Healthcare Design - March 2021 - 9

EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Hank Adams

COLOR THEORY
There may be a good reason behind the enduring
nature of the latest interior design trend
By Jennifer Kovacs Silvis

Wayne Barger
Carolyn BaRoss
Sam Burnette

HDR

SMITHGROUP
PERKINS&WILL

EARL SWENSSON ASSOCIATES

Sheila F. Cahnman
JUMPGARDEN CONSULTING LLC

Thomas W. Chessum

CO ARCHITECTS

James Crispino
GENSLER

for the cover of Healthcare
Design is always a challenge-fun, yes, but still a
challenge. While we're fortunate to have stunning project photography to work with, the cover
requires some extra consideration: the just-right
vertical crop, composition that allows placement
of coverlines, and a shot that entices our readers to
open the issue as soon as it lands on their desks. It's
also important to achieve variation in look and style
between issues, avoiding a sense of sameness.
I've noticed that last point becoming particularly tricky over the past year or so. A few times I've found myself falling in
love with the seemingly perfect cover only to realize it's not so dissimilar to
one we ran just months before. The culprit? White. In my decade-plus of
covering healthcare design, I can't recall a time when an aesthetic trend has
emerged so universally. But here we are in the age of white: white walls, walls
ﬂoors, white ceilings. (Light neutrals, I'm looking at you, too.)
That's not to say we're trending toward sterile, though. Those white spaces
are frequently finished with bold architectural angles and organic ceiling
forms as well as pops of color in artwork, graphics, and furniture to round out
a modern interpretation of the healthcare setting.
When reviewing mock-ups for this issue's cover, I found myself immediately drawn to the sunny emergency department pediatric waiting space
you find gracing this issue-it felt like an instant morale-booster amid this
gloomy pandemic winter. And, bonus: color! Yet even this space, you'll ﬁnd,
features a blanket of white behind that wonderful burst of yellow (see page
20 for an alternative view).
I was reminded of all this when I opened Twitter the other day to happily
discover a thread debating the use of color in hospitals. I love seeing the
non-design community share thoughts on healthcare environments and
quickly dug in. To sum it up quickly, I'll tell you what you already know: It's
subjective.
Responses noted the merits of both colors and neutrals, and my bet is that
circumstance shapes whether we desire to be soothed or invigorated. That
means the only way to solve this via design is by attempting to strike a perfect
balance, and maybe that's the key.
It's not that color is absent right now; it's just being introduced more carefully. Instead of walls, it's murals; instead of floors, furnishings-solutions
that are more easily modiﬁed for programmatic changes or updated for style
preferences. Essentially, these white backdrops are serving as a canvas that
facilitates design to evolve for years to come. I'll be curious to see what you
do with it next. a
CHOOSING AN IMAGE

Christine Hester Devens
Mary Frazier

AECOM

EWINGCOLE

Jocelyn Lum Frederick
HC TANGRAM DESIGN

Catherine L. Gow

FRANCIS CAUFFMAN

Natalie Miovski Hagerty
THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Suzen L. Heeley
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER

Scott Holmes
Walter Jones
Randy Keiser

BWBR

METROHEALTH SYSTEM

TURNER CONSTRUCTION CO.

Julie Kent

TR INITY HEALTH

Bryan Langlands
Tiana Lemons

ORCUTT/WINSLOW

Michael Lied

GBBN ARCHITECTS

Mike McKay
Victoria Navarro

NBBJ

UW HEALTH

ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH

Kurt Neubek
Don Orndoff

Diane R.K. Osan
Chris Powers

PAGE

KAISER PERMANENTE
CANNONDESIGN

BURNS & MCDONNELL

William D. Repichowskyj
E4H ARCHITECTURE

Kim Shinn
TLC ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS

Janet H. Sisolak
UT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER

Karl R. Sonnenberg
ZIMMER GUNSUL FRASCA ARCHITECTS LLP

Kurt Spiering
Steve Stokes

HGA

G RESHAM SMITH

Jeffrey C. Stouffer

HKS INC.

Paul E. Strohm
Jocelyn Stroupe

Melanie Taylor
Joshua A. Theodore
Anthony Treu

HOK

CANNONDESIGN
BOLDT
LEO A DALY

SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL

Travis Tyson
Gary L. Vance

CLEVELAND CLINIC
VANCE CONSULTING

MARCH 2021

Healthcare Design - March 2021

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