Healthcare Design - August 2016 - 89

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Q&A

with May Chow
principal, Parkin Architects
Limited
How has your company
evolved over the years?
The current chapter of
the Parkin firm began 30
years ago, acquired from
a previous Parkin firm that
had its beginning in 1937.
Right at the outset, new
though we were, and with a
total staff of seven people,
we beat stiff competition to
become the prime consultant
for a greenfield, 325-bed,
community hospital in
northern Ontario, Canada.
Almost simultaneously,
we won the commission
to convert the historically
protected, 100-yearsold original Toronto Sick
Children's Hospital into
a blood collection and
processing center for the
Canadian Red Cross.
Important too, were the
many, modest 5,000-squarefoot to 10,000-square-foot
healthcare renovation projects
that helped us to progress
into a firm that continues to

create large- and small-scale
healthcare facilities across
Canada and internationally.
Our people are the heart of
the firm; many from those
early years now form the
leadership team. Over the
years, they have attracted
bright new people, infusing
the firm and management
with renewed energy, ideas,
and enthusiasm.
How was your business
changed in the face of
healthcare reform?
The healthcare side of our
company has evolved from
our role as the traditional
architect working with our
healthcare client from the
varying stages of Business
Case, Schematic Design,
Design Development,
Contract Documents through
to Contract Administration.
In recent years, in our
major healthcare projects,
we are involved as
architectural members of

the design/construction/facility
management consortium teams
to bid for projects through
Public Private Partnerships
(P3s). At the inception of this
new project delivery method,
we won Canada's first two P3
healthcare projects, and have
had continued success ever
since.
What role does collaboration
play in your process? How
do you ensure the right
people have a voice at the
design table?
Collaboration plays a major role
in the design and documentation
process in achieving a
successful healthcare project
delivery. User involvement, from
front-line staff to senior team
members, is key to developing a
design solution that meets their
unique needs. During the design

stage for the recently opened
457-bed Oakville Trafalgar
Memorial Hospital, there was
an average of seven rounds of
50 user-group departmental
meetings. User Involvement
informs the design team with the
high-level vision to the details
of patient, staff, materiel flows,
and the roles that information
technology, equipment, and
furniture play in finding the right
design solutions. Depending
on the agendas of the usergroup meetings, we work with
the hospital to ensure the right
voice is at the design table.
For instance, at the Systems
Furniture user meetings, frontline staff such as the ward clerk
would be at the design table,
lending their voices to important
aspects of the project that lead
to overall success.
How will the design of
healthcare spaces change to
meet the demands of today's
consumers?
Today's consumers are more
aware and wanting to be
involved in their own and their
family's healthcare needs.
The spaces we create, patient
bedrooms and exam rooms
will need to include places for
families. Patients are more
aware of the issues such as
hospital-acquired infections;
as an example, they want
to see that their healthcare
providers are washing their
hands, so sinks should be
visible to the patients. Today's
consumers demand a facility
that is accessible, that reinforces
their need for independence,
respects patients' need for
privacy and dignity, and
preserves confidentiality.
www.parkin.ca

Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - main entrance. Photo: Studio Shai Gil.
http://www.parkin.ca http://www.parkin.ca
Healthcare Design - August 2016

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