IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018 - 18

I DESIGN |

The Mind of a Designer

CAROLYN BAROSS
shares her thoughts on the
current and future state of design
in the healthcare industry.

People's
impression
of
healthcare
design is
formed
by their
experience
in existing
healthcare
facilities-a
lot of which
are pretty
grim.

"

-Carolyn BaRoss,
IIDA, LEED AP

PERSPECTIVE: Do you think healthcare design has
an image problem?
BAROSS: People's impression of healthcare design

is formed by their experience in existing healthcare
facilities-a lot of which are pretty grim. They are clad
with product or lit in a certain way that is really an assault
on the spirit. They're not the kind of spaces that people
have been drawn to. What's exciting about this, and what
the challenge is, is that we know it doesn't have to be like
that, and there are a lot of talented designers who are
trying to create a shift.

PERSPECTIVE: What is the most exciting project
you've worked on recently?
BAROSS: We recently completed the Memorial Sloan

Kettering Monmouth facility in Middletown, New Jersey,
USA. The team analyzed how patients would experience
the space. We looked at places where people would be
highly stressed and have the least amount of control and
thought about ways to provide a pleasant experience in
that space.
For example, the linear accelerator vaults for cancer
treatments have biophilia incorporated into the design
with wood wall panels and indirect lighting. The vault
entry is a beautiful, skylit space. A courtyard enables
daylight to infiltrate all the way to the lower level of the
building where the radiation oncology department is.
The project is full of color, texture, art, light, and
amenities that provide patients with choices for how to
spend their time during the course of their treatment.
PERSPECTIVE: What changes will we see in
healthcare design during the next five to 10 years?
BAROSS: I believe there's going to be more data-driven

design tools with technology to measure the impact of
a building on people's health-from material content to
physiological monitoring through wearable devices to
measurable outcomes.
It will be powerful to
demonstrate the value
of our design decisions.
We'll be using technology
to create better spaces for
working and healing.

The Perkins+Will
designed Memorial Sloan
Kettering in Monmouth,
New Jersey, USA was
named a winner of the
2017 IIDA Healthcare
Interior Design
Competition in the
Ambulatory Cancer
Center category.

18

perspective

iida.org/perspective

Photos by: Halkin Mason Photography

C
"

Carolyn BaRoss, IIDA, LEED AP, didn't start her career
in healthcare, but she found her way there through the
doldrums of the Great Recession. She soon discovered,
however, that healthcare design wasn't what she imagined.
"It was incredibly interesting as the clients were highly
educated and purpose-driven, where science and art came
together. The end results could positively impact people,
and I found that deeply satisfying-I wondered: 'Who
wouldn't want to do this?'"
BaRoss has built her reputation around healthcare.
She currently serves as the design principal and firmwide
healthcare interior design director for Perkins+Will in
New York, New York, USA.

By | Ali Morris
http://www.iida.org/perspective
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Summer 2018
