Dr. Roger Ulrich, professor of architecture at Texas A&M University and holder of the Julie and Craig Beale ’71 Endowed Professorship in Health Facilities Design at the Texas A&M College of Architecture, joined famous Irish actor Gabriel Byrne in an effort to raise public awareness of the benefits of evidence-based design as part of the Irish government’s multibillion-dollar effort to modernize its healthcare infrastructure.

“Despite becoming a wealthy country in recent decades,” said Ulrich, “Ireland’s hospitals and other healthcare buildings remain among the most obsolete in Europe.”

A mainstay on the silver screen for nearly 30 years, Byrne has appeared in “The Usual Suspects,” “Little Women,” and “Excalibur.” Currently, he portrays Paul, a therapist in the critically acclaimed HBO series “In Treatment.”

“Gabriel’s participation ensured much greater public interest and attendance, and helped to increase awareness of the importance of using evidence-based design to create better healthcare buildings,” said Ulrich, who has been advising government entities and foundations in Ireland about the benefits of evidence-based design in healthcare architecture for the past few years.

“Gabriel’s presence, eloquence, and his ability to bring humanity to the topic of healthcare environments empowered the public and political impact of my barrage of

research findings,” said Ulrich. “I conveyed the science, data, and design recommendations, and Byrne brought the emotion and framed key issues in personal, human terms.”

At one of their public appearances, the crowd was so large that organizers had to move the event to St. Ann’s, a cavernous old church that has stood in the heart of Dublin for more than 300 years.

“I spoke for an hour on evidence-based design from an elaborately carved pulpit

to an audience of upwards 1,000 people,” said Ulrich. “It was a novel departure from C-105 (a classroom in Texas A&M’s Langford Architecture Center).”

An article on evidence-based hospital design published in the Irish Times newspaper, includes a description of Ulrich’s appearance with Byrne at St. Ann’s. The story can be accessed online at: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2008/0610/1213005981471.html.

A publication of the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University

Fall 2008

Xuemei Zhu, a new member of the Texas A&M College of Architecture faculty and Fac-ulty Fellow for the Center for Health Systems & Design, was quoted in the June 12 issue of Time magazine in an article about childhood obesity.

The article discusses how children from low-income families have higher obesity rates, and quotes Zhu’s research in Austin neighborhoods.

“Even in dense communities, parents often

refused to allow kids to walk to school, fearing they would be-come victims of crime or traffic accidents,” said Zhu, quoting her research findings.

The research was conduct-ed as part of her dissertation study at Texas A&M’s College

of Architecture. For Bryan Walsh’s story in Time, visit http://www.time.com/time/maga-zine/article/0,9171,1813984-1,00.html

The Center for Health Systems & Design’s second an-nual “First Look” Research Colloquium was held Nov. 8-11 at the Gaylord National in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the AIA/AHA Healthcare Design.08 conference.

insight

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURET E X A S A & M U N I V E R S I T Y

HEALTHCARE DESIGN.08

Ulrich, actor promote evidence-based design

“I conveyed the science, data, and design recommendations and Byrne brought the emotion and framed key issues in personal, human terms,” said Ulrich, at right, of their tour promoting evidence-based health facility design in Ireland.

New CHSD Faculty Fellow quoted in Time magazineArticle examines high rates of childhood obesity in low-income families

Xuemei Zhu

Issue 9: Fall 2008

Newsletter for the Center for Health Systems & DesignCollege of Architecture • Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M Health Science Center • College of Medicine

HealTH INDUSTry aDvISory CoUNCIlProFeSSIoNal MeMberS

BSA Life StructuresJacobs

Earl Swensson Associates, Inc.FKP Architects, Inc.

HDR Architecture, Inc. HKS Architects, Inc.

Haynes Whaley AssociatesHOK

The INNOVA GroupKMD Architects

Karlsberger CompaniesErdman, A Cogdell Spencer Company

PageSoutherlandPagePerkins + Will

RTKL Associates, Inc. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott

Stantec Architecture Syska Hennessy Group

Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Inc.WHR Architects

Wingler & Sharp, Architects & Planners, Inc. Wilmot/Sanz, Inc

Zimmer Gunsel Frasca Architects, LLPCorPoraTe ParTNerS

The Mohawk Group/Lees CarpetsHerman Miller for Healthcare

Nurture by SteelcaseSTERIS Corporation

CHSD FaCUlTy FellowS

Mardelle Shepley Susan Rodiek Elton AbbottSherry Bame

Leonard Berry John Bryant

Charles Culp Michael Duffy

Pliny Fisk Jeff Haberl

Kirk Hamilton Chang-Shan Huang

Sarel LavyChanam Lee

George J. Mann Joseph McGraw

Marlynn MayJody Naderi

Marcia Ory Andrew Seidel

Joe Sharkey Don Sweeney

Louis Tassinary Roger Ulrich James Varni Ward Wells

Xuemei Zhu

The description of a new tool for deter-mining the effects of the built environment of residential care facilities on their residents, developed by Dr. Susan Rodiek, won an award for best research paper from Seniors Housing & Care Journal.

Rodiek, assistant professor of architecture at Texas A&M and holder of the Ronald L. Skaggs Endowed Professorship in Health Fa-cilities Design, responded to a need for tools to objectively capture detail about the built environment’s effect on residents at residen-tial care facilities.

The National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC), an-nually publishes the peer-reviewed Journal that contains applied research papers for providers, financiers and developers involved in the industry. Rodiek was recognized at the Annual NIC Conference where she received a plaque and $5,000 cash award, which is spon-sored by GE Healthcare Financial Services.

Rodiek donated the award for the paper, “A New Tool for Evaluating Senior Living Environ-ments,” to the Design for Aging Scholarship Fund founded by Rodiek and offered through the College of Architecture’s Center for Health Systems & Design.

The instrument Rodiek developed focused on the psychosocial needs of older adults and “the extent to which the physical environ-ment supports their specific behaviors and activities,” she wrote in her paper.

“The quality of the physical environment has a major impact on residents’ quality of life, staff satisfaction and market appeal,” she said about her winning paper. “Yet in spite of its importance, few instruments have been developed to sensitively and objectively evaluate environmental conditions in assisted living settings. That became our motiva-tion: to see if such an instrument could be developed and could also be adapted for use by operators.”

This is the second time Rodiek has received an award for best paper from the journal, an exceptional accomplishment.

Two CHSD Faculty Fellows earned a portion of the $3.3 million in grant funds presented in 2007 by the Robert Wood Johnson Founda-tion to support research on active living in the United States.

Xuemei Zhu, an assistant professor of ar-chitecture and Chanam Lee, an assistant professor in landscape architecture and urban planning, received funding to study environmental impacts on the physical activity of elementary school children, especially those at high risk of physical inactivity and obesity.

Their research focuses on children in the Austin Independent School Dis-trict, the same location as Zhu’s dissertation study, “Community Environments and W a l k i n g - t o -School Behav-iors: Multi-Lev-el Correlates and Underly-ing Disparities.” The research, Zhu said, aims to “identify the most effective environmental interventions that will encourage physically active lifestyles among children, specifically, walking to school.”

Zhu received $186,000 for her proposal, “Safety, Health, and Equity for Active School Transportation: Interactions among Multi-Lev-el Factors and Specific Needs of Low-Income Hispanic Children.” The two-year study will

examine the personal, social, and physical en-vironmental correlates of active commuting (walking) to school. The project team includes Lee, co-P.I., James Varni, a professor with co-appointments to Texas A&M’s departments of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning

and Pediatrics, and Oi-Man Kwok, assistant professor of educational psychology.

Additionally, Lee was awarded a $252,000 grant for her proposal, “The

‘Why’s’ and ‘Why Not’s’ of Active Living: Barriers and Motivators

among High Risk Children.” This three-year study is evaluating

various interventions re-lated to children’s physical

activity. For instance, it examines environmen-

tal factors such as the quality of side-

walks, distance of schools from

homes, street-crossing safe-ty and the de-sign of streets, playgrounds, and parks. The research is also

identifying barriers and motivators of active living and comparing different sub-groups of children.

Lee’s team includes Zhu, Varni and Daniel Sui, professor of geography.

Both studies will employ objective and subjective measurement tools together with the use of geographic information systems, surveys and field audits.

Architecture-for-health students at Texas A&M University are increasingly active in the Student Health Environments Association (SHEA), which is now in its fourth year. The grassroots student organization promotes interest and knowledge in the field of health design and provides a place for students of all levels of education to interact.

At SHEA’s first meeting of the academic year, CHSD faculty provided academic and career advice to students from several depart-ments within the College of Architecture. Additionally, students with an interest in evidenced-based design formed a group to read and discuss current architecture-for-health publications with oversight from SHEA’s academic advisor, Kirk Hamilton, as-sociate professor of architecture and editor of the Health Environments Research & Design Journal, or HERD.

At the center’s October Health Industry Advisory Council meeting, SHEA members

benefitted from portfolio critiques from ar-chitects with HOK, Shepley Bulfinch Richard-son and Abbott, and Tsoi Kobus & Associates.

In November, the students toured the almost completed Stone Oak Hospital in San Antonio, with Michael Thoma and Thomas Quigley of HOK. Later that month, while at-tending the Healthcare Design ’08 conference

in Washington, D.C. with the support of the Herman Miller for Healthcare Travelling Fel-lowships, several students toured the offices of Tama Duffy of Perkins+Will.

This spring SHEA members are traveling to Waco where they’ll join architects from HDR to tour the Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center campus.

CHSD Faculty Fellow George J. Mann was honored this year for excellence in the classroom by the Texas A&M Association of Former Students. Mann, holder of the Ronald L. Skaggs, FAIA & Joseph G. Sprague, FAIA, Endowed Chair in Health Design and a registered architect, received the association’s Distinguished Achievement Award during the College of Architecture’s fall 2008 faculty and staff meeting. Debra Ellis, a senior lecturer in the Department of Construction Science, was also honored.

Thadd Hargett ’99, the association’s direc-tor of annual giving, presented Ellis and Mann with the awards.

“Today we join in honoring two of Texas A&M’s finest professionals with an award that the association of former students has

proudly helped present for the last 24 years,” said Thadd Hargett ’99, the association’s direc-tor of annual giving.

Mann, who began teaching Architecture-for-Health studios at the Texas A&M in 1966, has 48 years experience in the field and an interna-

tional reputation as a leader in health facility design education.

“It is our distinct pleasure to recognize excellence among faculty members and offer a token of our appreciation of their profound impact among the Aggie network,” Hargett said.

Shepley honored for relevant research on pediatric facilities

For research that has significantly influenced medical practices, Dr. Mardelle Shepley will receive the 2009 Stan and Mavis Graven Award for Leader-ship in Enhancing the Physical and Developmental Environments for the High Risk Infant.

Shepley has fo-cused on pediatric facilities design since initiating research on neonatal intensive care units in 1991 while serv-ing as a project architect for The Design Partnership for the San Francisco General Hospital NICU. She has published exten-sively and coauthored “Healthcare Envi-ronments for Children and their Families” (1998). A member of the Committee for Recommended Design Standards for Newborn ICUs, she served on the board of the Association for the Care of Chil-dren’s Health.

The award will be presented January 2009 in Florida during the 22nd Annual Gravens Conference on the Physical and Developmental Environments for the High Risk Infant.

Dr. Mardelle Shepley

Center for Health Systems & Design • Insight Newsletter: Fall 2008 32 Insight Newsletter: Fall 2008

Rodiek earns ‘best paper’ accoladefrom Senior Housing & Care Journal

Dr. Susan Rodiek, received best paper award from Darren Alcus, left, president of Commercial Finance for GE Health-care Financial Services, and Robert Kramer, president of the NIC for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry.

research eyes factors encouraging,impeding children’s walks to school

Aided by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds, CHSD researchers could help combat obesity in schoolchildren.

Student healthcare architecture group begins 4th year

Mann earns teaching excellence award

George J. MannSHEA members gathered to tour the Stone Oak Hospital in San Antonio.

HIAC member firms urgedto share news with CHSD

Health Industry Advisory Council member firms are encouraged to submit news items to the Center for Health Systems & Design’s Insight Newsletter. Relevant news includes research updates, practice innovations, new employee or internship programs, and news of young architects’ involved in their firms. HIAC member firm profiles or news items should be e-mailed to Judy Pruitt at jpruitt@tamu.edu.

Aspiring young architects at Earl Swensson Associ-ates in Nashville, Tenn. recently participated in charrette sessions to design the patient room of the future on the premise “What if there were no boundaries?”. Safety, efficiency and patient-focused initiatives were established as goals.

Excited about the challenge, the team members tested the reaches of their imaginations and creativity as they set about to create the ideal patient room. Futuristic ap-proaches to improvement of safety for patients and clinical staff included an ergonomically designed nurse work zone, double doors into the room for quick access, a purified laminar air curtain above the patient bed, programmable LCD wall finish panels, added grab bars and patient lifts for every patient room.

Voice activation was explored as a method to allow the patient control over his or her environment in regard to temperature, lighting, privacy, etc.

Squared-off and sharp corners were totally eliminated and replaced with rounded and softened corners. For flex-ibility and space conservation, a family sleeping compart-ment and patient bathroom were designed for retraction when not in use.

HOK and The Methodist Hospital System in Houston have teamed up for a significant research project at the Methodist Willowbrook Hospital. The project began in mid 2008 and will conclude with the opening of a new 500,000

FKP Architects was recently named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas, the second consecutive year the company has received the distinction. Created in 2006, the award program is a project of Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business (TAB), the Texas State Council of the Society of Human Resource Management (TSC_SHRM) and Best Companies Group. The list is made up of 100 Texas companies.

With more than 150 employees in its architectural practice officing in Houston and Dallas, FKP received its honor in the medium size company category of 75 to 249 employees. FKP has designed projects in 42 states and four foreign countries, and today focuses on Transforming Business by Design™ throughout the healthcare, research and education industries.

The Innova Group www.theinnovagroup.com

Since 1995, The Innova Group has provided innovative and cost effective solutions to meet the healthcare plan-ning needs of its clients through integration of population-based markets, operations and facilities.

The Innova Group is comprised of architects, healthcare administrators, nurses, operational consultants, and data analysts who utilize their knowledge and expertise to successfully implement capital investment planning initiatives.

Services offered by The Innova Group include strategic planning, facility programming, medical planning, master planning, and program management. The Innova Group routinely collaborates with national and regional health-care architectural firms, including many HIAC members, to affect the client’s program requirements.

In support of the Department of Defense Base Realign-ment And Closure initiatives, The Innova Group recently completed planning and programming of more than 5 million square feet of space for medical facilities at various military installations, including two replacement hospitals.

The firm also supports capital investment planning activities for other federal and private sector clients, includ-ing a comprehensive Phoenix Market Area Facility Study as well as selection for the University of New Mexico Health Science Center Master Plan and Hospital Addition.

Recently, The Innova Group sponsored a company-wide retreat in Chicago to improve collaboration, service capa-bilities, and client value. The Innova Group is a 35-person healthcare planning firm with offices in Austin, Tucson, and Boston.

HKS, Inc. www.hksinc.com

Ashley Dias has joined HKS as its first Healthcare Fellow. Dias graduated from Texas A&M University with a master of architecture degree and a bachelor of environmental design degree. In addition to receiving her master’s degree, she also earned a health systems and design certificate.

Dias joined HKS as a summer intern in 2006, working on C.S Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., and joined the firm full-time in June 2008. Cur-rently, she is serving as- an intern architect on Birmingham Children’s Hospital in Alabama.

The HKS Healthcare Fellowship is a one-year program developed to recognize and encourage aspiring and tal-ented recent graduates committed to improving the built healthcare environment.

As an HKS Healthcare Fellow, in addition to her project work, Dias has also selected a topic of interest for a special study. She will investigate and document the differences in undertaking the design process working with private (not-for-profit and profit) versus public healthcare orga-nizations. Following her research, she will write a thesis paper providing recommendations as well as a checklist for architects.

“I am excited and honored to be the first HKS Healthcare Fellow,” said Dias. “This program will give recent college graduates, like me, an opportunity to work with leaders in the firm (and the industry) providing an unsurpassed introduction into all aspects of the healthcare design process.”

ZGF architects, llP www.zgf.com

The Center for Health Systems & Design and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF) continued their longstand-ing collaboration, with Professor Roger Ulrich contributing to the design of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and The Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

College of Architecture graduate (’06), Alison Cozby, has also had a hand in ZGF’s work, contributing most recently to the Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital and the Providence Everett Medical Tower. Alison is also an active member of ZGF’s group of Young Design Professionals (YDP) – a group of individuals in the office that can work together on issues that face the young professional includ-ing but not limited to IDP.

ZGF has a commitment to IDP and the principles behind it. Providing in-house seminars on core learning ar-eas; supporting a coordinator to guide interns through the IDP process and directly participate in project assignment and goal setting; reviewing on a regular basis the areas of needed exposure and taking steps to find opportunities to efficiently gain experience are just some of the ways that ZGF supports young architects.

With offices in New York; Washington, DC; Los Angeles; Seattle; and Portland, ZGF is one of the nation’s largest architecture firms, with commissions for clients in government, business, health, research, education, culture, transportation and urban design. Perkins+will

www.perkinswill.com

Perkins+Will was the recipient of the CoreNet Global, AIA and IIDA 6th Annual Sustainable Leadership Award for Design & Development. When Perkins+Will began apply-ing LEED to projects, we realized it wasn’t enough to make the significant positive impact that we wanted. Combining the knowledge from the firm’s thought leaders with the passion of our 1600-person staff, sustainable design has become part of the corporate culture. This cultural shift has been accomplished by crafting two living documents that

eSawww.esarch.com

FKP architects, Inc. www.fkp.com

HoK www.hok.com

The Center for Health Systems & Design awarded 12 traveling fellowships at the third annual awards ceremony, Saturday, during the 7th Annual HIAC meeting on Oct 17, 2008. The traveling fellowships are made possible by the generous donations of Herman Miller for Healthcare.

Roger Call, director of architecture and design for Herman Miller for Healthcare, and Mardelle Shepley, CHSD director, pre-sented the awards.

“We are tremendously pleased to be named one the Best Companies to Work for in Texas for the past two years,” said John Crane, President and CEO of FKP Architects. “We are committed to providing our employees with a positive work environment in which they can excel and grow while at the same time transforming their careers. It is gratifying to receive this recognition.”

The actual rankings will be published in a special advertorial section in the February 2009 issue of TEXAS MONTHLY and the ranked companies will be recognized at the 2009 Texas Association of Business annual conference in Austin, Texas on January 28.

For more information on the Best Companies to Work for in Texas program, visit www.BestCompaniesTX.com or contact Jackie Miller at 877-455-2159

Adam PanterMasters - 2nd Year

Adam Panter from Sulphur Springs, Texas, is interested in creating environments that will enhance the healing process through positive design. He considers the buildings’

impact on the individual and the natural environment.

Avery KennedyPh.D. - 1st Year

Avery Kennedy, from Portland, Oregon, is a nurse practitioner interested in studying how the environment contributes to perception of quality of care for inpatient psychiatric hospitals

for improved patient experience and emergency department work environment.

Brian BriscoeMasters - 1st Year

Brian Briscoe, from Kingwood, Texas, is interested in sustainable health facilities design. He takes the position that sustainability is a necessity for the future and to the creation of healthy

healing environments.

Garam ChaMasters - 2nd Year

Garam Cha, from South Korea, is interested in the relationship between design and health care facilities. Her final study concentrates on a community mental health center

connected with an existing health care facility.

Jialiang WangPh.D. - 1st Year

Jialiang “Julian” Wang, from Shandong, China, is interested in bioclimate design aiming for healthy environments, especially in variable climate conditions.

Nicole HoffmanMasters - 1st Year

Nicole Hoffman, from Mansfield, Texas, is interested in the healing and sustainable aspects of health facilities design. She aims to focus on evidence based design and sustainability

as it applies to the methodology behind designing better healthcare facilities.

Nupur GuptaMasters - 2nd Year

Nupur Gupta, from India, is interested in the best possible healthcare environments from the street level to the intricate details of chairs in patient rooms.

Sihyun SungMasters - 2nd Year

Sihyun Sung, from Seoul, Korea, focuses on the future of healthcare facilities design. He is concerned with both hospital infrastructure (Bar coding system, etc) and hospital human

resources re-allocation (RN ratio, etc) in terms of evidence.

Tan ZhengMasters - 2nd Year

Tan Zheng, from Shandong, China, is interested in applying evidence-based design to create better healing environments. He is also interested in combining the merits of oriental

culture and western culture to create better architectural form for health facilities.

Xiaodong XuanMasters - 2nd Year

Xiaodong Xuan, from Hefei, China, is interested in sustainable health facilities design. He particularly focuses on encouraging the use of daylighting by reducing the discomfort caused by

window typology and placement.

Yanqing YouMasters - 2nd Year

Yanqing “Erin” You, from Guangzhou, China, is interested in evidence based design’s application and influence to healthcare facility design. She is interested in its potential to define a

better, advanced healing environment and promote the care delivery system.

Yuxiang ChenMasters - 2nd Year

Yuxiang “Shawn” Chen, from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, is interested in the design of healthcare environments to create positive impacts on humans.

Heath Industry Advisory Council firms are cutting-edge companies in the design, construction and manufacturing fields that support the activities of the Center for Health Systems & Design and students with an interest in health design and research who attend the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University.

Herman Miller for Healthcare presents 12 travel fellowships

sf in-patient facility addition in 2010. The focus includes patient safety and nursing efficiency measures with an in-depth analysis of both the current as well as the proposed hospital addition.

Our team is looking at the links between nursing unit configurations and their impact on key safety metrics. Rigorous time/motion studies and questionnaires are be-ing used to observe the behavior of and collect responses from staff and patients.

codified goals and tactics: the Sustainable Design Initiative (SDI) Strategic Plan and the Green Operations Plan.

Perkins+Will has been named one of 2007’s “Best AEC Firms to Work For” by Building Design+Construction magazine. This award program recognizes firms in the worldwide AEC industry that excel in practices including professional development, social responsibility, workplace environment, compensation/benefits, innovative recruit-ment and retention policies, and business practices.

Perkins+Will has also been named a winner of the 11th annual “Good Design is Good Business” award for the design of the recently completed One Haworth Center. The “Good Design is Good Business” awards, sponsored by BusinessWeek and Architectural Record, is an international competition honoring innovative architecture that both demonstrates exemplary design and helps clients achieve business goals.

AWARDS • Recipient Profiles HEALTH INDUSTRY ADVISORY COUNCILMember Firm Update

4 Insight Newsletter: Fall 2008 • Center forHealth Systems & Design Center for Health Systems & Design • Insight Newsletter: Fall 2008 5

Twenty-six member firms attended the seventh annual Health Industry Advisory Council (HIAC) meeting held Oct. 16-18 at the Texas A&M University College of Architecture.

The meeting began Friday morning with an update on the Architecture-for-Health program by Dr. Mardelle Shepley, director of the Center for Health Systems & Design. Dr. Larry Gamm, professor and head of the De-partment of Health Policy and Management, followed with the keynote address, “Organi-zational Transformation in Health Systems.” Dr. Glen Mills, newly appointed head of the Texas A&M Department of Architecture, was present to share his vision for the future of the department.

The member firms were updated on activities of the Student Health Environments Association (SHEA) by Brian Briscoe, current president of the group, and Adam Panter, past-president.

Doctoral students presenting their re-search included Samira Pasha, on “Usability of outdoor spaces in children’s hospitals;” Laura Prestwood on “Design factors for the built environment affecting shelter outcomes for female domestic violence victims: A case

study to establish a foundation for future research;” and Arsenio Rodrigues on “The case for sacred architecture as healing environ-ments: Findings from focus group discussions conducted at a sacred and secular building.”

HIAC members spent the afternoon visiting with students andreviewing current studio projects.

The meeting concluded Saturday morning with the third annual SHEA-HIAC portfolio review, in which students met with architects from HOK, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, and Tsoi Kobus & Associates.

With 26 professional members and four corporate members, HIAC keeps growing as new firms join annually. The latest member is KMD Architects.

HIAC was founded in 2002 to support the activities of the Center for Health Systems & Design and students in the College of Architecture with an interest in health design and research.

To become a HIAC member firm, contact Mardelle Shepley, director of the Center for Health Systems & Design via e-mail at mardelle@archone.tamu.edu or call 979-845-7009.

Visiting Japanese scholar researching evidence-based design

Dr. Kazuhiko Okamoto, a visiting scholar from Japan, is researching evidence based design at Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture dur-ing an 18-month fellowship from the University of Tokyo and the Kajima Corporation.

Okamoto is an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo’s Depart-ment of Architec-ture and has been involved in the design of a number of hospital facilities. He began teaching at the University of Tokyo after working for Okada and Associates in Tokyo.

Okamoto supervises theses of Ph.D., masters and undergraduate students, especially those studying medical and welfare facility design, and he teaches architectural design to undergraduates.

As a student at the University of To-kyo, he earned his Bachelor of Architec-ture, Master of Architecture, and Ph.D.

He has also been a consultant to the World Health Organization since 2005.

Okamoto’s visit will also include lay-ing a joint foundation with Texas A&M University for the future of GUPHA - Global University Programs in Healthcare Architecture. He was in charge of orga-nizing GUPHA’s 2007 meeting in Tokyo.

Okamoto will be joined in mid-No-vember by his wife Ruka, also an archi-tect who plans to undertake advanced research in health facility design.

Texas A&M student healthcare architec-ture projects where showcased last June at the 2008 International Union of Architects’ Public Health Group (UIA/PHG) conference in Florence, Italy.

George J. Mann, AIA, professor of archi-tecture and holder of the Ronald Skaggs, FAIA and Joseph G. Sprague, FAIA Endowed Chair in Health Facilities Design, and Brian D. Briscoe, a Master of Architecture student from Texas A&M, presented “Recent Healthcare Projects undertaken at Texas A&M University’s ‘Architecture for Health Program’ and Selected Projects from HKS –Advisory Teaching Firm since 1973.” More than 150 representatives from countries and universities worldwide heard the presentation at the P. Spadolini Meyer Children’s Hospital.

Mann, the American Institute of Architects liaison to the UIA/PHG, has been a member of the organization since 1974.

The conference was cosponsored by the World Health Organization and other Italian health-related groups.

After the Florence gathering, Mann and

Briscoe traveled to Turin, Italy to attend the International Union of Architects’ World Congress.

“This was a tremendous opportunity for me to connect with the global community of health facility design,” said Briscoe.

Kirk Hamilton, associate professor in the Depart-ment of Architecture, recently weighed in on a debate that erupted in Springfield, Oregon about the design of the new Sa-cred Heart Medical Center.

According to an Aug. 10 article published in the Eugene Register Guard, the hospital complex has a lodge-like lobby with art and a three-story river rock fireplace, sweeping views of the McKenzie River and Coburg Hills from patient rooms, and a stand of towering fir trees on the grounds.

A retired teacher told the newspaper the facility is an “opulent monument to medicine that could only have been built on huge profits and the promise of more … it’s like building a palace in the middle of suffering and poverty.”

Hamilton, associate director for the Center for Health Systems & Design, said the teacher’s view is a common misconception of the intent of evidence-based design at healthcare facili-ties.

“Whenever a hospital design is attractive it runs the risk of being criticized for excess or opulence because the presumption is that if it had been less expensive, more could have

been spent in other ways, as in lowering the cost of healthcare,” said Hamilton.

“This is an erroneous assumption,” he con-tinued, “because capital spending comes from other sources.. it may be funded by philan-thropy…and the quality of facilities are vital to recruiting and retaining the best staff.”

“In fact,” Hamilton said, “capital and debt for facilities and equipment is usually only six percent of a hospital’s annual budget.”

Almost a quarter-century ago, a landmark study by Roger Ulrich, professor of architecture at Texas A&M, showed that hospital patients whose rooms overlooked a nature scene, such as at the facility in Oregon, had shorter hospi-tal stays and requested less pain medication than patients whose rooms looked out onto the wall of a building.

Ulrich and others have continued to show through research that evidence-based health facility design can benefit staff and patients by reducing medical errors, improving staff performance, and reducing stress.

Despite these findings, patient- and staff-centered design at medical centers can be confused with extravagance, as is the case in Oregon.

On the other hand, health care buildings can reflect research by Ulrich and his contem-poraries with little room for protest.

Zhipeng Lu, an architecture Ph.D. student at Texas A&M, presented his research on walkable corridors in assisted living residents at the HEALTH-CARE DESIGN.08 Conference in Washington, D.C. He was one of two students who received an AIA/AAH STERIS- Arthur N. Tuttle Jr. Graduate Fellowship in Health Facility Planning and Design.

His presentation was based on his dissertation research.Lu also received the Souder Award for professional achievement in

health facility planning and design research as an AIA/AAH graduate fellow.

Information for the fellowship and a listing of fellows can be accessed on the fellowship’s website: http://www.aia.org/aah_fellowship_overview.

aSHrae certifies Culp for high-performance building design

Dr. Charles Culp, associate professor in the Department of Architecture, has been certified a High-Performance Building Design Professional by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerat-ing and Air-Condi-tioning Engineers.

ASHRAE’s certification program identi-fies individuals who have demonstrated the necessary training and tools for the design of high-performance buildings that live up to their performance capability.

The content of the exam includes: sustainability concepts; heating, ventilat-ing and air conditioning and sustainable processes and environmental improve-ment programs and rating systems; energy analysis; indoor environment; controls and monitoring; benchmarking with performance metrics; water conservation; commissioning in sustainable construc-tion, and operation and maintenance of high-performance buildings.

bame serves on national health advisory boardDr. Sherry Bame, asso-ciate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, was invited to serve on the Academy for Health Services Research and Policy Advisory Board for developing the 2009 National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The annual event facilitates exchange between health services researchers whose work is used to set national health policy by legislators.

6 Insight Newsletter: Fall 2008 • Center forHealth Systems & Design Center for Health Systems & Design • Insight Newsletter: Fall 2008 7

HIaC 2008 meeting is largest yet

Dr. Kazuhiko Okamoto

Prof, student attend architecture conferences in Florence, Turin

oregon paper seeks Hamilton’s input after some complain about ‘extravagant’ hospital

Kirk Hamilton

Doctoral student presents at national conference

The 7th annual Health Industry Advisory Council meeting at Texas A&M University included 26 member firms.

Professor and student, George J. Mann and Brian D. Briscoe, spoke to the more than 150 representatives from countries and universities worldwide who attended the 2008 International Union of Architects’ Public Health Group conference.

Zhipeng Lu

Dr. Charles Culp

Dr. Sherry Bame

Whitfield-Horhn Gupta Hoke Spampani Duffy Meyer Huang Peck Sun

McLeroy Oelrich Mah Parker Diaz Diaz Dias Iriarte Ulrich

CeNter For HealtH SyStemS & DeSIgN • http://archone.tamu.edu/chsd

Every Wednesday at noon during the fall semester, Texas A&M College of Architecture students had an opportunity to hear leading professionals from the allied healthcare professions discuss issues related to health care and healthcare facilities design as part of the Architecture-for-Health Lecture Series.

The public lectures, held in the Wright Gallery of the Langford Architecture Center, were sponsored by the Center for Health Systems & Design, the Health Industry Advisory Council, Student Health Environments Association, and Global University Programs in Healthcare Architecture.

Topics and featured speakers included:

“The epidemiologic Transition” featuring Ken McLeroy, professor with the Department of Social and Behavioral Health in the Texas A&M Health Science Center’s School of Rural Public Health.

“It’s not Just about Hospitals” featuring Jean Mah, FAIA, FACHA, LEED AP, principal of national healthcare practice leader Perkins + Will Architects.

“a Nurse’s Perspective on Hospital Design” featuring Teri Oelrich, MBA, BSN, RN, principal with NBBJ.

“research & Design for Health” featuring Derek Parker, FAIA, RIBA, FACHA, director of Anshen+Allen Architects.

“Maximum Flexibility Through Standardization” featuring James R. Diaz, FAIA, FACHA, principal and Lari Diaz, AIA, both with Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz, Architects.

“a Tale of Two Graduates: a week in the life of ashley and alejandro after Graduating from Texas a&M” featuring Ashley N. Dias of HKS Inc. and Alejandro Iriarte, associate medical planner with WHR Architects, Inc.

“Master Planning and Design of the Jersey Shore University and Medical Center, Neptune, New Jersey” featuring LaTonya Whitfield-Horhn, AIA, LEED AP, project manager with PBK Architects and Tushar Gupta, AIA, NCARB and Marie Hoke, AIA, both principals with WHR Architects, Inc.

“The value and role of STerIS Corporation, a Healthcare Capital equipment Provider, brings to the world of Healthcare education and architecture” featuring Robert J. Spampani, AIA, project manager with

STERIS and the company’s corporate liaison to the AIA- Academy of Architecture for Health.

“research Informing Design: Can evidence-based Design Strategies Influence Non-Hospital Spaces?” featuring Tama Duffy Day, FASID, IIDA, LEED, AP, principal with Perkins + Will Architects.

“building Information Modeling” featuring Ron Meyer, AIA, NCARB, vice president of HKS, Inc. and Christopher Peck, J.D., AICP, vice president of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Texas Division.

“Healthy Cities and the Design Institutes in China” featuring Chang-Shan Huang, PhD., AICP, ASLA, RLA, the Harold L. Adams’ 61 Endowed Interdisciplinary Professor in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University.

“Critical Issues in the ‘How’ of Healthcare Facilities Design and Construction: our experience with ‘lean’ and Integrated Project Delivery” featuring Phillip Sun, AIA, NCARB, ACHA, institutional consulting practice leader with Jacobs Carter Burgess.

Fall 2008 CHSD Architecture-for-Health Lecture Series featured diverse variety of healthcare design experts