for care partners, and workflow redesign into cohesive operating models. Sue holds an MDes in Design and Innovation Management from Bezalel Academy of Arts and an MA in History from Tel Aviv University. At European Healthcare Design, she will present a framework for embedding self-rehabilitation into routine care, demonstrating how design-led strategy improves patient engagement, staff connectivity, and system efficiency.
Tal Amalia Sicsic
Product and service designer, Modus Health, IsraelTal Amalia Sicsic is a product and service designer and an architect, specialising in the development of assistive technologies and environments for individuals with disabilities and war-related injuries. She works as a rehabilitative designer in hospitals on patient challenges, in close collaboration with multidisciplinary clinical teams. She develops and leads user-centred, inclusive and empathic design processes grounded in co-design methodologies and a holistic perspective. Her main focus is translating patients' needs and wishes, as experts on their own lives, into tailored physical and environmental solutions. Her leading approaches considers objective medical criteria as equivalent to “soft” and emotional criteria that promote independence and participation. Tal has a BArch degree in Architecture and City Planning and a MDes degree in industrial design, in the design and innovation management track, from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.Designing a self-rehabilitation model for geriatric inpatient care
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Rehabilitation treatment time is limited in inpatient settings due to a shortage of professional staff, overwhelming reliance on clinical interventions, and limited patient motivation to engage in independent, self-directed practice. As a result, patients spend “idle time” between treatments, adopting a passive approach that leads to poor motivation that delays rehabilitation (Pamka Finestra, 2020). Equally essential to promoting a proactive rehabilitation is the establishment of an ongoing rehabilitation pathway that equips patients and caregivers with the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary for safe and independent practice, during hospitalisation and later at home.
This project, conducted at a geriatric rehabilitation hospital in Israel, set out to develop a structured self-rehabilitation model as an integral component of the clinical treatment plan. The model is based on two principles: designing environments that encourage self-practice and embedding self-practice procedures into daily professional workflows. Initial user-focused research revealed recurring barriers. Patients often lacked clarity about what and how to practice, felt insecure about unsupervised activity, and struggled to maintain motivation and a positive attitude during unstructured time. Staff reported limited ability to provide ongoing support. Caregivers emerged as an untapped resource, often willing to help but lacking the competence and confidence to support practice safely.
In response, an integrated intervention was co-designed with the hospital’s team, including customised self-practice kits, structured intake for patients and family caregivers, a monitoring and physical feedback mechanism for the patient and others, and the design of dedicated self-practice areas embedded directly within the ward. These stations were intentionally designed to be warm, inviting, visible, and accessible, and to create a dedicated space for self-practice, supporting autonomy while ensuring a sense of safety and therapeutic reliability. A pilot in two orthopaedic departments tested the implementation process based on ten designed motor and cognitive “self-practice stations”.
The results showed increased self-practice time, higher motivation, and significant involvement of caregivers. Patients and relatives reported a greater sense of self-confidence and willingness to continue self-practice after discharge, strengthening the treatment continuum. Hospital staff reported satisfaction with the presence of practice spaces in the inpatient departments and their contribution to an active atmosphere, without burdening the work of the staff.
Following the successful pilot, the hospital decided to expand the model, and in 2026, the project will be implemented in two neurological rehabilitation departments, which will mark a significant step towards establishing a self-rehabilitation approach throughout the hospital.
Learning Objectives
- A case study for a rehabilitation model that reinforces an active patient approach and reduces reliance on therapist one on one led treatments
- In a chaotic and spatially tight inpatient setting, a placemaking design strategy encourages patients to engage in self-practice in the inpatient department
- A demonstration of an internal,collaborative, interdisciplinary process for applied healthcare innovation, designed to ensure fit with clinical practice and effective implementation
09.45Panel discussion10.15 - 10.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking10.45 - 12.30Session 32- Designing environments for women and children
Chetna Bhatia
Senior assistant director, Corporate Infrastructure Office, National University Health System, SingaporeChetna Bhatia is Senior Assistant Director at National University Health Services (NUHS) Corporate Infrastructure Office. She is responsible for leading on Hospital Planning, Design & Research within the NUHS cluster, including all new developments of regional integrated Tengah General & Community Hospital and redevelopment of NUH Academic Medical Campus. She is an advocate for using design as a tool to optimize rising costs in healthcare and actively seeks opportunities to use evidence-based design research to improve patient experience and staff productivity, enhancing the quality of patient health outcomes. In the past 2 decades, Chetna was involved in the development of large-scale Public Hospitals in Singapore, which includes Ng Teng Fong General Hospital & Jurong Community Hospital, Sengkang General and Community Hospitals, and Woodland Health Campus.10.45Sabará Children’s Hospital: Caring for children and their family with professionalism, efficiency, quality and empathy above everything
Lara Kaiser
Healthcare design leader and principal, Perkins&Will, BrazilAn architect and urban planner with over 25 years of experience in healthcare architecture, Lara is a principal and chief operating officer at Perkins&Will’s São Paulo studio. She holds a Master’s in Building Design for Health (London South Bank University) and a post-graduate degree in Project Management (Poli-USP). She spent ten years working in the United Kingdom and taught in the post-graduate programme at Faculdade Albert Einstein. Co-author of the book 'Healthcare Buildings' and certified as a LEED GA by GBC Brasil, she is a frequent speaker at specialised events in the US, Latin America, and Europe. Lara has led multidisciplinary teams in major, internationally recognised projects, including the Albert Einstein Teaching and Research Center, Prevent Senior Morumbi, Albert Einstein Vila Mariana General Hospital, and Sabará Children’s Hospital.Sabará Children’s Hospital: Caring for children and their family with professionalism, efficiency, quality and empathy above everything
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Sabará is the first Latin American hospital fully dedicated to paediatric care, operating as a non-profit institution that combines medical excellence, innovation, and a human-centred approach. With a record of positive impact, it now enters a new phase by expanding its capacity to treat people up to 21 years old. Its original location, in a traditional São Paulo neighbourhood 13km from the new site, occupies 5500 sqm and manages around 95,000 consultations per year, reaching 95 per cent of the institution’s service capacity. This scenario prompted an expansion plan and the design of the new building, developed by Perkins&Will São Paulo.
The new structure represents a major transformation for the city while remaining dedicated to caring for children and their families with professionalism, efficiency, and empathy. Currently under construction along one of São Paulo’s main corridors, Avenida Rebouças, the hospital will broaden access to advanced treatments within an organically designed, rational, and responsive building. The architecture adapts to local conditions and capitalises on contextual characteristics to create sensory experiences essential to the development of children and adolescents.
The project’s key objective is to offer a robust structure that properly accommodates users, considering that nearly half of all patients are under five years old – an age group that requires increased attention and often longer hospital stays. To address these needs, dedicated support spaces were created to facilitate parental work, leisure, visits, breastfeeding, meal preparation, and hygiene routines.
Alongside treatment environments, areas for interaction and education support the hospital’s focus on efficient circulation and streamlined flows across all floors. This organisation directly improves systemic operations, emergency response times, and quality of life for patients and staff. The solution emerged from preliminary research that measured the daily distances traveled by healthcare professionals. Based on these findings, the programme was optimised with decentralised nursing stations, private areas for meetings, and open spaces for patients and companions.
Scheduled to open in 2027, the new Sabará Children’s Hospital will have a 42,000 sqm structure capable to support up to 130,000 annual visits while preserving strong performance indicators. Designed to enhance patient comfort and autonomy, it will offer 120 inpatient beds and 60 ICU beds, with permeable facades and a central atrium connecting users to nature and enable visual interaction. The project also advances sustainability through natural light, energy-efficient systems, and adaptable spaces that ensure operational flexibility.Learning Objectives
- Understand the architectural and operational strategy of the new Sabará Children’s Hospital
- Analyze how hospital design can address the specific needs of pediatric patients and young adults up to 21 years old
- Identify architectural and programmatic solutions that optimize performance and quality of life for healthcare teams
11.05Integrating mind and body: A unified model for child and youth mental health and paediatric medicine at the Shah Family Hospital
Claire O’Donnell
Principal, Parkin Architects, CanadaYvonne is a senior clinical operations manager at NHS England, currently working within the New Hospital Programme. With a clinical background that spans nursing, midwifery, and health visiting, Yvonne has dedicated the past decade to specialising in public health, holding roles across local, regional, and national teams to drive improvements in population health and address health inequalities. Her 21-year career in the NHS and wider public sector reflects a strong commitment to shifting healthcare from treatment to prevention by embedding public health principles into service design and delivery. In her current role, Yvonne applies this expertise to the development of new hospitals in England, ensuring they are not only centres of treatment but also environments that actively promote health and wellbeing. She has drawn on her experience and knowledge to support the creation of the Healthy Hospitals Enhanced Framework and Toolkit, integrating population health into hospital design and operations.
Cathy Walker
Manager clinical planning, Trillium Health Partners, CanadaYvonne is a senior clinical operations manager at NHS England, currently working within the New Hospital Programme. With a clinical background that spans nursing, midwifery, and health visiting, Yvonne has dedicated the past decade to specialising in public health, holding roles across local, regional, and national teams to drive improvements in population health and address health inequalities. Her 21-year career in the NHS and wider public sector reflects a strong commitment to shifting healthcare from treatment to prevention by embedding public health principles into service design and delivery. In her current role, Yvonne applies this expertise to the development of new hospitals in England, ensuring they are not only centres of treatment but also environments that actively promote health and wellbeing. She has drawn on her experience and knowledge to support the creation of the Healthy Hospitals Enhanced Framework and Toolkit, integrating population health into hospital design and operations.
Kathy Skelly
Director of Women’s and Children’s Program, Trillium Health Partners, CanadaKathy Skelly is the director of the Women’s and Children’s Program at Trillium Health Partners, bringing more than 25 years of experience in healthcare focused on advancing the wellbeing of women, children and youth. Throughout her distinguished career, she has developed extensive expertise across paediatrics, neonatal intensive care, birthing services, women’s reproductive health, oncology, and emergency care. Her leadership is rooted in values-based principles and a deep commitment to fostering strategic partnerships that drive meaningful, system-wide improvements while championing integrated, patient-centred approaches that address the diverse needs of women and children.
Michelle Draper
Director of mental health and addictions, Trillium Health Partners, CanadaMichelle Draper is the director of the Mental Health and Addictions Program, bringing more than seven years of dedicated experience in mental health, alongside a distinguished 25-year career in healthcare leadership. Her journey has spanned acute care and long-term care settings, with previous leadership roles including director of flow and director of the emergency department. Michelle is a progressive and compassionate leader, deeply committed to enhancing patient care through meaningful engagement with individuals who have lived experience. She champions evidence-based practices and fosters environments that prioritise recovery, dignity, and holistic support for both patients and their families. Michelle leads with empathy, innovation, and a relentless focus on designing therapeutic spaces and experiences that promote healing.Integrating mind and body: A unified model for child and youth mental health and paediatric medicine at the Shah Family Hospital
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The Shah Family Hospital for Women and Children introduces a transformative model of care by integrating child and youth mental health services with paediatric inpatient medicine – a first in the region. This innovation responds to critical gaps in access and rising demand for holistic care (population health solutions) within Mississauga’s rapidly growing and diverse population. Historically, paediatric medicine and mental health services have operated in silos, creating barriers for children with co-existing medical and mental health needs. The Shah Family Hospital addresses this challenge through a dynamic, collaborative approach that unites clinical teams and physical environments to deliver whole-person care.
Central to this integration is a flexible care model co-designed by paediatric and mental health leadership. Data-driven planning identified a substantial need for dedicated child and youth mental health beds, which could be accommodated without impacting regional capacity. The resulting model enables shared space, staffing, and clinical expertise, allowing units to flex in response to fluctuating paediatric volumes while maintaining continuity of care. This approach reduces transfers outside the community and supports early intervention for complex cases – advancing tertiary care capabilities within the region.
The design team translated this vision into a built environment that prioritises adaptability, connectivity, and a unified experience for patients and families. Adaptable layouts allow spaces to shift between medical and mental health functions, while shared staff resources optimise operational efficiency. A cohesive design language – consistent materials, colour palettes, and integrated wayfinding – reinforces safety and continuity, reducing stigma and creating a calming, family-friendly environment. Every element, from emergency department planning to inpatient flexibility, was developed to align with the hospital’s whole-person care philosophy, demonstrating the intersection of design and clinical medicine.
This presentation by both the design and clinical teams will examine the demographic and clinical drivers behind this integrated model, the collaborative process that shaped it, and the design innovations that make it possible. By aligning clinical and architectural strategies, the Shah Family Hospital sets a new benchmark for family-centred care, advancing equity, access, and excellence for children, youth, and families.Learning Objectives
- Explore Clinical Integration Strategies Understand how paediatric medicine and child/youth mental health teams collaborated to create a unified inpatient care model.
- Analyze Design Solutions for Dynamic Care Identify architectural and operational design principles—flexibility, shared resources, and cohesive aesthetics—that enable seamless integration.
- Evaluate Impact on Patient and Family Experience Assess how integrated clinical and design approaches improve continuity, reduce transfers, and create a supportive environment for holistic care.
11.25Global trends in labour and delivery influencing one the UK’s fastest growing communitiesJacqueline Foy
Global health director, HDR, USAJacqueline is a healthcare architect with more than 23 years of experience designing environments that advance healing, equity and well-being. Known for her empathetic leadership style and collaborative approach, Jacqueline brings deep expertise in paediatric design as well as research and translational health sciences facilities. Across her career, she has built a reputation for championing design excellence while aligning architectural solutions with the missions of healthcare organisations and the communities they serve. Jacqueline serves as the global health director for architecture, leading HDR's worldwide healthcare design practice. Based in its Kansas City, Missouri, architecture studio, she collaborates closely with health architecture directors and leaders across design, operations, marketing and business development to strengthen HDR's integrated, multidisciplinary approach to healthcare design. Her focus includes advancing quality and innovation, fostering high‑performance teams and supporting clients as they plan and deliver resilient, people‑centred healthcare environments around the globe. Certified by the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA), Jacqueline is an active member of the Center for Health Design Pediatric Environment Network and a respected thought leader within the healthcare design community. She is deeply committed to mentorship, talent development and creating collaborative cultures that enable teams and the people they serve to thrive.
Alejandro Iriarte
Health planning principal, HDR, United KingdomIn his more than 28 years of experience, Alejandro has designed/planned/built more than 2.6 million square feet of healthcare-related facilities, including renovations and greenfield hospitals. His experience includes several years of facilities’ evaluation and strategic/conceptual planning for leading hospital campus organisations across the globe.Global trends in labour and delivery influencing one the UK’s fastest growing communities
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“We know that, while the birth rate in the UK has gone down, the complexity and needs of pregnant women have increased exponentially. Every woman and family deserve to leave maternity services safe, happy and healthy, and maternity staff – midwives, maternity support workers, obstetricians and anaesthetists – want to be able to provide them with a safe, positive experience." Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives
This decrease in birth rate and converse increase in birth complexity is not unique to the United Kingdom. Trends in labour and delivery in developed nations have evolved significantly in recent years to include more hospitable environments and cutting-edge technologies, despite decreasing birth volumes overall. The rise of more natural birthing options and midwifery have created challenges for hospital planners and designers worldwide. Birthing suites that include amenities like birthing tubs and more relaxing delivery environments are becoming increasingly common, but they are also juxtaposed by facilities to support the emerging complexities in utero, including resuscitation rooms, nesting rooms, and other spaces to support antepartum needs.
How does one incorporate this rising patient expectation into the seemingly contradictory constraints of the New Hospital Programme and its desire for efficiency and standardisation? And how does one do so economically, to maintain proper utilisation of space and operations, even during downtimes?
In this session, delegates will learn about some of the recent and emerging trends in labour and delivery environment design from across the globe, including examples from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. A case study will then be presented to explore how these ideas are being considered at the New Milton Keynes University Hospital's (MKUH) new Women's and Children's facility, one of the first designed in accordance with the latest "Hospital 2.0" guidelines. With the highest increase in birth rate in the South East of England, MKUH is poised to lead the next generation of labour and delivery environments and establish a new standard of care in the UK.
Learning Objectives
- Understand global drivers and trends in labor and delivery environments.
- Learn about the singular structural grid and standardized "kit-of-parts" in NHS' Hospital 2.0 Programme.
- Apply global best practices in labor and delivery to Hospital 2.0.
11.45Redefining healthcare in Oman: Patient-centred care for women and children
Paul Yeomans
Director, Medical Architecture, United KingdomPaul has over 19 years of experience in healthcare design. He has substantial knowledge of the sector in areas of strategy, planning, design and construction and a proven track record of delivery. He has led the design of numerous healthcare buildings with a project portfolio receiving awards from the RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, Design in Mental Health and European Healthcare Design. Paul is a director, leading Medical Architecture's Newcastle Studio alongside Lianne Knotts. He is a design ambassador for the Design in Mental Health Network and member of its advisory group and design awards jury. Through this role, he contributes to best practice guidance in mental health facility design to raise standards across the sector and improve the experience of patients and staff across the UK and internationally. In 2022, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts for his leadership in healthcare design. Paul is a regular speaker at conferences and uses this platform to promote good quality healthcare design. He is currently leading the design of a new regional hospital in Moldova and a major new women and children’s hospital.
Andrew Ardill
Director, Hopkins Architects, United KingdomAndrew joined Hopkins Architects in 2000 and became a director in 2015. He studied Architecture at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was awarded the RSUA Silver Medal for his final-year thesis. He has significant international experience on major Hopkins Architects projects, including a mixed-use skyscraper in Tokyo, the Dubai World Trade Centre One Central district, and the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts, a highly complex development comprising more than 87 pavilion buildings and an extensive public realm. Working alongside Hopkins’ principal, Simon Fraser, Andrew has co-led several major healthcare buildings, including the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute, now under construction, and the masterplan and concept design for the National Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sultan Haitham City, Oman. The latter features an innovative courtyard-based approach that creates a strong sense of community for each patient group.
Jeremy Cox
Partner, Strategic Healthcare Planning, United KingdomJeremy is a seasoned expert in healthcare infrastructure development, with decades of experience delivering transformative hospital solutions in the UK and across the globe. Specialising in public-private partnerships (PPP), Jeremy has a proven ability to integrate design, construction, facilities management, and finance into cohesive, successful projects. His expertise in bridging public- and private-sector collaboration has been instrumental in addressing strategic planning, phased construction logistics, and long-term operational challenges. Jeremy has played a key role in numerous high-profile hospital projects, including Bart’s & The Royal, Derby General, and the Karolinska Solna Hospital in Stockholm. Internationally, he has worked with Ministries of Health in Oman, Turkey, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Singapore, and Thailand, contributing to the development of cutting-edge healthcare facilities. His notable achievements include leading the feasibility study for Medical City in Oman, advising on hospital developments in Salalah and Khasab, and supporting Turkey’s development of 22 acute and mental health hospitals. With a track record of delivering projects worth billions, Jeremy is recognised for his ability to manage complex developments, foster collaboration, and navigate challenging environments. His leadership, strategic insight, and commitment to excellence have made him a trusted partner in creating world-class healthcare infrastructure that meets the needs of diverse communities.Redefining healthcare in Oman: Patient-centred care for women and children
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The 500-bed National Women and Children’s Centre (NWCC) in Sultan Haitham City represents a fundamental shift in how healthcare is conceived in Oman. More than a hospital, it is a new model for patient-centred care – one that places dignity, wellbeing and community at the heart of the health campus.
A revolution in approach to a nation’s healthcare: Planned to serve Muscat’s growing population, Sultan Haitham City is the first project within an Omani Government programme to implement a paradigm shift in sustainable urban development. This provides an opportunity to redefine healthy city living, including the role of healthcare facilities in improving population health.
Strategic Healthcare Planning worked closely with the Oman Government and Ministry of Health, drawing on international best practice to establish the healthcare planning parameters that informed the masterplan and concept design by Medical Architecture and Hopkins Architects.
A connected and forward-thinking masterplan: The hospital masterplan integrates the NWCC with the site’s next phase, the Seeb Tertiary Hospital, while forging connections with neighbouring health research hubs. The campus consolidates complex clinical requirements into a simple, cohesive entity, while maintaining distinct identities for each patient group.
A unified framework was created around a network of courtyard ‘pavilions’, linked by glazed atria to form a connected healthcare campus. This arrangement optimises arrival experience, circulation and clinical efficiency, while allowing for phased delivery and long-term adaptability.
Adapting a standardised model for distinct needs: The NWCC comprises three distinct identities and communities – paediatrics, cancer and women – expressed through three linked courtyard pavilions, each with its own ‘heart’. These courtyards respond to specific patient needs, fostering community and providing generous natural daylight for key spaces. Each pavilion is defined by a dedicated character: paediatrics is play, offering distraction and adventure; cancer is hope, welcoming and positive; and women is calm, private and reassuring. These themes inform early concepts for bespoke interior design and artwork strategies tailored to each patient cohort.
The hospital facade features deep horizontal overhangs that provide shade without obscuring outward views. Softly curved forms create a recognisable identity, reinforcing a sense of calm and a light touch within the landscape.
Setting the standard in place-based healthcare design: As the first major healthcare project in Sultan Haitham City, the NWCC establishes a national benchmark, combining world-class clinical excellence with architecture deeply rooted in Omani culture, climate and landscape.
Learning Objectives
- How healthcare planning can promote healthy city living by integrating hospital plans with wider urban and population health strategies.
- How thoughtful masterplanning ensures both functional performance and long-term resilience of healthcare campuses.
- How the clinical planning and design of hospitals according to patient needs and identity can improve patient engagement and wellbeing.
12.30 - 14.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking14.00 - 15.30Session 33- Innovation in cancer care designRichard Mann
Head of social infrastructure, AECOM, United KingdomRichard has 25 years' experience gained while working for client organisations, contractors and design consultants. During this time he has worked in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US, delivering a number of high-profile projects across a variety of sectors. He is passionate about good building design. Richard brings the knowledge from the diverse projects he has delivered to ensure process improvement, quality and value-driven efficiency in design are at the core of the projects he supports.14.00Navigating precision: Co-ordinating the implementation of the Valencian Proton Therapy Center within Spain’s National Deployment Programme
Iván Paul Martín Jefremovas
Architect | Lead advisor for healthcare infrastructure projects, Valencian Regional Department of Health, SpainIvan is an architect with a Master’s Degree in Hospital Engineering and Architecture, He is also a civil servant in the Spanish regional administration, with over ten years of experience in public social infrastructure, co-ordinating the planning and supervision of complex facility projects. Since 2021, he has specialised in healthcare infrastructure projects at the Valencian Regional Department of Health, contributing to flagship projects such as the implementation of a proton therapy unit at La Fe University Hospital in Valencia and the new Campus for the Clinic University Hospital in Valencia, as well as providing cross-cutting support for the Infrastructure Service’s broader portfolio. In the field of research and dissemination, he is an active member of the Spanish and Valencian Associations of Hospital Engineering and specialises in surgical block design.Navigating precision: Co-ordinating the implementation of the Valencian Proton Therapy Center within Spain’s National Deployment Programme
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Background: The introduction of proton therapy marks a transformative milestone in Spain’s oncology landscape, with ten units being implemented nationwide through an unprecedented public–private initiative. Within this programme, the Valencian Proton Therapy Center represents one of the most technically demanding healthcare infrastructure projects undertaken in the region. Proton therapy requirements are measured in millimetres, yet must be built within the context of large-scale hospital construction, where conventional tolerances operate at the centimetre scale. Unusually for the Spanish health system, the national programme has catalysed sustained technical collaboration across several regional health authorities, creating a shared learning ecosystem rarely seen in Spain.
Purpose: This paper presents a practice-based case study of the technical coordination of the Valencian Proton Therapy Center implementation that started in 2021. It examines how early planning, procurement strategies, design supervision and interregional technical co-operation were orchestrated to reconcile strict vendor specifications, public-sector requirements and accelerated construction timelines defined at the national level.
Methods: The study draws on five years of direct project leadership within the regional health authority, combining:
1) preliminary feasibility analyses defining scope, adjacencies, shielding strategies and budget;
2) management of competitive procurement processes for design and construction;
3) iterative technical guidance to design teams to align architectural, structural, MEP and vendor constraints;
4) continuous on-site coordination since the beginning of construction in January 2025; and
5) structured exchanges with technical services from other regions developing parallel proton therapy centres.
Results: Early integration of vendor requirements reduced design inconsistencies, while cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional reviews improved accuracy in critical areas such as bunker geometry and embed elements, HVAC stability and radiation shielding. Interregional collaboration strengthened troubleshooting capacity and helped align technical criteria across the national programme. Persistent challenges included adapting hospital-scale construction processes to sub-millimetric tolerances, managing sequencing constraints, and modifying standard procedures to achieve the required precision. By mid-2026, construction will be nearing completion and meeting major installation-readiness milestones.
Conclusions: The implementation of the Valencian Proton Therapy Center illustrates the need for hybrid technical leadership bridging architecture, engineering, procurement and clinical planning. It also highlights the strategic value of interregional collaboration in delivering highly specialised healthcare infrastructure – an uncommon yet necessary practice for complex innovation in Spain. Insights drawn from this process lay the groundwork for establishing national technical guidelines for proton therapy facilities, addressing a current gap in Spanish healthcare infrastructure standards and offering a replicable framework for future advanced radiotherapy projects.Learning Objectives
- Designing and building for complex equipment integration
- Fostering cross-regional, multi-stakeholder project governance
- Shaping future proton therapy design standards
14.20Designing for tomorrow: Surrey’s all-electric smart hospital as a model for integrated and resilient community-centred care
Elizabeth van den Brink
Principal, ZGF Architects, United StatesWith over 27 years of experience designing, planning, and programming healthcare facilities across the US and internationally, Elizabeth sees architecture and design as a way to leave a positive and lasting impact and to breathe life into projects that might otherwise strive to simply be functional or efficient. As a lead healthcare planner with a certified Lean Green Belt, Elizabeth integrates functionality and operational efficiencies with her proficient knowledge of project delivery, BIM, and Lean workflow. As a leader of the clinical team, she incorporates the latest trends and technology to provide for future generations of healthcare users. Elizabeth has built a reputation around quality project delivery and a focus on clients’ goals and objectives by providing innovative care delivery methods, adaptability, and design excellence. Her project experience ranges from initial stages in developing functional briefs, programming, masterplanning, stakeholder engagement, concept design, clinical planning, end-user engagement, detail, and technical design, as well as project management.
Kyle Basilius
Principal, Parkin Architects, CanadaKyle is a principal and dual-licensed architect (Canada and Us), as well as a board-certified healthcare architect. With nearly 20 years of experience, he collaborates closely with clinicians and clients, specialising in the programming and masterplanning of healthcare facilities across the United States, Denmark, and Canada. Kyle is deeply engaged in the global healthcare design community. He serves on the Board of Regents of the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA); is helping to launch the North American chapter of the UK-based Design in Mental Health Network (DiMHN); and sits on the board of Rum for Æstetik, a Copenhagen art gallery that advances equitable access to experimental art for people of all ages and backgrounds. He has contributed as the volunteer technical architect for the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering (IFHE) on the WHO and WFP-led INITIATE² Infectious Disease Treatment Module (IDTM) project, which creates a patient-centred design approach for rapidly deployable emergency modules; serves on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Health Care Facilities Standards Working Group; and has guest lectured at Texas A&M University on cultural and ethical considerations in global architectural practice.Megan Angus
Senior vice-president, strategy and digital services, H.H. Angus & Associates, CanadaMegan Angus, RN, MBA, Lean, EDA is a registered nurse, healthcare strategist, and digital innovation leader whose work bridges clinical practice, technology, and capital redevelopment. As vice-president of strategy and digital services at Angus Connect, she brings close to 25 years of experience guiding hospitals through digital transformation, IMIT strategy, and the planning of next-generation care environments. Grounded in clinical insight and systems thinking, Megan specialises in translating emerging technologies – AI, virtual care, digital twins, and real-time sensing – into practical, compassionate, and sustainable models of care. She has led digital strategy and operational readiness planning for major acute, paediatric, mental health, and oncology projects across Canada, helping organisations design smart hospitals that anticipate patient needs and support frontline teams. With a background in Lean methodology and a strong foundation in evidence-based design principles, Megan is a sought-after speaker on AI-readiness, smart hospital planning, and the digital infrastructure required for resilient healthcare systems. She is deeply committed to shaping care environments that are agile, equitable, and profoundly human.Designing for tomorrow: Surrey’s all-electric smart hospital as a model for integrated and resilient community-centred care
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In response to the healthcare needs of British Columbia’s fastest-growing city, the decision to build an integrated cancer and community hospital embedded within the Surrey community represents a transformative approach to healthcare renewal. For families who have long travelled across multiple cities for care, the realisation that “my entire journey can finally happen close to home” is more than convenience – it is dignity restored. This pioneering facility addresses a critical gap in accessible, compassionate care south of the Fraser River, bringing specialised oncology and medical services directly into the neighbourhoods where people live and heal. By co-locating the BC Cancer Centre within a community hospital, the project reimagines what seamless care can look like: diagnosis, emergency needs, treatment, and recovery co-ordinated within one integrated campus designed around the patient, not the system.
Patient vignette: When David, a 62-year-old Surrey resident, learned that his imaging, oncology consults, and surgical care would occur in a single co-ordinated setting, he described the moment as “the first time the system felt built for someone like me”.
The integration of cancer and acute services is not simply co-location – a shift to a continuous, intelligence-supported care model enabled by shared digital platforms, unified triage, and co-ordinated data environments. Housing one of the province’s largest cancer centres – 50 exam rooms, 54 systemic bays, and six linacs – alongside 168 beds, a 55-space emergency and five smart operating rooms strengthens regional capacity while alleviating pressure on Surrey Memorial, BC’s busiest hospital. This creates an “aha” moment: when tertiary and acute care operate as one, patients experience clearer pathways and faster access.
Staff vignette: For Jaspreet, an oncology nurse, the change is profound: “For the first time, the hospital feels designed so I can focus on patients – not chasing equipment.” Shared workflows, digital co-ordination, and efficient spatial design reduce cognitive load and support sustainable practice.
Beyond service integration, the hospital exemplifies climate-conscious regeneration. As one of Canada’s first fully electric hospitals, it eliminates fossil-fuel reliance while meeting or exceeding LEED Gold standards. Circular economy principles further strengthen long-term environmental and operational resilience – an increasingly urgent priority for global health systems.
As a smart hospital, integrated virtual intake, remote monitoring, and virtual postoperative care extend access beyond the building’s walls. AI-enabled triage and data-driven decision-making enhance patient experience and operational adaptability. Together, these innovations create a health system that is agile, resilient, and deeply patient-centred.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will analyze the strategic rationale and operational benefits of co-locating specialized tertiary services, such as cancer care, within community hospital settings. Learners will assess how integrated care models eliminate traditional barriers
- Participants will explore the implementation of sustainable building practices and low-carbon strategies in healthcare facilities, with particular focus on all-electric hospital design and circular economy principles. Learners will evaluate how environment
- Participants will investigate the system-wide adoption of digital health platforms, artificial intelligence, and data-driven decision-making tools in modern healthcare facilities. Learners will examine how smart hospital innovations enhance patient experie
14.40Beyond function: Designing the Marie Curie Medical Campus for Children through emotional architecture and community-centred design
Raluca Șoaita
Founder, Tesseract Architecture, RomaniaArh. Raluca Șoaita is the founder of Tesseract Architecture, reportedly the only architecture studio in Romania specialised in the medical sector. Together with her team, she has signed off on over 1 million square metres of hospitals and medical clinics, including some of the most significant recent large hospital projects in Romania. Raluca consistently promotes topics such as the humanisation of medical spaces, the optimisation of healthcare processes, and sustainable hospital design solutions in the public sphere. In fact, the entire approach of Tesseract Architecture is based on innovation, long-term vision, and a multidisciplinary approach throughout the entire hospital design process for the future of healthcare in Romania. Raluca has been part of the technical expert team involved in a large-scale World Bank project in Romania, "Healthcare Sector Reform – Improving the Quality of the Medical System in Romania." In addition to her collaboration with the World Bank, she has also provided consultancy and expertise for other major international institutions, including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), contributing to the development and modernisation of healthcare infrastructure across the region.Beyond function: Designing the Marie Curie Medical Campus for Children through emotional architecture and community-centred design
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The Marie Curie Medical Campus for Children in Bucharest is one of Romania’s most transformative projects of the past decades: in a country where modern healthcare infrastructure has been severely underfunded, and where social activism practices are still in their infancy, this project brings together architects, clinicians, researchers and an NGO to build the country’s first integrated paediatric oncology and critical care campus.
It challenges conventional hospital design in Eastern Europe by placing emotional wellbeing, community support and humanistic clinical environments at the core of care delivery: specialised departments, such as oncology, bone-marrow transplant, intensive care, radiotherapy, surgery, imaging and haematology, are intertwined with generous family, education and play spaces – creating a cohesive ecosystem for treatment, prevention and recovery.
In a healthcare system long marked by rigidity, underfunding and outdated infrastructure, such a project represents a significant paradigm shift, demonstrating how architecture can transform outcomes for children, families and medical teams – in the process becoming a national benchmark and a model of good practice for the East European scene and the wider region.
The project embodies emotional architecture and family- and community-centred design. Its conceptual foundations were established through an extensive research framework – anthropological studies, workshops and participatory processes –summarised in the publication 'The Connections of the Healing Architecture'.
This paper presents the design of the Oncology and Technical Buildings (Phase I), the developing campus vision (Phases II–III), and their implications for future healthcare spaces. Interviews, surveys and post-occupancy analyses revealed essential user needs: more community support, improved family reconnection areas, and environments that ease stress and boredom.
Methods included participatory design with medical stuff and families, full-scale mock-ups, BIM co-ordination and VR testing. Implementing the project in an active hospital demanded phased construction and the conversion of residual ‘junk-spaces’ into terraces and observatories.
Post-occupancy insights show strong outcomes: improved reconnection between children and families, enhanced staff wellbeing, increased patient autonomy and notable psychological benefits. Testimonials include children who did not want to return home because the environment felt safe and supportive.
The project advances many Congress themes, showing how human-centred environments, digital integration and ecosystem thinking can elevate care. In Romania’s historically outdated paediatric system, the Marie Curie Campus marks a radical shift, proving that healing environments can transform clinical realities even in challenging contexts. Its impact extends across Eastern Europe, setting new standards for hospitals and demonstrating that architecture can restore safety, dignity and joy.Learning Objectives
- Understand how a research-based, human-centered design methodology can shape pediatric oncology environments that improve emotional wellbeing, family cohesion and clinical outcomes.
- Analyse the implementation strategies—phased construction, participatory design, BIM coordination and VR testing—used to deliver a complex medical campus within a functioning hospital, and evaluate their applicability to future healthcare projects.
- Recognize how the Marie Curie Campus offers a replicable model for improving pediatric healthcare environments in Eastern European countries through community-centered, digitally integrated and human-supportive design.
15.00Panel discussion15.30 - 16.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking16.00 - 17.00Session 34- Design for mental and neurological health
Charmaine Hope
Chief estates and facilities officer, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, UKCharmaine joined Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust as chief estates and facilities officer in March 2024. Prior to this, Charmaine worked at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where, most recently she was director of estates, facilities and capital development, having joined OUH in 2018. Among many highlights in her previous role, Charmaine led on delivering an award-winning 48-bed critical care new building. She began her NHS career at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust in 2010 before joining Mace’s public-sector consultancy team in 2013, predominantly supporting NHS trusts with delivery of major capital business cases and programmes of work. Charmaine is a qualified architect and has a masters in leadership and management.16.00Prince Edward Island steps up: A bold leap towards the future of mental healthcare
Wayne Walker
Executive director, mental health and addictions capital planning, Government of the Province of Prince Edward Island, CanadaAs executive director, capital planning, mental health & addictions for the Government of Prince Edward Island, Department of Health and Wellness, Wayne offers over 30 years of healthcare expertise in driving strategic planning frameworks, building government relationships, and delivering top stakeholder satisfaction. With SickKids Hospital for 23 years, and previously as the COO at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and director of capital & facilities planning at Grand River Hospital, he demonstrated exemplary leadership in strategic operational planning, budget management, and stakeholder engagement. His experience as both a development lead for mental health facilities and his past work with patients with lived experience brings a fully-rounded perspective to his approach for a recovery model of care.
Barbara Miszkiel
Health director, Canada East and vice-president, HDR Architecture Associates, CanadaAs director of HDR’s Canada East health practice and a leading voice in mental health design, Barbara is internationally recognised for creating therapeutic environments that balance safety, dignity, and joy. Her work advances a model of care that supports freedom of movement while ensuring the highest standards of protection and clinical excellence. She brings deep expertise from award-winning projects, including CAMH, Lutherwood Mental Health Centre, Sunnybrook’s Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre, and the Hillsborough Acute Mental Health and Life Skills Centre with its Transitional Housing Pavilion. Barbara’s influence extends beyond project delivery: she is a sought-after global speaker, a contributor to the Design in Mental Health Network, and is cited in Stephen Verderber’s recent book 'Innovations in Behavioral Health Architecture'. Her leadership continues to shape the future of mental health environments across Canada and internationally.
Bill Saul
Senior architect, Sable ARC, CanadaBill Saul is a registered architect (AAPEI, AAA, AIA) with more than 25 years of experience designing mental health, civic, post-secondary, residential, healthcare, and urban design projects across Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His international portfolio has shaped a thoughtful, human-centred approach to mental health design, grounded in safety, dignity, and therapeutic engagement. Bill is also recognised as a leader in net-zero-ready, future-focused architecture, advancing sustainable strategies that balance environmental responsibility with exceptional patient care. His work brings forward new standards and best practices – from enhancing patient experience to supporting long-term greenhouse gas reduction targets – positioning him as a key voice in the evolution of resilient, sustainable healthcare environments.Lianne Knotts
Director, Medical Architecture, United KingdomLianne is a director of Medical Architecture and a senior healthcare architect with 18 years of experience shaping complex clinical environments. She brings deep sector knowledge across stakeholder engagement, health planning, feasibility studies, and full design-to-construction delivery. A specialist in mental health facility design, Lianne serves as a trustee of the Design in Mental Health Network, contributing to global thought leadership in therapeutic environments. Her strength in user consultation has led her to collaborate closely with local architects and clinical teams internationally, including recent work in Toronto and Prince Edward Island. Lianne’s portfolio spans award-winning projects recognised by RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, the Design in Mental Health Network, and the International Academy for Design & Health, reflecting her commitment to creating safe, dignified, and healing spaces for patients and care teams.Prince Edward Island steps up: A bold leap towards the future of mental healthcare
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Imagine a place driven by safe freedom of movement, inspired by patients with lived experience, and by international innovation; a place that patients, staff and families embrace as a healing oasis, along the road to recovery.
With the Hillsborough Mental Health and Addictions Centre and Transitional Housing Pavilion, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), design innovation meets a client to match. PEI is the smallest Canadian province, but with one of the boldest visions for mental health: to transform care delivery from a “revolving door” model into a continuum of interwoven pathways that support recovery and long-term success. Patients often ask how they will cope once they leave hospital. Hillsborough is designed so that question no longer needs to be asked.
This transformation was made possible through storytelling, relationship building, and a truly international collaboration. HDR Architecture Associates(Canada) partnered with PEI’s clinical leaders to design the facility. Medical Architecture (UK) alongside Cumulus Architects (Canada) had led the earlier masterplan visioning for the site and were retained as technical advisor to Health Prince Edward Island. The design team challenged the status quo and created a facility where the traditional image of “hospital” disappears. Safety and treatment are harmonised with freedom of movement, and community is woven in as a genuine partner in care.
The design is agile by intent: adaptable spaces that evolve with changing care models, net zero-ready sustainability measures, and environments that regenerate hope through daylight, nature, and cultural connection. This provides a replicable blueprint for mental healthcare in the region, promoting meaningful renewal and long-term resilience.
What makes Hillsborough stand out is its ability to bridge borders and disciplines. It’s a project that proves collaboration across continents can deliver groundbreaking impact, that evidence-based design can regenerate trust in mental health systems, and that architecture itself can embody resilience by supporting both immediate recovery and long-term community integration.
This is more than a building. It’s a new vision in how to think about mental health, how to deliver care, and how design can inspire renewal. Eyes wide open, PEI is taking a big leap forward.
Learning Objectives
- Experience how a client’s province-wide vision was realized through revolutionary stakeholder support.
- Explore how international inspiration can be translated to a local context.
- Discover how EBD was applied for positive mental health outcomes for all – patients, caregivers, and the entire community
16.20Designing for a constantly changing world – the Rare Dementia Support Centre
Ewan Graham
Partner, Hawkins\Brown, United KingdomEwan Graham is an architect and the health and science lead at Hawkins\Brown Architects. His work crosses traditional sector boundaries and regardless of geographic location focuses on developing healthy and sustainable places that concentrate on improving access to health and reducing health inequalities. He has led some of the most ambitious projects in London that combine health, research and education and speaks openly about the potential for good design and architecture to positively influence health outcomes for society. Ewan has worked on numerous projects in the UK that concentrate on creating better places and spaces with the explicit aim of creating improved levels of health in our society. His ambitions are to raise awareness of and improve the way designers, contractors, building commissioners and policymakers consider the impacts of the built environment on population health. Ewan believes that brave, kind and caring architecture has the potential to drive down the level of chronic illnesses and mental health issues in our communities.
Sebastian Crutch
Professor of neuropsychology, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, United KingdomSebastian Crutch PhD CPsychol is professor of neuropsychology at the Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and director of the Rare Dementia Support service (www.raredementiasupport.org), which aims to empower, guide and inform people living with a rare dementia diagnosis and those who care for and about them. His research focuses on rare and young onset dementias, especially posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), the so-called ‘visual variant’ of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The work has led to improved understanding of dementia-related visual impairment and the causes and consequences of atypical AD more generally. He has developed several interdisciplinary research themes collaborating with experts in social science, environmental engineering, occupational health and ophthalmology (to ameliorate the effects of vision loss in dementia), computational statistics, virtual environments and human-computer interaction (to enhance cognitive assessment), neurorehabilitation (designing an app to facilitate reading), neurophysiology, engineering and neuro-otology (to understand balance problems in AD), and artists, scientists and people with dementia (directing the Created Out of Mind residency at the Hub, Wellcome Collection). Seb was awarded the 2015 Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Research Leader Award and 2012 British Neuropsychological Society 10th Elizabeth Warrington Prize.Designing for a constantly changing world – the Rare Dementia Support Centre
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The Rare Dementia Support service offers specialist guidance, information, and community support for individuals and families affected by uncommon forms of dementia. Those living with young onset and non-memory-led dementias face clinical, emotional, and social challenges that demand an architectural response beyond traditional healthcare environments.
The Rare Dementia Support Centre addresses this critical gap by creating a dedicated, inclusive space that exemplifies person-centred design, integrating specialist support, research collaboration, and engagement to improve quality of life and reduce isolation by building communities through support.
Located in two interconnected Grade II listed Georgian townhouses at Woburn Square, Bloomsbury, the centre has been made possible by a comprehensive reimagination and refurbishment project. Informed by dementia-friendly principles, yet conceived as a ‘home away from home’ close to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the design prioritises dignity, accessibility, and psychological comfort.
Key features include a communal kitchen and social spaces for decompression and informal connection; flexible event and training spaces for outreach and education; therapy suites and art workshops for creative engagement; and a reimagined garden designed by Charlie Hawkes, incorporating insights, design principles and some original features from the National Brain Appeal’s ‘Rare Space Sanctuary Garden’, which not only won a gold medal but was also awarded ‘best sanctuary garden’ and ‘best construction award (sanctuary garden)’ at Chelsea Flower Show 2023.
The centre serves as a prototype for future support environments, challenging conventional notions of healthcare architecture. Its design demonstrates how agility and resilience can be embedded in physical space to respond to uncertainty and change – whether in clinical practice, technology, or user needs. Multi-functional spaces enable adaptability and inclusivity, while the integration of the service’s own community-led research fosters a regenerative ecosystem that bridges care, innovation and therapy.
The Rare Dementia Support Centre exemplifies how healthcare design can and should move beyond fragility towards resilience, renewal, and regeneration. It offers a blueprint for agile, human-centred environments in a world defined by uncertainty.Learning Objectives
- Rare dementias present huge physical, mental and emotional challenges for people with a diagnosis and their families, designing with domesticity in mind and using a language of non-clinical architecture helps to remove uncertainty.
- Prioritising emotional wellbeing and social connection through materiality, colour, scale of space and using the landscape as core design drivers. Co-locating support and knowledge exchange with visitor spaces helps strengthen the community.
- Combining retrofit strategies with designing around the needs of people not just with dementia-related memory problems but also vision, language and personality changes provides enduring relevance, regenerative development and much reduced carbon use.
16.40Panel discussionEnd of Tertiary care stream -
Art and architecture
Moore Room
Supported by
08.45 - 10.15Session 35- Designing in-patient environments
Chair: Liesbeth van Heel, Advisor and researcher, Erasmus University Medical Center, The NetherlandsLiesbeth van Heel
Advisor and researcher, Erasmus University Medical Center, The NetherlandsLiesbeth van Heel studied Facility Management and Business Economics. Healthcare and complex organisations always had her interest. She worked in the FM department, was an administrator at the department of Paediatric Surgery, and supported the Executive Board of Erasmus MC as the junior Board secretary, before joining the project management team developing a newly built hospital in 2001. She combined the role of project secretary for this 20-year endeavour with leading a small expertise team (PMO) within the Real Estate directorate. In 2014, she left this management position to direct her focus to the co-ordinating effort to align the various strategic programmes within Erasmus MC towards the preparations for a safe relocation to the newly built hospital building, with fitting work processes, logistics and IT-support, as the programme secretary for the Our New Erasmus MC (ONE) programme organisation. Liesbeth’s special attention has always been directed towards patients’ needs, stakeholder engagement and creating a "healing environment", using (inter)nationally acquired evidence and experience-based design knowledge. She propagates knowledge sharing and network building for 'informed clients' in the Netherlands and beyond. In April 2026, she will defend her PhD thesis on stakeholder engagement in the transformative process for a newly built hospital. Since 2020, she is a Board member of the European Health Property Network (EuHPN). In 2022, she chaired the Organizing Committee of the 5th Architecture, Research, Care & Health (ARCH) conference in Delft and Rotterdam. Since 2023, she has co-ordinated a ‘living lab’ for bachelor students of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences within the Real Estate directorate. In June 2025, she received the Susan Francis Design Champion award at the European Healthcare Design conference in London. In 2025-2026, she is also working as a visiting research fellow with the “Next Generation HealthScapes” theme at the Pufendorf Institute of Lund University, Sweden.08.45Designing a human-centred patient room: Evidence-based, practice-driven model for enhanced wellbeing
Magda Matuszewska
Assistant professor, Poznan University of Technology, PolandDr Magda Matuszewska is an architect, researcher, and assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Poznań University of Technology, specialising in healthcare architecture. She leads the interdisciplinary postgraduate programme “Investments and Design in Healthcare”, developed in collaboration with Poznań University of Medical Sciences, integrating design, clinical, and investment perspectives. Her doctoral research developed methodological frameworks for evaluating hospital environments, contributing to the advancement of evidence-based assessment in healthcare design. The work was recognised with a prize from the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology for excellence in architecture-related doctoral research. She holds degrees from the Royal College of Art in London, Poznań University of Technology, and SWPS University. Her work integrates design, research, and emerging technologies to advance therapeutic, inclusive, and participatory healthcare environments. She develops original methodologies incorporating AI to support the evaluation and transformation of healthcare settings. Her research is presented and published internationally, strengthening evidence-informed approaches to the design of healthcare environments.
Barbara Linowiecka
Assistant professor, Poznan University of Technology, PolandDr Barbara Linowiecka is an interior architect, researcher and assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Poznań University of Technology. She specialises in healthcare interior architecture, evidence-based design, universal and ecological design, and place identity. In her research and practice, she applies methods such as eye-tracking, user behaviour analysis and participatory design to translate scientific evidence into practical design solutions. Her current work focuses on model patient rooms and hospital inpatient areas that enhance patient wellbeing, family comfort and staff efficiency. She has authored numerous scientific publications on interior design, sustainability and inclusive spaces for diverse users. Dr Linowiecka has completed more than 60 interior projects, ranging from private apartments and public buildings to healthcare facilities. She combines academic research and teaching with collaboration with industry partners, physicians and engineers, enabling her to implement and test design solutions in real-world settings.Designing a human-centred patient room: Evidence-based, practice-driven model for enhanced wellbeing
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A practice-based project grounded in evidence-based design (EBD) has been undertaken at the University Clinical Hospital in Poznań to develop a model patient room that advances contemporary approaches to hospital architecture. It demonstrates how empirically collected user insights can shape spatial concepts that meet both clinical demands and the experiential needs of patients and staff.
During the design process, user-experience research involving patients and clinical staff across several wards was conducted, supported by a custom mobile application (“Patient Experiences”). Over a three-month period, more than 200 evaluations of spatial elements were collected, capturing perceptions of comfort, dignity, emotional wellbeing, and functional adequacy. The analysis identified key factors affecting the quality of inpatient stay – particularly in relation to ergonomics, privacy, environmental comfort and the psychological impact of the physical setting.
On the basis of these findings, the design team developed a two-bed patient room with an en-suite bathroom, integrating clinical requirements with emotional and psychological needs of users. The spatial layout was refined to facilitate staff workflow while preserving patient dignity and autonomy. Specific design solutions include: optimised natural and artificial lighting; a biophilic lighting installation replacing the conventional clinical ceiling; materials selected for their calming, domestic character; individual control of lighting at each bed; and high-quality ergonomic furniture. Additionally, an art-therapy wall opposite the patient beds provides a flexible medium for displaying nature-based and artistic imagery, supporting patient mental wellbeing and recovery.
The model room is currently being implemented within the hospital, initiated with strong institutional backing. It will enter active clinical use, providing care for patients, while enabling ongoing post-occupancy evaluation. The solutions developed constitute a transferable and scalable design framework, supported by validated methods and tools – including the “Patient Experiences” mobile application – allowing adaptation in other healthcare facilities. This approach aligns with international best practice observed in leading European hospitals, where mock-up testing is integral to pre-implementation evaluation.
The project offers an empirical demonstration of how evidence and participatory research may be translated into spatial strategies that enhance patient wellbeing, support staff performance, and promote more human-centred healthcare environments.Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate how EBD and participatory research can inform design decisions in hospital architecture.
- Illustrate the process from data collection to design implementation in a real hospital context.
- Present a transferable patient-room model that balances clinical functionality with psychological and experiential well-being.
09.05Hospitalisation Syndrome: A psychological, sociological and neuroarchitectural approach to prolonged hospitalisation including first-hand users’ perspective
Elke Reitmayer
Senior research and lecturer, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, AustriaElke Reitmayer is an architect and senior researcher/lecturer specialising in architectural psychology and neuroarchitecture. She studied Architecture at Graz University of Technology and holds a MAS in Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design from IUAV Venice. She has contributed to research projects in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, including participatory design of acute psychiatric wards and dementia-friendly hospital environments, integrating psychological and neuroscientific insights into evidence-based design. She teaches in Switzerland and Austria and is establishing a PSN-based Architecture research field at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, combining psychology, sociology and neuroscience to better understand how people perceive and experience space. Her work focuses on architecture’s impact on health, behaviour and wellbeing and on participatory design approaches. She is also co-founder of the Hamburg-based company raumDNA, which developed “Architectural Profiling,” a method that analyses conscious and unconscious user needs and translates them into evidence-based spatial strategies that emotionally, socially and cognitively support users.
Jente Pauwels
Architect, Jente Pauwels Architectuur, BelgiumJente Pauwels is a Belgian architect with a Master's in Architecture and a specialisation in Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design. Her work explores the relationship between architecture, cognition, and behaviour, focusing on environments that support mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. She works on care and trauma-informed environments for people in vulnerable situations, translating psychological and therapeutic principles into spatial conditions aligned with how the brain and nervous system adapt, regulate stress, and heal. Her research-informed approach examines how sensory stimuli and stress shape emotional regulation, autonomy, and behaviour, and how architecture reinforces or counterbalances these. After witnessing the cognitive and emotional decline of two women close to her during prolonged isolated hospitalisation, she became driven to investigate how design can protect autonomy, identity, and resilience through balanced sensory environments that prevent both overstimulation and deprivation. The built environment is never neutral: it can undermine health or actively safeguard it.Hospitalisation Syndrome: A psychological, sociological and neuroarchitectural approach to prolonged hospitalisation including first-hand users’ perspective
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Background: Patients undergoing prolonged hospitalisation are profoundly affected by the interplay of mind, body and environment. They are particularly vulnerable to stress, anxiety, depression, apathy, passivity, post-traumatic stress and complex trauma. Specific risk factors influence their behaviour, emotional state, and psychological wellbeing. Patients’ reports reveal that confinement, social isolation, disrupted routines, and sensory monotony can undermine autonomy, emotional stability and cognitive clarity. This research highlights a critical gap between the intended supportive role of healthcare environments and their actual impact on patients’ health and lived experience.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to characterise a previously undefined phenomenon, which we term Hospitalisation Syndrome, through clearly defined symptoms and identify its underlying neural, cognitive and behavioural mechanisms. Understanding these causes allows us to determine how to improve or prevent the syndrome’s development. A further objective was to show why and how design can be a crucial component of care during prolonged hospitalisation, influencing autonomy, DMN-related identity processes, and human interactions.
Methods: A multi-method review examined similar theories, symptomatology, and stressors associated with prolonged institutionalisation. Risk factors were categorised into medical, social, identity-related, and environmental domains, with their impact on the HPA axis and allostatic overload examined. The Five Gs Model from cognitive behavioural psychology served as the analytical framework linking stress to behavioural outcomes. After defining the syndrome, we reviewed architectural design strategies aimed at preventing or mitigating symptom development.
Results: Stressors associated with prolonged hospitalisation disrupt health, cognitive functioning, emotional stability, and dependency levels. Environmental factors, especially social isolation and sensory deprivation, intensified symptoms and contributed to lasting neural and cognitive changes beyond discharge.
We developed a design proposal for a patient room for prolonged hospitalisation. By implementing enactivism and affordances as core design principles, the room enables patients to actively engage with their environment and regain a sense of control and autonomy. The design encourages social interaction without imposing it, supporting healthier cognitive and emotional responses.
Conclusions / implications: Patient-centred design is critical in preventing or mitigating Hospitalisation Syndrome. The environment becomes a key tool, influencing stress, cognition, behaviour, and self-perception. Incorporating user involvement and interdisciplinary expertise ensures spaces that promote autonomy, protect cognitive functioning, and foster healthier behaviour. Ultimately, by shifting from cure- to care-focused design, healthcare facilities can transform prolonged hospitalisation from a source of stress into an opportunity for recovery, supporting autonomy and enhancing patient experience and overall health outcomes.Learning Objectives
- Defining the hospitalization syndrome.
- Allostatic overload and HPA-axis dysregulation, due to prolonged hospitalization exposure
- Patient room design specific for prolonged hospitalization to prevent or mitigate the hospitalization syndrome, promoting autonomy, sense of control, positive self-perseption and social connection.
09.25Architectural levers: Balancing wellbeing and carbon in designing inpatient environments
Giulia Scialpi
arch. Partner, archipelago architects | UC Louvain, BelgiumGiulia Scialpi is an Italian architect based in Brussels. She holds a postgraduate master’s from CRAterre-ENSAG laboratory, a centre of excellence that manages the UNESCO Chair “Earthen architecture, construction cultures and sustainable development” in Grenoble’s School of Architecture. She is currently working in Belgium for archipelago architects and its R&I team, supporting many research projects with her expertise in circular design. She also works as a researcher and PhD candidate in the Urban Metabolism Lab at the Louvain research institute for Landscape, Architecture, Built environment (LAB) and as teaching assistant at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies (LOCI) of UCLouvain.
Peter-Willem Vermeersch
ir. arch. Partner, archipelago architects | KU Leuven, BelgiumPeter-Willem Vermeersch is engineer-architect partner at archipelago architects, Belgium in the Research & Innovation Circle, and visiting professor at KU Leuven in the Research[x]Design group. He obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Engineering: Architecture from KU Leuven. His research focuses on how the lived experience of (disabled) people can inform architectural design practice, via ethnographic research methods, co-design and post-occupancy evaluation. He investigates how to connect lived experience and wellbeing with sustainability frameworks of sufficiency and performance-based design to lower the environmental impact.
Laurent Grisay
ir. arch. Chairman, archipelago architects, BelgiumLaurent Grisay is an architect and civil engineer with more than a decade of experience in healthcare design, covering all project phases from the strategic vision or masterplan to the monitoring of the construction site. He is chairman of the board at archipelago Brussels and is responsible for some of the largest projects in the company’s broad healthcare portfolio, such as the CHU Helora network, the new Tarbes-Lourdes hospital, the new CHR Centre-Sud (Vivalia), the extension of CHwapi in Tournai, the circular reconstruction of IZZ Bracops, etc. He obtained in 2014 an Executive Master in Management of Large Construction Projects and cultivates his interest for innovation by regularly participating and sharing his experience in healthcare congresses.Architectural levers: Balancing wellbeing and carbon in designing inpatient environments
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Architectural decisions are not cosmetic; they are binding contracts between buildings and users. Choices about glazing, window-to-wall ratio, shading, ventilation and thermal mass jointly shape user wellbeing and a buildings carbon footprint. This link is critical in hospitals, where inpatient room performance affects recovery, operations and energy loads.
Our research for the EU-funded Horizon project 'Caring Nature' supports more sustainable and circular healthcare buildings. We focus first on inpatient units which, despite a reduction in beds due to telemedicine and shorter stays, still occupy some of the largest conditioned floor areas and account for large building envelope surfaces. Combining performance-based design, evidence-based design and self-determination theory, we start from a detailed analysis of a prototypical patient room. Using more than 10,000 dynamic simulations in four climates, we systematically vary orientation, glass type, window-to-wall ratio, fixed and movable solar shading, natural ventilation, user control and thermal mass. Rather than optimising one metric, we seek compromises that satisfy wellbeing, thermal comfort and daylight needs while substantially reducing operational energy and carbon emissions.
We process the simulations in two complementary ways. First, we examine the cumulative effect of all strategies under a worst-case baseline scenario to show the maximum potential reduction in net energy demand. Second, by isolating each variable, we identify the relative impact of single strategies per climate: when high-performance glazing dominates, when solar shading becomes decisive, or when natural ventilation offers the strongest leverage. These results are linked to our wellbeing framework, which provides qualitative feedback on the design variables most closely connected to our dynamic simulation parameters, and for which reliable evidence exists that wellbeing is supported and consequentially healing is improved.
This structured approach clarifies which levers are most effective per climate and supports robust decision-making when compromises are required to safeguard patients. We illustrate how we can then translate the technical outcomes of this research into practical room and facade design decisions for the Helora hospitals in Belgium, including cost implications, annual energy savings and life cycle cost benefits.
Finally, we extend the analysis from room scale to whole inpatient-unit archetypes – central corridor, double corridor and compact courtyard – to quantify how room-level choices affect departmental energy use, patient wellbeing and potential carbon savings. The findings show that early, evidence-based collaboration between design, engineering and hospital management can align patient wellbeing with meaningful carbon reductions across the entirety of a hospital building.
Learning Objectives
- energy performance
- embodied carbon
- well-being
09.45Panel discussion10.15 - 10.45Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking10.45 - 12.30Session 36- Art and interior design
Laura Waters
Director, National Arts in Hospitals Network, United KingdomLaura Waters is Co-Director of the National Arts in Hospitals Network UK, the membership network for arts managers working in UK hospitals. In this role, Laura leads on national arts in health projects and promotes arts in hospitals throughout the UK and internationally. With a dual background in Environmental Psychology and Music Performance, Laura combines these two areas of expertise in her work as Head of Arts for the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, providing high quality artistic and cultural experiences for staff and patients across five hospital sites. As a member of the University of Bristol Sensing Spaces of Healthcare project, Laura champions these guidelines to incorporate latest research on the senses into modern hospital design.10.45Our places, our spaces
Fiona Smith
Arts in health curator, Children’s Health Ireland, IrelandFiona Smith is the arts in health curator with Children’s Health Ireland (CHI). She has over 15 years’ experience in delivering large‑scale participatory arts projects across Ireland and the UK in a range of multifaceted settings. In her current role with CHI, she works in acute healthcare and across multi‑stakeholder partnerships with artists, children, young people, families and clinicians to design and deliver meaningful, creative and impactful arts in health projects in these complex settings. She champions ambitious artistic practice with the highest quality provision for those taking part and has a particular commitment to how creativity and curiosity amplify the voices of children and young people. Providing strategic leadership across both artwork commissioning for healthcare spaces and participatory and collaborative programmes, she advocates for the arts as a powerful and transformative influence on the delivery of excellent, patient-centred care in these settings.Our places, our spaces
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Background: The Alders Child and Adolescent Sexual Abuse Unit in Children's Health Ireland (CHI), is a specialist assessment and therapy unit for children, adolescents and their families.
The Alders moved to a new space in September 2019. The move provided a purpose-built, contemporary clinical space, but for the staff who carry out sensitive clinical work, it became evident that the space neither reflected the intention of their work nor did it respond to the therapeutic needs of clients. Across the community of the Alders, the feedback was the same: while modern, the space was clinical, cold, and lacking colour, texture and warmth.
Methodology: In 2022, the CHI Arts in Health Team led on a collaborative art project with the Alders community and experienced arts-in-health practitioner John Conway. Artists do lots of things to make art, but importantly, in the arts and health context, an artist listens first before making any work. Through creative conversations, we explored how artwork could be used as a therapeutic medium to resource clients in these highly sensitive settings. We wanted to understand how connecting with a purposeful, intentional environment could offer a stabilising, grounding support for the difficult work that takes place here.
Over the following three years, John listened to the things the community said about these spaces. John says of the project: “As an artist, you interpret, you translate, you unfold, and you create a sort of language of your own that speaks back to the people and to the place you listened to, and the result is the things you make for and about this place.” Through these creative conversations, a sense of ownership of the space was shaped by the clients and staff, resulting in 14 artworks made for clinical and therapeutic spaces here.
Conclusion: This project has meant real and significant impact on the experience of some of the most vulnerable in our care. Many who attend the Alders do so over many years; they travel from childhood to adolescence here, and their experience of what happens in these spaces means that this place is often as present in their lives as home and school. These artworks have created real impact on the sensory experience here, focusing on the effect of materiality, shape, colour and mark-making to offer connected, quieter, softer spaces that not only better support complex emotions and experiences but also promote healing and hope.
Learning Objectives
- The impact of art on the patient experience of the therapeutic environment and care provision in a Child and Adolescent Sexual Abuse Specialised Therapy Unit
- Patient Voice, Agency and Empowerment in the delivery of Paediatric Healthcare
- Delivering high quality innovative and collaborative arts and healthcare partnerships
11.05Inspiring creativity and innovation in healthcare through creative health
Penny Calvert
ArtCare team co-ordinator, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, United KingdomInspiring creativity and innovation in healthcare through creative health
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Framework: ArtCare’s hospital arts programme is grounded in national and international frameworks and strategic drivers, including the NHS People Plan, CORE20PLUS5, Creative Health Quality Framework, and the Care Quality Commission’s “Outstanding Experience” criteria. It builds on three decades of creative health practice and the wider evidence base from the National Centre for Creative Health and the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
Description of practical application: At Salisbury District Hospital, ArtCare has designed and implemented a multi‑strand Creative Health programme that integrates arts, heritage and nature into everyday healthcare. Activities include co‑designed ward environments, bedside packs, staff arts clubs, exhibitions, music and arts at the bedside and social prescribing partnerships. These initiatives are delivered with patients, staff, volunteers, and community partners, both onsite and in local neighbourhoods, embedding creativity into the hospital’s culture and care pathways.
Outcomes: The participatory programme reaches 8500 people a year and tens of thousands experience the improved interior spaces. The team actively connect both internally to 33 hospital departments/wards and externally with 19 local organisations. Impact and outputs include improvements in staff wellbeing, patient experience, and community cohesion. Strengths include adaptability, inclusivity, and alignment with NHS anchor institution responsibilities. Challenges include funding sustainability and capacity limits, which highlight the importance of continued collaboration and investments.
Implications: ArtCare demonstrates how creative health can be a regenerative force within health systems, supporting workforce wellbeing, climate resilience, and population health management. The case study offers transferable lessons for other hospitals and health systems: creativity is not an optional extra but a vital strategy for resilience, renewal and regeneration in uncertain times.Learning Objectives
- What and where are hospital Arts?
- How do creative health activities and approaches impact health and care?
- How can healthcare spaces and places benefit from collaboration with creative health teams and organisations?
11.25Children as active stakeholders in paediatric healthcare architecture: A participatory interior design framework for the New Hauner Children’s Hospital in Munich
Manuel Schmid
Physician, University Hospital Augsburg, GermanyManuel is a physician and basic scientist in cardiovascular medicine with expertise in research-based design practice, specialising in co-design processes for healthcare architecture projects. Since 2025, he has been resident physician in internal medicine / cardiology at University Hospital Augsburg. Between 2017 and 2024, he was a doctoral student in cardiovascular medicine at TUM Graduate School Munich. His training and qualifications experience includes: Master of Science, Healthcare and Design, Imperial College London/Royal College of Art (2021-2023); Medicine – practical year, Technical University of Munich, University of Verona (2018-2019); Medicine – clinical training, Technical University of Munich (2014-2018); and Medicine – pre-clinical training, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (2012-2014). His research experience includes: Toepfer Lab, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford (2020-2024); and Seidman Lab, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston (2016-2017).
Juliane Stiegele
Artist, Designer, Utopia Toolbox International Art Collective, Germany, GermanyJuliane Stiegele is a German artist, designer, and author, and founder of the international collective Utopia Toolbox, exploring future societal spaces. She created the Portable University for All and the Utopia Toolbox publications to foster creativity for individuals and communities. Based in Augsburg, with satellites in Ann Arbor and Taipei, she has received multiple awards, including the Red Dot Award for graphic and interior design.
Sebastian Klawiter
Architect, Studio Sebastian Klawiter, GermanySebastian Klawiter is an architect, interior architect, master carpenter, and researcher working across architecture, craftsmanship, urban design, art, and cultural practice. He co-founded the award-winning collective Stadtlücken, collaborated internationally, and was a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude. His career includes work at Asif Khan Studio and numerous built, curatorial, and research projects. Since 2022, he collaborates with Fanti Baum and has been appointed interim professor of design at Stuttgart State Academy.Children as active stakeholders in paediatric healthcare architecture: A participatory interior design framework for the New Hauner Children’s Hospital in Munich
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Introduction: With the New Hauner, one of Europe’s most advanced university hospitals for paediatric and adolescent medicine is being developed at the Großhadern campus in Munich by 2030. As the successor to the internationally renowned Hauner-Children’s-Hospital, the project combines highly specialised medical care with an evidence-based approach to healing architecture. Within this context, the deliberate involvement of children in the interior design process gains particular relevance.
Objectives: The aim of the project is to develop a holistic interior design concept that not only addresses children and adolescents as users, but actively involves them in shaping their environment. This project explores how participatory design approaches can enhance orientation, wellbeing, and emotional resilience among young patients, extending far beyond purely decorative interventions.
Methods: Based on a comprehensive design framework, a coherent formal language is developed in close symbiosis with the architecture by Nickl & Partner and subsequently differentiated according to specific wards and situations. Methodologically, qualitative insights from previously realised projects are incorporated, including the interior design of the paediatric clinic at Augsburg University Hospital and the daycare children’s hospice Augsburg, which was presented at the EHD Congress in 2025. In addition, children’s drawings collected across Munich are abstracted and implemented as large-scale design elements. A dedicated, image-based wayfinding system supports child-friendly orientation throughout the building.
Preliminary results: The concept of participatory design has already been established and tested in practice. Initial results indicate that strongly abstracted children’s drawings are accessible to different age groups alike and open up individual spaces for imagination. The combination of daylight (four interior courtyards), open play and lounge areas, and a clear, symbol-based orientation system demonstrably enhances feelings of safety and security. Free play emerges as a central design motif. The transferability of this approach to the New Hauner, with 196 beds, 1408 rooms, and 19,200m² of usable floor area, has been confirmed. The compact building structure (95 × 95m) with short circulation paths further supports the effectiveness of the concept.
Conclusion: The New Hauner project demonstrates that interior design in healthcare architecture becomes particularly effective when children are recognised as active co-creators. The integration of architectural clarity, design sustainability, and participatory aesthetics creates an environment that supports children during an existentially exceptional situation: emotionally, cognitively, and socially. In doing so, the project makes a significant contribution to the ongoing development of healthcare design for paediatric hospitals.Learning Objectives
- Participatory interior design
- Integration of child-centred spatial concepts
- Play in children’s healthcare architecture
11.45Reimagining the paediatric hospital journey through art and design
Andrew Hall
Head of impact and evaluation, CW+, United KingdomAndy is the head of impact and evaluation for CW+, the charity for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In this role, he oversees the charity’s strategy for evaluating the impact of its work, working closely with the trust and key partners to measure and articulate the effect of its programmes within the hospital community. Andy originally joined CW+ in 2016 as a musician in residence, building on his background in both music and research to lead projects investigating the effects of arts participation on patients, families and staff. His work has led to publications and conference presentations across the country, including at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, and the Manchester Science Festival.
Laura Bradshaw
Arts programme manager, CW+, United KingdomLaura joined CW+ as arts programme manager in November 2023. She works across the arts programme, with responsibilities including managing collection activity and delivering art commissioning within the capital projects portfolio. Laura recently completed the MASc in Creative Health from UCL and her arts in health career began as the first NHS arts apprentice in 2019. Laura is especially passionate about the role of creativity for improving healthcare staff wellbeing. Prior to joining CW+, Laura worked as assistant arts curator at UCLH NHS Foundation Trust and brings her experience of hospital arts programming to the role.Reimagining the paediatric hospital journey through art and design
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The need for child-friendly environments is a key part of both the WHO standards for paediatric healthcare facilities and the UK Department of Health’s National Service Framework for Children. Lambert et al (2014) found that the physical environment, including imaginative decoration and ‘bringing the outside in’, is a central aspect of young people’s ‘ideal physical design’ of a hospital environment. Not only can these elements improve the experience of hospital users, research has suggested that they can also contribute to more positive memories around healthcare for young people, reducing the risk of future disengagement or absenteeism.
This practice-based case study will showcase how art and design were used to enhance the journey of paediatric patients, families and staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, with support from the Art and Environment Team at CW+, the hospital’s official charity. In the hospital’s children’s emergency department, a bespoke artwork commission, improved furniture, and an interactive digital screen were introduced into the waiting area, while ‘zoo’ screens in treatment rooms distract patients from examinations and procedures with a variety of animal videos. In the paediatric theatres, newly commissioned artwork is accompanied by a book of poetry and activities that can be used by the hospital’s play team to distract patients from pre-operative anxiety, while sensory tools help to support patients with additional needs. Finally, the award-winning Reuben Young People’s Centre is a completely new inpatient environment featuring calming colours, materials and lighting throughout, and large-scale intricate artworks that provide a point of focus and discussion for children of a wide age range.
Evaluation of these projects suggests that they were effective in enhancing the experience of patients, families and staff. Surveys showed that there was a 38-per-cent increase of the number of staff agreeing that the environment felt warm and welcoming, and a 55-per-cent increase in respondents rating the artwork as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. 74 per cent of surveyed parents in the pre-operative waiting area said the new artwork either ‘somewhat distracted’ or ‘completely distracted’ their child, and a post-project audit of data found there had been a significant reduction in the use of pre-anaesthetic anxiety medications.
As a result of these projects, there is now interest in adopting similar design approaches in other hospitals across northwest London, further increasing the opportunity for effective art and design to positively impact the experience of young patients and their carers.Learning Objectives
- Attendees will learn how art and design can be effectively used to improve experience across different points of the paediatric patient journey.
- They will also learn how these solutions can be scaled and adapted depending on budget, timescale and patient group.
- The importance of collaborative working between dedicated arts teams, estates and facilities teams, architects and other suppliers will also be explored.
12.05Panel discussion12.30 - 14.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, lunch and networking14.00 - 15.30Session 37- Ecology, culture and art
Paul Emmett
National health sector lead, Built, AustraliaDesigning the continuum: Connecting community, place, and wellness at Rouse Hill Hospital
Conor Larkins
Health principal, HDR, AustraliaConor Larkins is a health principal at HDR with more than 18 years of experience across health, science, education, and research projects. With extensive expertise in precinct masterplanning, complex acute services buildings, and medical research facilities, Conor guides the delivery of major hospital projects, leads comprehensive stakeholder engagement processes, and champions both design excellence and technical rigour. Conor is dedicated to shaping major health projects that reimagine models of care and deliver user-centred facilities that enhance the experience of patients, families, and care teams. She believes design plays a pivotal role in strengthening community wellbeing and is committed to co-designing equitable, regenerative hospitals with deep connections to place and local communities. She has contributed to many of Australia’s most significant health precincts, including the Randwick Campus Redevelopment Stage 1 Prince of Wales Acute Services Building; the Lang Walker AO Medical Research Building for Western Sydney University; Nepean Hospital Redevelopment Stage 2; Royal North Shore Hospital; and, most recently, Rouse Hill Hospital.
Alan Boswell
Associate principal, HDR, AustraliaAlan Boswell is an associate principal and design leader at HDR with more than 20 years of experience spanning health, science, mixed-use, and masterplanning projects. With deep industry knowledge and a nuanced understanding of the Australian healthcare landscape, Alan has helped shape major city-defining developments across the country. He was a key member of the design leadership team for the AU$1 billion Westmead Hospital precinct masterplan and new acute services building. Alan is committed to designing hospitals that challenge traditional protocols, prioritise patient-centred care, and deliver meaningful improvements to clinical outcomes, healthcare quality, and community wellbeing. His recent work includes the AU$910 million Rouse Hill Hospital in northwestern Sydney, and the RNA Manufacturing Facility, a cornerstone of New South Wales’ RNA research and development programme advancing targeted therapies.Matt Malone
Senior project director, Health Infrastructure, AustraliaMatt has been senior project director at Health Infrastructure since October 2017. Prior to this, he worked on several high-profile infrastructure projects, including HMAS Albatross Redevelopment; Belmore Park Zone Substation; Richmond Line Duplication Stage 1; and Tallowa Dam Environmental Flow Release and Fish Passage Works.Designing the continuum: Connecting community, place, and wellness at Rouse Hill Hospital
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The design for the NSW Government’s Rouse Hill Hospital, developed by HDR for Health Infrastructure and the Western Sydney Local Health District, proposes a bold, globally relevant vision for healthcare in Sydney’s rapidly growing northwest. Located on a greenfield site, this purpose-built facility responds to the needs of the local community through an evidence-based, digitally enabled, and culturally responsive approach.
The hospital’s catchment area represents a young and culturally diverse demographic. With no public hospitals within 10km of Rouse Hill Town Centre, residents’ ability to access public healthcare is significantly affected. In response, the project brief calls for a patient-centred hospital that will promote community wellness through early intervention and prevention, supported by digitally enabled models of care and personalised, multidisciplinary treatment.
Central to the design is a Country-first philosophy that prioritises the wellbeing of Country – its lands, waters and communities. Guided by the principle of healthy Country, the design celebrates the deep connection between people and place, and recognises the need to nurture ecological, cultural, and social health for future generations. Rooted in its context and drawing inspiration from surrounding geology and ecology, the building’s materiality and form echo the local landscape, while seasonal planting creates a variety of spaces for reflection, gathering, and recovery. The ground plane supports permeable movement and maximises the provision of deep soil planting, while simultaneously providing highly functional floor plates for clinical departments.
Patients, families, carers, clinicians, and staff are placed at the heart of every design decision. Spatial planning prioritises clarity, comfort, and dignity through intuitive wayfinding, reduced travel distances, abundant natural light, views to nature, and logical zoning. The hospital is centred around the Care Arcade, an external public arcade providing a single point of entry for visitors. Indoor and outdoor spaces are integrated and enriched by landscaping, positioning the hospital as a welcoming and connected place of healing on arrival.
Digital innovation supports integrated, holistic patient treatment and virtual care capabilities extend care beyond the hospital walls. Thoughtfully curated spaces to wait – arcades, landscaped courtyards, and cafes – reduce stress and foster connection. A co-located emergency and primary care precinct will become a community wellness hub.
Conceived as a social connector, Rouse Hill Hospital is designed to strengthen community networks and create a place of belonging. Through its integration of landscape, technology and community needs, it sets a new benchmark for healthcare design globally.Learning Objectives
- Understand how evidence-based, digitally enabled, and culturally responsive design strategies can shape a contemporary greenfield hospital to meet the specific health needs of a young, diverse, and rapidly growing community.
- Explore how a Country-first design philosophy informs architectural decisions – from materiality and landscape integration to spatial planning — to nurture ecological, cultural, and social wellbeing.
- Examine how human-centred planning and digital innovation work together to create a connected, intuitive, and community-focused healthcare environment that enhances patient experience, supports clinical workflows, and reinforces the hospital’s role as a so
14.20Leveraging art and nature to foster community within healthcare: An examination of UHN West Park Healthcare Center and UHN Indigenous Garden Project as case studies
Marsha Spencer
Vice-president, CannonDesign, CanadaMarsha Spencer’s approach to architecture extends far beyond the basics of building functionality. She emphasises the importance of considering the psychology of space, believing that when a building is conceived through the lens of human experience, it becomes more personal, functional, and rooted in its community. With more than 25 years of experience, Marsha leads the CannonDesign Toronto team through a wide range of projects, including consultations, renovations, expansions, and new multi-million-dollar constructions. Her expertise as a registered architect and project manager allows her to seamlessly integrate architectural vision with effective project management. Marsha is recognised for her ability to make clients feel comfortable and confident, expertly facilitating the design process, accommodating evolving conditions, and partnering with clients from a project’s inception to its successful completion.
Elika Herischi
Project planner, CannonDesign, CanadaElika is a senior healthcare architect who works on planning, design and co-ordination of various scales of healthcare projects. She has progressive and innovative experience in all aspects of healthcare planning and design, masterplanning, design development and construction. Elika understands strategic solutions, operational plans and business cases, and she can translate planning concepts into clear terms for client and team members. She has particular experience and expertise in Canadian healthcare projects and their design, planning and construction.Leveraging art and nature to foster community within healthcare: An examination of UHN West Park Healthcare Center and UHN Indigenous Garden Project as case studies
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Designing healthcare spaces that support healing presents both challenges and opportunities. Regulatory factors, such as Authority Having Jurisdiction requirements and clinical design guidelines, serve as constraints, however, these parameters also provide a framework within which creative design solutions can emerge. The thoughtful inclusion of art and landscape elements as key design tools enhances the final project and contributes to the healing process.
Art and nature are essential components in fostering a culture of community within healthcare environments. Their integration elevates the design and plays a significant role in supporting the healing journey. Community is widely believed to accelerate and support healing, and this discussion focuses on how architecture and design can be leveraged to create spaces that incorporate artwork and natural elements, ultimately cultivating a sense of community.
The UHN West Park Healthcare Centre and UHN Indigenous Garden Project offer valuable case studies for exploring different approaches to using art and nature as tools to achieve healing and community-building outcomes. In practice, artwork within healthcare environments can serve as a focal point – sparking conversations and providing opportunities for patients, visitors, and staff to connect. By gathering around a particular piece of art, individuals can find rejuvenation, which in turn fosters community. The design team must consider the best strategies to encourage community-building, ensuring that spaces are intentionally crafted to support interaction and engagement.
Thoughtful design can accommodate the integration of traditional healing methods to complement Western medical practices, further supporting community and holistic healing. Documented evidence demonstrates that the use of natural materials and biophilic design in healthcare environments aids the healing process, highlighting the value of incorporating nature into these spaces.
The Indigenous Garden project addresses the necessity of offering alternative healing options for families and patients, allowing them to augment their healing journey with traditional practices and opportunities for community engagement. Central to the project is the use of sacred plants, which are known to have healing benefits. The garden is envisioned as an indoor-outdoor healing space where both Indigenous peoples and others can seek restoration and experience community.
In contrast, the West Park Healthcare Centre project did not include the selection or installation of art within its scope. Instead, it thoughtfully and intentionally provided the physical setting or backdrop for artwork and congregation. The hospital embarked on a programme to curate and install artwork, and the outcome supports the facilities rehabilitation programme goals.Learning Objectives
- Aligning methods of healing for greater efficacy; planning for indigenous healing practice to complement hospital medical approach.
- Benefits of overlaying an art program over complementary treatment to enhance and speed rehabilitation
- Nuances of contemplating art and using plant materials as a tool of architectural creation
14.40Regenerating a community’s connection to healing (country)
Mark Healey
Director, Bates Smart, AustraliaMark joined Bates Smart in 2003, spending his early years in the company working abroad on large-scale hospitality projects in the UK and Asia. On his return to the Melbourne studio, he became the lead interior designer on the award-winning Royal Children’s Hospital – a world-leading paediatric hospital – and has since gone on to lead several high-quality healthcare projects, such as Tweed Valley Hospital, Bendigo Hospital and the new Peninsula University Hospital. As well as healthcare, Mark has significant multi-residential, civic and commercial experience, and consistently demonstrates his ability to deliver high-quality and coherent design solutions to complex briefs. Mark is an open and intuitive designer who seeks to distil a client’s vision into a reductive, minimal aesthetic, imbued with a strong sense of materiality. He believes in using the positive qualities of nature, in particular natural light, to enliven his work and create empathetic human-centric spaces we want to inhabit.Regenerating a community’s connection to healing (country)
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Hospitals play a greater role in community health by moving beyond acute care to provide proactive health initiatives, public health services, and support for social determinants of health.
The Peninsula University Hospital Redevelopment Project aims to create a connected health campus that reflects the community needs of Frankston and surrounding areas, allows for future growth, and positions it firmly in the discourse of how the health of country directly effects the collective health of the community living on it. The new hospital aims to empower a community to become active participants in the future health of the region.
The existing hospital serves a population with wide-ranging challenges: some reflect statewide challenges, like increasing mental health needs and patients with co-morbidities; others stand out in the area, particularly those related to disadvantaged communities.
The design of the hospital adopted the theme 'Healing Country – Healing People', a guiding narrative co-designed with traditional owners. This engagement identified a range of opportunities (rehabilitation – healing people and country, celebrating the landscape and connection, truth telling and the impacts of colonisation, a living and evolving culture: past, present and future) to embed Indigenous thinking to improve the health of all through understanding the health of the country.
Situated between regions and at the intersection of diverse landscapes and historic travel routes, it provides a profound opportunity to engage in conversation about the impact on colonisation of the natural environment and the richness and resilience of First People’s culture and their knowledge systems.
The building design draws inspiration from the region’s geology, which has been shaped over millennia. This landform comprises many layers of sedimentary stone, which continue to be eroded, carved and sculpted by the same forces today as can be seen in coastal cliffs throughout Victoria. The landscape design contributes to civic green spaces from Port Philip Bay to the Pentland Botanic Gardens, introducing a generous north-facing Arrival Garden co-designed with Jefa Greenaway with local Indigenous plantings and embedded narratives of resilience, and dedicated spaces for ceremony and welcome.
Distributed through each level of the hospital, the narratives become an alternative wayfinding tool, connecting key spaces through an engaging and uplifting series of drawings and stories of resilience, renewal and regeneration. The result is a welcoming and engaging public and clinical realm that draws on its coastal setting through materiality, landscaping, light and story to create an uplifting, engaging and calming environment for all.Learning Objectives
- Community connection to holistic health outcomes
- Integration of indigenous thinking in health facilities
- Art and communication of embedded narratives in health facilities
15.00Panel discussion15.30 - 16.00Video+Poster Gallery, exhibition, coffee and networking16.00 - 17.00Session 38- Adaptive and flexible designPaul Bell
Principal, Ryder Architecture, United KingdomPaul completed his architectural education at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow in 1992 and has led several high-profile urban design, health and infrastructure projects. In 2006, he established Ryder’s Glasgow office and led the early development of the Hong Kong office. Prior to joining Ryder, he worked with Terry Farrell for 11 years in London and Hong Kong. Paul has spoken around the world on sustainable healthcare design and blurring the boundaries of healthcare to address health equity. Paul brings his expertise of leading integrated project teams to successfully deliver major healthcare projects. His passion for delivering design of the highest quality is recognised by excellent client testimonials and project award nominations.16.00Mind the gap
Pernille Olsbro Adamsen
Head of development, New North Zealand Hospital, DenmarkPernille brings more than 35 years of experience in hospital management, specialising in organisational development, project and programme leadership, and complex transition processes. She has a deep expertise in change management, with a particular focus on the interplay between implementing new workflows and driving the essential organisational and cultural changes that determine the success of any transformation. Her current focus as head of department is transformation and collaboration regarding the use and relocations of New Zealand Hospital.
Marie Kristine Schultz
Head of commissioning and relocation, New North Zealand Hospital, DenmarkMarie holds a Master’s degree in Nursing and brings over 20 years of experience in the hospital sector. As a program director, she specialises in organisational development, project and programme planning, with a strong focus on large-scale transformation initiatives, such as hospital relocations. She is committed to driving strategic change, optimising processes, and ensuring high-quality outcomes in healthcare systems.
Mette Stokholm
Design director, New North Zealand Hospital, DenmarkArchitect Mette Stokholm holds an Maa Master in Architecture from the Royal Danish Academy, and is design director and executive member of project management of New North Zealand. She has been working in healthcare design as a professional client over the last 15 years, advocating for hospital settings of high functional and architectural quality for the benefit of both patients and staff.Mind the gap
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Background: The New North Zealand Hospital, designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with Vil-helm Lauritzen Architects, is an award-winning project scheduled for completion at the end of 2027. Conceived as a benchmark for architectural innovation and patient-centred care, the hospital is intended to remain relevant preferably passing the end of the century. However, healthcare systems evolve faster than construction timelines. Technology advances, virtual patient consultations and new treatment paradigms have already surpassed some of the original design assumptions, together with healthcare reforms and restructuring of location of treatment.
Purpose: This abstract explores how to bridge the gap between architecture, design, and clinical practice in a highly complex organisation characterised by interdisciplinary collaboration, evidence-based practice, and firmly rooted cultural traditions. How did we organise the project and processes to minimise the knowledge gap? The ambition has been to create a clinically functional facility that is future-ready from day one, while maintaining a shared understanding of purpose across disciplines. Despite effort and great ambitions, unaccounted issues have emerged and provided us with lessons learned and future predictions?
Methods: From the early design phase, the “Spaghetti Diagram”, a set of design guidelines was introduced, comprising five core values, ten space management principles, and 20 functional concepts. This management tool has evolved into organisational principles that underpin workflow design and clinical planning. Continuous dialogue among architects, clinicians, and construction teams, supported by patient and staff engagement, has enabled iterative adaptation throughout the building process.
Results: Applying architectural principles to workflow development has strengthened organisational resilience. Patient journey mapping and process descriptions have served as catalysts for cross-disciplinary collaboration, allowing real-time adjustments to accommodate emerging clinical needs while preserving design integrity. This co-design approach has enhanced adaptability and ensured alignment between physical spaces, clinical functionality, and staff wellbeing. However, some issues were lost in translation despite the dynamic co-design approach.
Conclusion: Bridging architecture and clinical practice requires continuous negotiation and shared ownership. The experience at New North Zealand Hospital demonstrates that adaptive co-design fosters organisational learning and workforce engagement. As commissioning approaches, the imperative is to sustain this culture of curiosity and renewal, keeping design a dynamic framework that evolves with healthcare itself.
Learning Objectives
- Organizing the project and processes to minimize the knowledge gap is essential
- Bridging architecture and clinical practice requires continuous negotiation and shared owner-ship.
- Patient journey mapping and process descriptions have served as catalysts for cross-disciplinary collaboration
16.20Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute: An adaptable design to last 100 years
Simon Fraser
Principal, Hopkins Architects, United KingdomSimon joined Hopkins Architects in 1990 and is one of the four design principals leading the practice. His early work included pioneering sustainable projects, such as Inland Revenue and the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus. In the early 2000s, he initiated the practice’s international work, beginning with GEK’s headquarters in Athens and later establishing Hopkins Architects’ Dubai studio in 2004. He has since overseen several major projects across the Middle East, Asia and, more recently, the USA. His portfolio spans a wide range of building types, including a large residential development in Zekeriyakoy, Istanbul; an office tower complex in central Tokyo; the Buhais Geological Museum; the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts Masterplan; and architectural projects for Highgate Cemetery. Simon is currently leading several major healthcare commissions, such as Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute in Ohio, USA. The 1m sq ft facility will house 210 beds, 18 operating theatres, and 15 outpatient clinics.Andrew Ardill
Director, Hopkins Architects, United KingdomAndrew joined Hopkins Architects in 2000 and became a director in 2015. He studied Architecture at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was awarded the RSUA Silver Medal for his final-year thesis. He has significant international experience on major Hopkins Architects projects, including a mixed-use skyscraper in Tokyo, the Dubai World Trade Centre One Central district, and the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts, a highly complex development comprising more than 87 pavilion buildings and an extensive public realm. Working alongside Hopkins’ principal, Simon Fraser, Andrew has co-led several major healthcare buildings, including the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute, now under construction, and the masterplan and concept design for the National Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sultan Haitham City, Oman. The latter features an innovative courtyard-based approach that creates a strong sense of community for each patient group.
Sara Madbouli
Senior architect, Hopkins Architects, UKSara joined Hopkins Architects ten years ago during her studies at the University of Bath, first working in the practice’s Dubai studio and now based in its London head office, led by principal Simon Fraser. She has worked on a variety of projects with Hopkins, including the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts, and the Buhais Geological Museum, helping to develop concept proposals through to construction. During her time at the practice, Sara has been involved in a number of hospital projects, including the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute, leading the co-ordination of the medical planning with the architectural design. The project has a highly complex brief, combining several different outpatient, inpatient and imaging facilities. She has also, most recently, been involved with the masterplan and concept design for the National Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sultan Haitham City, Oman.Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute: An adaptable design to last 100 years
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Hopkins Architects has designed a 1 million sq ft Neurological Institute for Cleveland Clinic at their main campus in Cleveland, Ohio. The facility will consolidate 15 separate neurological centres ranging from epilepsy to spine health into one major hospital that combines outpatient and inpatient services with neurosurgery and cutting-edge research. The central idea was to locate different specialisms within one building to not only improve patient care but also facilitate interdisciplinary innovation.
The lower floors accommodate the outpatient centres, including more than 500 examination, treatment and consultation rooms, and a surgery suite of 18 operating theatres specifically designed to treat neurological diseases. The upper floors comprise an inpatient tower with 218 private bedrooms catering to various levels of acuity, from intensive care to intermediate care.
Simon Fraser, principal, says: "The challenge of this project was to create an appropriately scaled massing for a very large clinical programme, achieved through a series of setbacks and articulated forms that allows the building to knit into the existing campus and improve the scale of the surrounding streets and public spaces. To achieve this, we introduced a 100 ft setback line that separates the outpatient and inpatient floors and aligns to existing campus buildings. At the same time, it was about creating a building of hope for the most critically ill patients using a blend of welcoming entrances, warm materials, well-proportioned spaces and maximising natural light. Large floorplates have been designed to be highly efficient but also intuitive in their organisation, so that patients instinctively know where to go."
The vision set by Dr Andre Machado, chair of the Neurological Institute, was for a patient-centred building that could last 100 years and be flexible to change. We responded with a design that comprises an efficient modular plan allowing centres to expand and contract across flexible floorplates. Administration space was minimised by combining physicians’ offices and consultation rooms together with a specially designed ‘nook’ sub-space. The space can either be open and part of the room for collaboration, fully enclosed for focused individual research, or locked away when the room is in use by others. Shared staff lounges and meeting areas are located at key nodal spaces to foster ‘casual collision’.
The carefully massed hospital, due to open in early 2027, will be one of the world’s largest neurological institutes; it offers lessons on how to humanise large, highly specialised hospitals while enabling flexible and collaborative care.Learning Objectives
- How modular planning and adaptable design can support flexibility to help future-proof hospitals.
- Identify architectural strategies that bring human-scale and legibility to the design of large, complex hospitals.
- Key design principles that contribute to intuitive wayfinding and spatial clarity in healthcare buildings.
16.40Panel discussionEnd of Art and architecture stream
Awards ceremony
Fleming Room
Awards lead partner
17.15 - 18.00Session 22- Awards ceremony17.15European Healthcare Design 2026 Awards ceremonyJaime Bishop
Chair, Architects for Health, UKJaime is a director at Fleet Architects and chair of Architects for Health, and a proven project designer, competition winner and studio leader. During his professional career he has been responsible for multiple projects with values ranging between £8 and £120 million and was one of three associate directors responsible for the management of a 65-person firm under a managing director. He is an experienced all-round designer with specialist skills in healthcare and has sat on the executive board of Architects for Health (AfH) since 2006. He has significant experience as the lead architect in major PFI schemes, including the preparation of a reference project for a $2 billion teaching hospital in Adelaide, Australia. He has been a visiting tutor at various universities since 2002, including Nottingham, Cardiff and London Metropolitan. Since 2012, Jaime Bishop and Richard Henson have been teaching third-year degree level students at London South Bank University and established their studio, the Transpontine Laboratory, based at the university, in 2014. Jaime was educated at the Royal College of Art, Bath University and the TU Delft Highrise Scholarship. He has been ARB registered and a member of RIBA since 2006. He is a recognised figure in the healthcare sector with connections throughout the industry. Jaime has detailed knowledge of traditional and private finance initiative (PFI) contracts, fee negotiation and project cost control. Jaime has sat on the board of the City and Hackney NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and social enterprise East London Integrated Care. He has also served as an elected governor at the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.17.45Closing remarksSunand Prasad OBE PPRIBA
Programme director, European Healthcare Design; Principal, Perkins&Will, UKSunand Prasad is a principal at Perkins&Will. While designing across several sectors, he has been consistently engaged in healthcare and sustainability for four decades. At the core of his architectural practice, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration, Sunand holds a passionate belief that expertise and aesthetic judgement are most effective in creating truly successful environments when they are catalysed by the everyday experience of people. Sunand has been active in the wider built environment industry, particularly championing low-carbon, regenerative design, and until recently, as chair of the UK Green Building Council. He was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009, campaigning for action on climate change. He was founding member of the UK Government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; a London Mayor’s design advocate; a trustee of the Centre for Cities; and Chair of the trustees of Article 25, the humanitarian architecture charity. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architecture and the External Advisory Board of TRUUD, a major research project on the fundamental links between health and urban development. He has written widely on architecture, sustainability and healthcare design, such as the book 'Changing Hospital Architecture'.Garden Party
College Gardens, Westminster Abbey
Supported by
18.30 - 22.00Garden party at Westminster Abbey -
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