This post is in a series where we talk to healthcare interior designers about their work in the healthcare market.
Pete Agnew is an Interior Designer at Perkins Eastman.
What is one book, person, or talk that has been most influential in your career?
The fable “Who Moved My Cheese.” The story is really a metaphor for what makes you happy (the cheese) and also a message that in order to stay prepared, never accept how things currently are. Applying this to my career, the healthcare design industry is in continual flux, and through evidence-based design, new technologies, and innovative architectural finish products, it really is a task to keep abreast of all of the current trends, products, and developments. Healthcare design projects are typically lengthy. By the time you complete documentation on a project, chances are a whole new swath of better products/materials/processes have been developed. The point is – never just design like the last project you finished. Chances are, there are better materials to use. Never take for granted what you know is current. Talk to people, get people to critique your work, and never take it personally.
What products have you been excited about recently?
Do you have any go-to design solutions or techniques for creating healing environments?
When it comes to architectural finishes, I always introduce natural tones and materials. The connection to nature has been proven in research to enhance the healing process. However, as important the user and caregiver experience is, consider the little details. Patients and their families are often stressed during their times spent in medical facilities, and our job is to make that easier for them by adding small details and conveniences that connect them to a more familiar place. This makes the user experience all that more comforting.
If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?
Don’t settle for mediocrity and never stay in a job that doesn’t bring you some kind of joy. We spend too many hours of our life working to waste it on instances of mediocrity and unmotivated people.
What is one product that doesn't exist but should?
Blue light disinfection. It may exist technically, but is possibly too expensive to make a business case for. It can be used in patient rooms (or could also be applied to a hotel room, a dorm room or anywhere else for that matter), turned on, and left to operate for the duration of time it would take to eliminate all bacteria present. There would obviously need to be some kind of shielding to protect people while this device is in operation because this technique can be dangerous to human tissue. However, this could be used in between patient use to ensure all bacteria is removed prior to the next patient/occupant use.
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), Crystal McCauley (CallisonRTKL), Jennifer Bahan (Hoefer Wysocki), Char Hawkins (DesignGroup), Deirdre Pio (Gawron Turgeon), Jessica Whitlock (RS&H), Amber Williams (KDA Architecture), Jenny Manansala (Stantec), Andrea Kingsbury (FreemanWhite), and more.
