Healthcare Design - June/July 2019 - 56

fac e

Time

W H AT WA S Y O U R F I R S T
H E A LT H C A R E P R O J E C T ?
I spent my first five years out of school working on
Massachusetts General Hospital's Lunder Building,
a 500,000-square-foot inpatient tower on the main
campus.

W H AT L E S S O N D I D Y O U L E A R N
O N T H AT P R O J E C T T H AT Y O U
S T I L L C A R R Y W I T H Y O U T O D AY ?
Working on a project of that size and complexity taught
me about the importance of a strong design concept to
help decision-making and keep a large team moving in
the same direction.

HOW IS THE FOCUS ON
W E L L N E S S I N H E A LT H C A R E
DESIGN TRANSFORMING THE
INDUSTRY?
I'm actually concerned that we haven't seen much
change. Caregivers risk numerous physical and
mental health conditions as a direct consequence
of their work environments, and we know their
health has a direct impact on patient outcomes.
The corporate world has largely embraced the
bottom-line benefits of improved employee
well-being, and I hope to see more healthcare
organizations catch on soon.

THREE UNEXPECTED ITEMS
ON YOUR DESK

1

dandelion root
tea

2 homemade disinfectant spray
3 three pairs of heels (under
the desk)

I F I WA S N ' T A N I N T E R I O R
DESIGNER, I WOULD BE ...
A jewelry designer. Lately I've been
experimenting with minimal shapes
using different metals and stones. It's
really satisfying to design and create
something in just hours, and it keeps
me connected to the importance of
craft in design.

OUTSIDE THE OFFICE YOU'LL
L I K E LY F I N D M E ...

BONNY SLATER

Senior interior designer, health
and wellness practice area,
Gensler, Washington, D.C.
with a psychiatric
nurse for a mother and an architect
for a father, Bonny Slater says it
was "inevitable" that she developed
passions for psychology and design-so much
so that she decided to attend The New School
in New York where she could simultaneously
obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts from its Parsons
School of Design and a bachelor's degree in psychology from its liberal arts college. "I thought
I might become a psychoanalyst," Slater says.
"However, I quickly realized the overlap in environmental psychology and began focusing
my studies there." It was during a class project
with St. Vincent's Hospital that her eyes were
opened to healthcare design and the connection between patient experience and health
outcomes, cementing her career in the industry,
where she's worked for the last 15 years. In 2014,
she joined Gensler, where she's worked with
such clients as Unity Health Care and Children's
National Medical Center. "As designers, we're
tasked with creating environments that impact
behavior, perception, and emotion, but how far
can you get on intuition alone?" she says. "My
background has placed research at the core of
my design philosophy."-Anne DiNardo
GROWING UP

Tending to my garden. I have a large rain garden
of native plants, including fruit-bearing shrubs like
blueberry and black hawthorn. I also have a small
vegetable garden that my two sons help me with.

THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE
YOUR DESIGN AESTHETIC

1 clean
2 colorful
3 minimal

F AV O R I T E ...
WEEKEN D AC T IV IT Y Taking a nature walk with
my kids.
SN ACK WH EN YOU T R AV EL Raw nuts.
COL OR Black.
G UILT Y P LEA SUR E Whipped
cream.
IC E C R EA M F LAV O R Vanilla.
BOO K "The Life-Changing
Magic of Tidying Up: The
Japanese Art of Decluttering and
Organizing," by Marie Kondo.

D O G O R C AT ?
Cat, even though I'm allergic.

COFFEE OR TEA?
Coffee.

MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT
OWL?
Neither. I like my sleep.

BEER, WINE, OR LIQUOR?
It depends on the day.

FICTION OR NONFICTION?

W H AT C H A L L E N G E S K E E P Y O U
U P AT N I G H T ?

HOW DID YOU MAKE YOUR
FIRST DOLLAR?

Finding the right talent to grow our team. We're
constantly seeking nimble, design-minded people who
can flex between radically different project types and
scales.

Selling herbs from my garden when I was 6 years old.

56

J U N E /J U LY 2 01 9

SLATER SERVED AS LEAD DESIGNER AND PLANNER ON A NEW
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER FOR UNITY HEALTH CARE.

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

YOUR GO-TO KARAOKE SONG?
You won't catch me at karaoke. Ever.

HALKIN MAS ON (UNITY )

Nonfiction. My favorite topic lately is behavioral
economics.
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - June/July 2019

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