At Shepley Bulfinch we recognize the critical importance of engaging end-users in our healthcare design process. A cornerstone of our healthcare design approach is collaborative workshops, in which we bring together a diverse team of stakeholders, including physicians, nurses, and patients, to evaluate floor plan options and prototype spaces. These workshops are essential for gathering insights, evaluating design options, and creating innovative, functional healthcare environments.
A notable example of this approach is the week-long workshop we conducted for the Memorial Hermann Medical Group’s Bellaire Health Hub project. This workshop brought together a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, and patients to actively participate in the design process. The collaborative sessions focused on prototyping spaces and evaluating floor plan options to consolidate six separate clinics into a unified facility.
This process aimed to enhance wellness, optimize workflow efficiencies, and improve the overall experience for both employees and patients. The resulting design featured an “on-stage/off-stage” working exam cluster that minimized non-value-added time, improved patient flow and staff productivity, reduced wait times and walking distances, and created a calming environment through thoughtful color palettes and thematic elements.
Boston Children’s Hospital Hale Family Building in Boston, MA.
We also leverage interactive methods in our workshops to explore innovative solutions, involving end-users early in the design process to enable real-time feedback and iterative improvements. This collaborative model enhances the functionality of healthcare facilities and fosters a sense of ownership among stakeholders.
For example, we conducted a detailed end-user workshop with Boston Children’s Hospital for their Hale Family Building project, focusing on the design of Operating Rooms (ORs) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs). This collaborative process involved creating full-scale mock-ups to evaluate and refine the design.
Key aspects of the workshop included:
-
- Mock-up creation: A 2,200-square-foot “theater set” was built, featuring two ICU rooms, an OR, a scrub room, and a substerile area.
-
- Participants: We brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, technicians, hospital administrators, and facility engineers.
-
- Hands-on evaluation: Medical staff performed simulated operations in the model OR to test the layout and functionality. Actors posed as patients and family to fully understand all aspects of the experience.
-
- Iterative design process: Based on user feedback, our design team made real-time adjustments to the mock-up, such as repositioning the operating table and anesthesia equipment.
-
- Detailed assessments: Clinicians evaluated sight lines between patient rooms, tested general room lighting, dimming capabilities, and night-light placement, scrutinized the location of power booms and electrical outlets, and assessed flooring options and colors schemes.
-
- Family-centered design: The workshop emphasized creating family spaces within the units to support patient-family interactions.
This collaborative approach allowed us to gather crucial insights from end-users, resulting in a design that better met the needs of patients, families, and healthcare providers at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Another example of our extensive and integrated collaborative process is the workshop we conducted for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s School of Pharmacy and Health Professions. This workshop focused on programming the school’s entire simulation program to support an interprofessional education model.
Key aspects of this workshop included:
-
- Interprofessional approach: The workshop aimed to design effective and efficient shared spaces that would facilitate collaboration between different health professions.
-
- Comprehensive planning: The process involved programming for multiple health disciplines, including pharmacy, physician assistant, kinesiology, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and occupational therapy.
-
- Future-focused design: The workshop helped create a conceptual design for phase two of the project, which will house additional health professions and a community health clinic.
-
- Innovation emphasis: The workshop process supported the development of specialized research laboratories and state-of-the-art teaching labs.
-
- Community integration: Participants considered how the new facility could enhance the university’s connection with the community and serve a growing student body.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s School of Pharmacy and Health Professions in Princess Anne, MD.
Overall, our collaborative workshops exemplify our commitment to designing healthcare spaces that are both efficient and empathetic. By integrating diverse perspectives through structured engagement, we create environments that support better outcomes for patients, staff, and healthcare organizations alike.
Uma Ramanathan, FAIA, LEED AP
Principal
Uma is a principal and leader in the firm’s pediatric healthcare practice. With more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, planning, and design, Uma has been involved with many academic, community, and regional programming and planning efforts.