Healthcare Design - October 2018 - 24

Kate Renner

AIA, EDAC, LSSCE, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, associate |
HKS, Washington, D.C.

D

colleagues as a "tireless, passionate, and dedicated architect and researcher,"
Renner joined HKS' health sector in the MidAtlantic region straight out of college, where she's
been focusing on integrating research into all aspects of healthcare projects. She's worked with
several large systems, including The MetroHealth
System in Cleveland and CapitalMed in Cairo.
In 2012, she was awarded a fellowship to further develop HKS' postoccupancy evaluation process, called Functional Performance Evaluation (FPE), conducting three FPEs in the past two years for Virginia
Commonwealth University Health's (VCUH) Children's Hospital of
Richmond Pavilion, Akron Children's Hospital, and VCUH's Critical Care Hospital. She's also worked with HKS Health Fellows and
researchers to maintain a database of 70-plus healthcare projects to
track trends and benchmark key metrics, which led to publishing a
study on inpatient rooms and units. To further support research in all
projects, Renner developed a firmwide education program, the Idea
Fellowship, which has funded five research studies to date. Outside
the office, she's served on committees with the American Institute of
Architects and U.S. Green Building Council and is focused on mentoring the next generation.
ESCRIBED BY HER

H E A L T H C A R E D E S I G N : W H AT D R E W Y O U
TO A CAREER IN HEALTHCARE DESIGN?

Renner: When I was 12, my mom, who is a doctor,
designed and renovated a building into her outpatient clinic. Through this experience, I was able to
see passion, vision, and goals turn into a reality in
the built environment, and I knew then that I was
going to be an architect. The healthcare component
came later on, during my studies at the University
of Kansas, where I had the opportunity to further
my understanding of the sector through its Health
+ Wellness program. After joining HKS, I found my
place in our health studio and have loved healthcare
design ever since.
W H AT D O Y O U T H I N K I S T H E N U M B E R
O N E I S S U E FA C I N G H E A LT H C A R E
D E S I G N E R S T O D AY ?

Resilience is an issue that faces not only healthcare,
but the world. Healthcare systems are faced with
being first responders in the event of a disaster,
both natural and manmade. The built environment
must be able to both withstand the event and provide safety, while supporting the census and acuity
changes, staffing needs, operational changes, and
psychological impacts.
S H A R E A N I D E A Y O U H AV E F O R
A D D R E S S I N G O R O V E R C O M I N G T H AT
PROBLEM.

The first step is identifying all the potential risks
a region faces and then understanding the probability of those risks. From a planning standpoint,
building in flexibility enables facilities to adapt to
many circumstances. Versatile spaces create opportunities to support census increases, staffing
needs, and operational changes.
W H A T ' S Y O U R F AV O R I T E P L A C E T O

Universities and colleges. Students are encouraged to expand on current thinking and their ideas
aren't typically hindered by constraints we find
on our projects, like budgets. This enables them
to push boundaries in ways we may not consider.
Universities and colleges also support rapidlearning events, such as hackathons, which result
in ideas that can be tested in design.

CapitalMed, Cairo

24

OCTOBER 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - October 2018
