Name: Bruce Raber

Award: Most Influential People in Healthcare Design, 2009 and 2010

Then: Senior fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (La Jolla, Calif.)

Now: Architect, vice president, practice leader for health and wellness, Stantec (Vancouver, British Columbia)

What he’s been up to: Worked on the Nanaimo emergency department and psychiatric services project; and most recently his firm won the $600 million North Island Hospitals project, which includes two new hospitals on Vancouver Island.

What’s one thing about the evolving healthcare design landscape that excites you?

That clients are actually interested in doing better buildings that support improved performance and the delivery of care. It’s not just about patient rooms and lobbies that look like hotels.

What’s one of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the design of healthcare spaces since you won your award, and how has it affected what you do?

Within the architect’s office, technology, such as BIM and some of the related data management software, is a big change. IPDs and P3s are changing the speed at which projects need to be done these days. In terms of design, I don’t feel much has changed in most new healthcare buildings in North America other than the amount of technology to support healthcare delivery. I think there are likely more innovative ideas coming out of Europe, such as Martini Hospital in Groningen, The Netherlands, which I visited a few years ago. Designed by Burger Grunstra architecten adviseurs, the concepts of the Dutch Government’s IFD program spearheaded the design. The “I” stands for industrial, which is prefabrication and standardization of building products, and introduced a high degree of modularity in the design. The “F” stands for flexible, with a building designed in such a way that it can be easily changed. The “D” stands for demountable. Another example is the new cancer center under construction in London for King’s Health Partners Cancer Centre at Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospital. It was an international design competition won in 2011 by the team of Stantec Architecture & Rogers Stirk Harbour Partnership with construction partner Laing O’Rourke. This 15-story building located in a dense part of London features a series of interconnected stacked “villages” that are designed around the concept of the “art of care” married with “science of treatment.”

What’s on your radar screen in 2016?

There are a number of P3s in British Columbia that we have submitted on that are either in the RFQ or RFP stage, so the next few months will tell how the year will unfold. We also just hired “dochitect” Dr. Diana Anderson, who is both an architect and a M.D., and we’re looking forward to having her perspective on projects.

For more Q+As with past recipients of Healthcare Design’s professional awards programs, check out "Master Class."