Healthcare Design - November 2021 - 88

f a ce Time
SOUTHERN ELLIS
Architect, vice president, HKS (Dallas)
COFFEE OR TEA?
Coffee, preferably with a
breakfast taco.
Southern Ellis' career has taken him around the globe,
starting with a graduate thesis project at Texas A&M that
involved building a hospital in Tanzania. After graduating, he joined HKS in a
fellowship role, studying hospital design in China while working in the fi rm's
Shanghai and Dallas offi ces. Today, he balances medical planning and leading
the Design for Health studio at the University of Texas Arlington. Outside the
classroom, he's busy with family and restoring his old home.-Anne DiNardo
WHAT DREW YOU TO A CAREER
IN HEALTHCARE DESIGN?
I was wandering aimlessly through architecture
school, trying to find a career that would allow me
to actually impact people. Then, in my junior year at
Texas A&M, I met Professor George Mann. Instantly,
I could see how the work of my hands could bring
life and healing. I was in.
HOW DOES YOUR EXPERIENCE
AS A PROFESSOR IMPACT
YOUR WORK AT HKS?
Teaching forces me to learn my trade at a much
deeper level so that I can explain it in a way that
my students will grasp. Time in studio is also a great
reminder of the big picture and purpose for why
we chose this field, which can sometimes be lost
after long days in the weeds of a large project. It's
reinvigorating and focusing.
IF YOU WEREN'T AN ARCHITECT,
YOU WOULD BE ...
If teaching is off limits, as well, I'd be a developer.
It would be fun to be involved in crafting an even
broader view of the project vision and impacting
communities at a neighborhood scale.
THREE UNEXPECTED ITEMS ON
YOUR DESK
1 a panda tie given to me in Beijing by
Professor George Mann.
2several of my son's toy cars.
3 a catalog of historic architectural
millwork.
OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, WE'LL
LIKELY FIND YOU ...
With my wife reading to our two-year-old son, Stone,
and six-month-old daughter, Storey, or restoring historic
plaster on our century-old home.
YOU HAVE
AN IRRATIONAL
FEAR OF ...
WHAT LESSON FROM YOUR
THESIS PROJECT IN TANZANIA
STAYS WITH YOU TODAY?
Buildings should be designed with the community rather
than for the community. After learning about construction
methods and meeting people from the village, I
better understood how the buildings would fit into the
context of the community and how design could impact
each phase.
THREE HEALTHCARE PROJECTS
YOU'VE WORKED ON IN THE
LAST YEAR AND YOUR ROLE
1
88
Parkland Moody Outpatient Center, Dallas, medical
planner.
2
3
Memorial Cancer Institute, Pembroke Pines, Fla.,
medical planner.
Integris Baptist Medical Center Heart and ICU
Expansion, Oklahoma City, Okla., medical planner.
NOVEMBER 2021
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
YOUR GO-TO
KARAOKE SONG
" Single Ladies " by
Beyoncé. I don't typically
sing it; I dance it.
Missing a flight. On family
vacations, I lean toward
arriving at the airport
quite a bit earlier than my
wife would like.
DOG OR CAT?
Neither. Growing up,
I had a Shetland pony.
HOW DID YOU
MAKE YOUR FIRST
DOLLAR?
Mowing lawns.
I look forward to the
day when I can outsource
this job to my son.
YOUR HIDDEN
TALENT
I was starting quarterback
of my high school football
team, a big deal in Texas,
the land of Friday
Night Lights. I can still
" throw a football over
them mountains. "
CITY TO VISIT
Cusco, Peru. We travelled
here on our honeymoon.
It's a perfect mix of history,
beautiful architecture, and
incredible food, set in rugged
mountains.
TOM HARRIS (PARKLAND MOODY)
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - November 2021
