August 29th, 2025 August 29th, 2025
Healthcare + Architecture Program graduates return as industry leaders
It is difficult to imagine something more important than the design and construction of the space used to secure us when we break. Hospital evolution spans centuries that began at the dawn of civilization and advanced in parallel with humanity. An early known form of hospitals was in religious temples in ancient Greek. . . and so on.
Today, hospitals are often the gems of the city they stand in. A sparkling tower of modern design that holds technology and treatments that could have been unprecedented just a generation ago. But just as society strives to improve, our hospitals can still improve. And from there, Clemson University's Architecture + Health Programme breaks into the photographs.
Rethinking hospital design
“Houses and large medical centers are probably the most complex types of buildings we design and build,” says David Allison, president of the College of Architecture at the US Medical College, a well-known graduate professor and director of graduate studies in Architecture + Health. “They are also some of the most expensive buildings on a square foot basis and operate 24/7, making them relatively small compared to lifecycle operational costs.”
Alison, chairman of Clemson's Architecture School, and colleague Anjali Joseph, held a summit at the Madren Conference Centre on August 21-22, bringing together some of the top thinkers of the country of medical architecture, focusing on applying innovative architectural systems to medical facility planning. Some applications include the integration of sunlight and solar power generation using large quantities of materials, such as those developed by the Clemson Wood Utilization Institute, and modular designs that significantly improve the speed, efficiency and reliability of hospitals.
Perhaps not surprising, many of the event participants, sponsored by the Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH), were former students of Allison and Joseph.
“We are the leaders of the largest and most renowned architecture firms, who train graduates around the world, practice healthcare architecture and are a leader in professional services,” says Allison, who is in his 36th year at Clemson. “We are the anchor of this conference as we are the most structured and largest program in the country.”
Sustainability, efficiency, and profitability
One of the alumni was Graham Sinclair. He earned his degree in 2010 and currently works as an associate principal medical planner for Beck Group, a Dallas, Texas-based construction and construction company, and in 1912 he built hospitals and medical centers in several states.
“I like this meeting because these events are usually because owners network, but this is for architects,” Sinclair said in an interview between presentations. “It's about innovative, out-of-habit ideas. For example, the final session was about framing heavy wood, which is not often done in healthcare, but it can offer many benefits, from patient experience to sustainability perspectives.”
According to Allison, sustainability is one of the areas where healthcare architectures can improve the most. The other is efficiency.
Ford Kellogg, CEO of Synergy Med Global Design Solutions, attended networks with fellow innovators and attended events to absorb new ideas from his company, for his company, which is pioneering the use of modular medical rooms. His company's clean cube health systems engineer and manufacturing will manufacture sales and critical care rooms in parallel with the construction of controlled environments and new hospitals.
“When I came to this event maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I met David Allison probably 6 or 7 years ago,” Kellogg said. “He is renowned as one of the leading educators of healthcare-centric architects in the healthcare industry. Over the years I met many medical architects who learned to master their craft through David and his colleagues here in Clemson.
Kellogg said that the advanced thinking includes designing new hospitals that are more sustainable, efficient, barren, adaptable, and yes, profitable. In today's healthcare environment, most hospitals struggle to readjust their operating costs, so they can ultimately help patients. The most profitable rooms in a hospital are far more.
“These clinical intervention spaces that my company is focusing on are the largest revenue generators in the hospital,” Kellogg says. “A typical operating room takes three to six months to build. You can do parallel construction. At the same time, the slab is poured into a surgical center or hospital, allowing the space to be delivered in 18-24 days.
Clemson Architecture + Design Alumni leads
With a large number of ambitious subject experts like Kellogg and Sinclair together, they can listen to each other, share ideas, and push the boundaries of what a healthcare architecture is. In fact, as the meeting progressed, there was probably no other place on Earth.
During the presentation, attendees apply for auditoriums to fill the wide corridors of the Madren Centre, and enthusiastic discussions arise everywhere. Subjects under discussion include lowering hospital carbon footprints from a building and operational perspective, the need to be more resilient in response to the impact of serious natural disasters, and creating medical spaces that increase daylight access and connection to nature using advanced finishes that do not have biomedical materials, minimizing burnout and minimal burnout.
“More than ever, there's more healthcare structures going on,” Kellogg said. “Many of these buildings are aging and have to be replaced. We need to rethink how we deliver these spaces. Wherever I see, graduates of Clemson Healthcare Architecture Program are at the forefront of that shift.”
A quick look at Architecture + Health Alumni Directory confirms Kellogg observations. Now in its 57th year, the program sees most graduates being awarded graduate fellowships and boasts alumni at many industry leading companies.
“I chose healthcare design because I'm happy with it,” Sinclair said. “When I finish a neatly designed hospital space and see the impact it has on patients, the staff and the community that it works for, it really feels good about the things I spend time on.”
