COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE DAVID MARTIN – VICE PRESIDENT, STANTEC UK


Creating opportunities in translational research


Effective translational research can be inhibited by the built environment in which scientists and clinicians work. Conventional approaches to designing research and treatment facilities often perpetuate silo working practices and simple co-location does not provide genuine opportunities for interdisciplinary engagement on either a formal or an informal basis. Therefore, translational research facilities must provide an environment that enhances integration and collaboration.


We live in a collaborative age where interdisciplinary teams work together to share skills, ideas and resources. This is an approach that facilitates ‘translational research’, allowing innovation at the scientist’s bench to develop into new treatments at the patient’s bedside, helping to drive huge leaps forward in treatment methodology and shaping more holistic patient treatment journeys. However, effective translational


research can be inhibited by the built environment in which scientists and clinicians work. Conventional approaches to designing research and treatment facilities often perpetuate silo working practices (when certain departments or sectors do not wish to share information with others in the same organisation) and simple co-location does not provide genuine opportunities for interdisciplinary engagement on either a formal or an informal basis. Conversely, where architectural


expertise in both medical and education environments is delivered by a single design team, much can be done to move translational research design philosophy beyond co-location to tangible interdisciplinary collaboration, accelerated bench to bedside treatment development and improved patient outcomes. Translational research has been


embraced by hospitals, universities and


At the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, the atrium has been used as a collaborative space comprising open plan write up areas, informal spaces, meeting rooms and offices in the centre, leading out onto primary and secondary labs.


research organisations all over the world. Examples of facilities in the UK that have embedded the philosophy into their building design include Stantec’s Li Ka Shing Centre, The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Centre on the Addenbrooke’s medical campus and the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. Meanwhile, in North America, Stantec has recently delivered the Djavad Mowafaghian Center for Brain Health at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, where between 40 and 50 per cent of the 13,000 m2


building


has been allocated as clinical space for Vancouver Coastal Health physicians, while the remainder is a base for researchers and psychologists, creating opportunities for direct intersection between professionals working in different areas of the same specialist discipline.


Co-location The Djavad Mowafaghian Center for Brain Health has not been operational for long enough to provide tangible, evidence based research, but anecdotally the concept of cohesion between different professional disciplines and the patient appears to be benefitting all involved. Patients are able to connect with the research space, improving their confidence in the possibility of positive outcomes and the science behind their


David Martin


David Martin joined Stantec in 1997 and relocated from the US in 2000 to focus on the design of major academic research and healthcare projects. He is vice president, international sector lead for health and research and design leader in the UK. David has extensive health, research and education design expertise, both in the UK and internationally, and his current role draws on his considerable experience of major university, healthcare and science


projects in the US and the UK. He has led many of Stantec’s awarding winning projects for leading institutions including Stanford University and the University of Cambridge. Focused on campus making and fully integrated building design, David aims to create buildings that set new standards of functional excellence, while delivering a strong sense of place and identity. His recent projects include the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health in Vancouver, the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research in Doha and the Centre for Regeneration and Repair for the University of Edinburgh.


IFHE DIGEST 2019 33


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