Healthcare Design - April 2017 - 46

Q&A

with David Kamp,
FASLA, LF, NA
Founder and President, Dirtworks, PC

How does your portfolio
of healthcare work today
compare to 10 years ago?
What do you think it will look
like in 10 more years?
Healthcare facilities as
Centers of Excellence and
Centers of Influence. Looking
back over the last ten years,
our portfolio of healthcare
projects has become more
diverse and reflects a wider
range of scales. It is also
more dynamic. While we
still have marvelous projects
with focused programs for
specific patient populations,
a good portion of our work
incorporates larger social,
economic and environmental
initiatives that reach far
beyond the medical facility or
campus. I think this reflects
the potential for designers
to help facilities be not only
centers of excellence but also
centers of influence. And from
my perspective as a landscape
architect it reflects a

broadening arc of awareness of
the role of nature and design to
help solve complex problems.
The Fabric of Health. These
diverse more comprehensive
projects helped me frame
a larger view of health; one
that incorporates individual,
public and environmental
health. Together these form
what I call the "fabric of
health" - essential threads
that collectively help create
resiliency against the multitude
of forces that stress our sense
of balance. Building awareness
for this idea can help us
appreciate that health, like
nature, is a continuum. Not
only the extremes, but the daily
ebb and flow of health requires
regular attention for individuals
and communities alike.
What approach does your firm
use to design spaces that
support care delivery today but
provide enough flexibility for
unknowns of the future?

The new $466 million Vassar Brothers Medical Center is an example of building health and connecting to the future. Located in
Poughkeepsie, New York, the development of this 696,00-square-foot inpatient pavilion involved intensive master planning beyond
the campus property to frame revitalization opportunities to benefit larger environment and economic health initiatives. Rendering
courtesy of CallisonRTKL Inc.

A Broader Perspective beyond
design. Our award-winning
projects helped the firm
frame a design approach that
incorporates non-traditional
design perspectives, such as
hydrology and the biological
and social sciences. By taking
a broader view we can identify
and address the sometimes
hidden factors in successfully
achieving a variety of project
goals, such as sustainable
maintenance practices. The
complexity of our projects
increasingly demands it and
the result is a more effective,
integrated and flexible response.
What role does collaboration
play in your process? How do
you ensure the right people have
a voice at the design table?
Practicing Design as a Social
Art. These projects also
changed our approach to
collaboration. The challenge of
finding common language and
consensus between the medical

and design communities
expanded in order to incorporate
these non-traditional
perspectives. Sure, it can be like
herding cats bringing the right
voices to the table at the right
time, but the effort involved in
the education curve elevates
the team and the response.
Now more than ever, I believe
that design is a social art best practiced with dialog and
collaboration. As we embrace a
future of dramatic and complex
change - in climate, resources,
population and other forces dialog is essential.
How will the design of
healthcare spaces change to
meet the demands of
today's consumers?
The Future of Humanism
in Design. In terms of the
future, one thing is certain.
Healthcare design is not going
to get simpler. We have a
dysfunctional relationship,
growing ever more acute. Our
capacity and potential and
the technological, scientific
and educational resources
we have at our disposal are
unprecedented. Yet, with a
destabilizing global climate,
so are the threats to the basic
health of the planet and its
inhabitants. As we face larger,
ever more complex problems
we cannot lose sight of the
individual, of humanism in
design, and the intensely
personal connection we each
have with nature.
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Healthcare Design - April 2017

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