Healthcare Design - January/February 2022 - 43

N EARLY 2020, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
opened the doors to its new David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care
in Manhattan. The building had been designed eight years prior,
with the vision aspiring to deliver an aesthetic and functionality
that would remain relevant many years after that opening. " Where
we were in 2020 was about looking ahead, " says Melissa Dallal, project
manager, interior design, at MSK (New York).
And the effort paid off immediately, with details such as handwashing
sinks in waiting rooms and a vast variety of seating and gathering areas
helping to facilitate safe operations amid the outbreak of COVID-19 that
soon followed. It also represented a next-level interiors approach for
MSK, building on an existing aesthetic direction and inspired by other
design sectors, primarily residential, to create a comforting, even inviting
environment that patients would look forward to spending time in for
treatment, Dallal says.
Dallal recently joined a group of fellow design professionals to discuss
the evolution of interiors since the pandemic began, including where aesthetics
stand today and how new approaches to healthcare spaces are infl
uencing product specifi cation and design solutions. The Healthcare Design
roundtable was moderated by Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Kovacs Silvis
and also included Edwin Beltran, principal, designer at NBBJ (Columbus,
Ohio); Amy Sickeler, design principal and principal at Perkins&Will (Atlanta);
and Kristin Ellingsen, facilities space planner, campus planning, at
City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.) and immediate past president of the American
Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers.
While COVID-19 didn't change the trajectory the industry was on, it has
propelled interior solutions focused on creating safe, cleanable environments
that achieve health and wellness, warmth and comfort, and future
fl exibility and budget consciousness.
FIRST STEPS
As 2020 progressed and healthcare institutions managed daily operations
alongside patient fears and heightened infection prevention protocols,
short-term solutions such as plexiglass dividers and removal of seating in
public areas emerged. Other immediate shifts, however, have inspired enduring
changes to project design.
For example, industry practice had long been to maximize seating in
waiting areas. But quickly, the alternative process of calling patients into
the building when a physician was ready to see them became commonplace
for social distancing, a solution that's now sparked a move away from that
once-standard space. " Nobody really wanted to sit in a waiting room for a
long period of time, " Sickeler says. " I think we'll see a lot of clients continue
to do that, out of convenience for patients. " Instead, she says, Perkins&Will
is seeing increasing use of waiting spaces to support programming tied to
education and prevention as well as consultation.
Outdoor areas were also leveraged, where possible, to provide more access
to fresh air. And now what had been a difficult design element to get
funded is beginning to be viewed as valuable programmable space that
moves the needle on integrating nature with health-focused experiences.
For example, Beltran says, outdoor areas are being designed to complement
the arrival experience in place of extravagant lobbies and serve as
destinations for dining, respite, or exercise.
Meanwhile, spaces dedicated to healthcare staff are being re-evaluated,
as well. For example, as many nonclinical healthcare staff ers continue to
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
43
Amy Sickeler
Melissa Dallal
Edwin Beltran
Kristin Ellingsen
Healthcare Design - January/February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - January/February 2022
