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INSIGHTS PRACTICE PROFILE Medical Architecture
Creating therapeutic environments is Medical Architecture’s specialty. Directors at the practice Lianne Knotts and Ruairi Reeves explain to ADF’s Laura Shadwell how they are continuing to push boundaries in healthcare architecture
M
edical Architecture; it does what it says on the tin. However, the practice originated from academia – the Medical Architecture Research Unit at North London
Polytechnic, in the early 1990s. The firm’s founders, together with a more ‘arts’ focused colleague (Graham Cooper) – initially emerged in private practice when the faculty closed its doors in 1991. To this day, the practice maintains an academic level of rigour – the benefits of which are particularly clear when working on healthcare projects. Medical Architecture also continues to contribute to NHS national guidance on design, including Health Building Notes (HBNs) which cover a variety of different elements of healthcare buildings.
Built on a shared focus At its inception, the practice had one London studio, and fewer than 10 employees. Over the years, the practice has grown, forming a second studio in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2006, and now employs 50 staff. The two studios are similarly sized and are closely integrated, with a strong culture of collaboration. Although workload is not necessarily split geographically, the national reach provided by the two locations works well for the practice. Lianne Knotts is director and co-leader of the Newcastle studio, alongside fellow director Paul Yeomans. She tells ADF that the studios are both currently at a “really good size; everyone knows what each other is doing. We may grow, but we don’t have plans to turn into a 100-strong practice.”
Focusing exclusively on healthcare gives Medical Architecture a point of difference against other practices working in the sector; “We’re not the only healthcare architects, but because we only do healthcare, everyone within the practice is focused, and comparatively experienced,” says Ruairi Reeves, director and leader of the London branch, with director Bob Wills. Resisting opportunities to diversify away from the sector, they have continued to play to their strengths, including deploying their skills on overseas projects in Ireland, Australia and Canada, which has been useful during periods when UK’s capital investment in healthcare has been less.
Understanding healthcare design Approximately 90% of the practice’s work is in the NHS, with particular focus on mental health, acute care, and community health facilities such as community hospitals, and what Reeves calls an “emerging type of building, more of a ‘mega health hub.’” These integrated care facilities combine many healthcare services on one
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK Clock View Hospital, Liverpool © Jennie Webb
site with the aim of reducing hospital admissions. The pioneering Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in Hull is a key example of success. A study led by the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre at the University of Hull, concluded that frail patients at the Hull facility would be 50% less likely to need emergency treatment. As a result of the team’s combined experience, Medical Architecture is able to strategically look at healthcare needs, alongside a patient-focused design approach to both the building’s interior and exterior. “We are continually pushing to think about things from patients’ point of view, as well as staff,” asserts Reeves. “For example, we’ve worked with artists in the early stages of projects to integrate art into the emerging designs, rather than just bolting it on at the end, and that’s been really successful in maximising its value,” adds Knotts. Medical Architecture approaches a project not just as a building
design, but as a diagram, in order to optimise the flow in terms of ‘patient pathways’ through the building, including where they intersect with all the functions patients will need to access. Retrofitting is a particular challenge when a healthcare building is in occupation, so as Reeves says, they “are passionate about getting the building right, first time. We want to create a timeless facility that ages well, but that also offers flexibility.” Medical Architecture says that challenges for designers working in healthcare revolve around issues of funding. The practice regularly works with NHS Trusts to develop their estates strategy, exploring ways to extract the greatest value from their estates from a clinical, operational and environmental perspective.
ADF MARCH 2023
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