Healthcare Design - August 2018 - 144

Time

W H AT D R E W Y O U T O A C A R E E R
I N H E A LT H C A R E D E S I G N ?

F AV O R I T E
WEEKEND
ACTIVITY

I've always been interested in the relationship between
human health and the built environment, and I've
always enjoyed large, complex projects. About a
dozen years ago, I realized that healthcare design
allowed me to pursue both of those interests. For most
of that time, healthcare was the only sector in which
I could talk about health and wellness and not be
laughed out of the room.

W H AT D O Y O U L I K E B E S T A B O U T
WORKING IN THIS SECTOR?
We face complex problems without easy, "silver bullet"
answers. Our work has a profound impact on people's
lives every day.

F AV O R I T E ...
Q U O T E "Study nature, love nature, stay close to
nature. It will never fail you."-Frank Lloyd Wright
BA N D / M U S I C A L A R T IST U2 and Beethoven.
CO L O R Green (is that cliché?).
GU I LTY P L E A SUR E Sleep.
M O V I E C H A RACT E R Rey
from "Star Wars" (Episodes
VII and VIII). She's a great
character in her own right, but
I have a special fondness for
her because several months
before "The Force Awakens"
came out, we named my
daughter Reya, after my
grandfather (Ray).
A PP/ W E BS I T E NY Times
and NYT Cooking. That's the East Coaster in me
coming out.
S N A C K W H E N Y OU T R AVE L Pretzels with
mini packets of honey almond butter. (I pack a lot of
snacks. A normal adult could live for a week
out of my backpack.)
I CE C R E A M F LAVOR Strawberry. I'm
the weirdo who hates chocolate.
S P O RT Gymnastics.
T E A M Pittsburgh Steelers.
BO O K I should probably have a stunning,
intellectual answer for this, but I currently
spend a lot of time with Mo Willems' "Elephant
and Piggie" series. They are brilliant.

Camping. I've
discovered that the
Japanese concept
of "nature bathing"
really does reduce
my stress levels and
helps me to be a more balanced, happier person.
We have great opportunities for this in California,
with the Pacific coast and giant redwoods nearby.

MARA BAUM

Sustainable design leader,
health and wellness,
HOK, San Francisco
MARA BAUM has spent her career
fighting for sustainable design-
but her path to advocacy happened
by chance. "During my senior year
in college, I decided on a whim to sign up for a
graduate-level course on environmental factors," she says. There, she learned the positive
impact design could have on the world, and
the rest is history. Today, as sustainable design
leader for HOK's healthcare practice, she sees
most projects taking one of two paths to sustainability: either aiming to push the envelope
or pursuing general best practices. "While the
latter are a world ahead of where we were 10
years ago, I've also observed a lot of complacency," she says. "It's not that people don't care
about sustainability, it's that they think they're
already doing it well." However, Baum adds
that designing for a healthy and sustainable
future is an evolving process. "Working in this
position allows me to help move healthcare institutions in a positive direction. I'm lucky to
have incredible clients who give me hope for
the future," she says.-Anne DiNardo

T H R E E W O R D S T H AT D E S C R I B E
YOUR DESIGN AESTHETIC

1 clean
2 green (vegetated)
3 timeless

W H AT W O U L D Y O U S T I L L L I K E
T O S E E H A P P E N F O R S U S TA I N A B L E H E A LT H C A R E D E S I G N ?
I'd like to see us accelerate our focus on the impact
we have on human health-and not just for the individuals within our facilities but also those living in
nearby communities and beyond. The very buildings
that are designed to treat cancer are also made of
materials that are known and probable carcinogens.
They use a disproportionate amount of energy to
help patients heal. And the electricity that hospitals
use usually comes from power plants, often plants
that increase asthma rates in adjacent communities.
I'd like to see the healthcare design industry better
address holistic health impacts of our buildings and
infrastructure.

D O G O R C AT ?
None of the above. I am mystified by "pet people."

COFFEE OR TEA?
All of the above.

MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT
OWL?

CI TY T O V I S I T Paris. I have family in France and
spent enough time there as a child that now it feels
like going home (plus, it's Paris).

Morning. Ten-years-ago-Mara would be appalled to
hear me say that.

BEER, WINE, OR LIQUOR?
Beer. Preferably an intense IPA from a local
microbrewery or nanobrewery.

OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, YOU'LL
L I K E LY F I N D M E ...
Wrangling children. I also teach online courses for
the Boston Architectural College Sustainable Design
Institute. I've always loved teaching and found that I'm
pretty good at explaining technically complex topics to
both general and academic audiences. I believe that
sharing my passion for health and sustainability will
help foster a stronger, more effective design industry.

144

AUGUST 2018

FICTION OR NONFICTION?
Yes, please.

W I N D O W O R A I S L E S E AT ?
B AUM SERVED AS SUSTAINABLE DESIGN LEADER ON THE VENTURA
COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER HOSPITAL REPLACEMENT WING
IN VENTURA, CALIF., WHICH RECENTLY RECEIVED LEED FOR
HEALTHCARE SILVER CERTIFICATION.

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

-Will Rogers

Window. I want to see the world and have control over
the window shade. (Ha! I'm writing this now from a
window seat.)

LAWRENCE ANDERS ON ( VENTURA COUNTY )

fac e
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - August 2018
