This post is in a series where we talk to healthcare interior designers about their work in the healthcare market.
Crystal McCauley is an Interior Designer at CallisonRTKL.
What is one book, person, or talk that has been most influential in your career?
Talking with my parents on their experience of having two babies in the NICU has been an insightful resource when remembering who I am and why I design. I am a NICU baby along with my twin brother. The scariness for my parents not knowing if their children will make it another day, the sadness of not being able to take them home while the hospital is their temporary “home,” and the trust they needed to have with the NICU nurses/doctors to provide critical care all impact my career in the healthcare design field. I want to design for the parents that are scared, the nurse that is on her third consecutive night shift, and for that new life that needs critical care. I want my design to have purpose, and remembering WHO I’m designing for is key.
What products have you been excited about recently?
The ways in which designers use light to enhance the experience in a space has come a long way. We now have lighting that is being implemented to aid in the HEALING of users in our spaces. As designers, we can incorporate new lighting that follows the human circadian rhythm, utilizes UV sanitization in clinical areas, and with window lights such as LIGHTGLASS, simulates natural daylight and the outdoors for patients when it may not be available.
Do you have any go-to design solutions or techniques for creating healing environments?
My “go-to” design philosophy is take a step back, listen closely, and analyze! Every space, every patient group, and every caretaker is unique. I try to put myself in the shoes of the users by journey mapping the different healthcare flows to take a deeper dive and really get down to the nitty gritty understanding of all users, and how we can design to satisfy those needs with empathy and thoughtfulness. Healthcare facilities must work for caretakers, patients, and family members/friends who may be grieving or navigating the unknown. With so many various users occupying one space, it is critical to determine the numerous needs to design for to create a flexible and adaptable space that can provide a calming, peaceful environment to ease an oftentimes stressful situation.
If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?
Jump in! You’ll never know until you try.
What is one product that doesn't exist but should?
Finding the perfect flooring seems to always be a battle to specify as healthcare designers – we want the flooring to be aesthetic, have ergonomic value, be low maintenance for efficient turn over, and withstand so many other external factors! Whether it’s an operating room floor that we want to be ergonomic but also extremely cleanable/durable, or a patient room/corridor flooring that can withstand heavy rolling loads and traffic, it would be incredible to create a universal healthcare flooring where the floor material was indestructible!
We've also talked to Shelby Frye (Pulse Design Group), Elisha Lorenzi (EML Interiors), Sarah Tetens (Baskervill), Becky Trybus (Forum Architecture & Interior Design), Kari Allen (Guidon Design), Jennifer Bahan (Hoefer Welker), Char Hawkins (DesignGroup), Pete Agnew (Perkins Eastman), Deirdre Pio (Gawron Turgeon), Jessica Whitlock (RS&H), Amber Williams (KDA Architecture), Jenny Manansala (Stantec), Andrea Kingsbury (FreemanWhite), and more.
