The AIA AAH STERIS Student Design Charrette is a 48-hour design Charrette performed annually at the Healthcare Design Conference. This AAH program was first established in 1989 and has been running for 29 consecutive years. The mission of the Charrette is to encourage talented architectural students into the practice for health, and to promote architectural education that will contribute to the practice of architecture for health. With the sponsorship of STERIS and countless volunteers this program has fostered relationships and guided students into healthcare architecture.
Student Design Charrette participants with STERIS sponsors 2017
I became interested in the education and mentorship of students to help them find their path into healthcare architecture, when I began working in the profession. Early on, I was given the opportunity to experience first-hand what the AIA AAH does during the Healthcare Design Conference. My desire to contribute to the AIA AAH, while learning more about the organization, led me to a position on the AIA AAH STERIS Student Design Charrette task-force in 2008. I was inspired and compelled to continue to serve for the past ten Charrettes, including the last six consecutive years as the acting Chairperson.
The 2017 Task-force volunteers also included:
- Co-Chair: Julia Philips, of HKS Washington DC., who has served as co-chair for the last five years.
- Co-Chair: Renee Fiala, of EYP Health Houston, who participated as a student in 2013, and served in 2016 as the Local Liaison.
- Local Liaison: Stephen Szutenbach, of HKS Orlando, served in a rotating position due to the location of the Conference and the Local Sponsorship.
2017 Task-force volunteers
For this year’s Charrette, the Taskforce selected a site in Orlando and created the topic of “Mending the Body and Mind: Building a Wellness Center to Treat Mental and Physical Illnesses within a Community”. More information on the site and topic can be accessed at the following LINK. In Addition, each participating team randomly received different patient types to focus their designs.
Patient specialty types per group were as follows:
- University of Kansas
- Received Type A = Addiction
- Team consisted of Professors Kent Sprekelmeyer and Frank Zilm with their students Nick Faust, Zach Overschmidt, Hannah Rupprecht and Caitlin McKaughan
- Florida International University
- Received Type B = Pediatrics
- Team consisted of Professor Newton D’Souza with his students Mariana Lamberti Vazquez, Matheus Lauer Da Silveira, Martha Salazar Venerio and Vivian Taboada
- Clemson University
- Received Type C = Crisis/Situational
- Team consisted of Professor David Alison with his students Wenz Tuttle, Malone Hopkins, Mariah Gresko and Christin Bauer
- University of Virginia
- Received Type D = Geriatric
- Team consisted of Professor Schaeffer Somers with his students Zazu Swistel, Anna Morrison, Andrea Gomez Merino and Sarah Pate.
Each year, the students do an amazing job and this topic has been one of my favorite because of its diversity of topic between the schools, there seems like there was less competition and more collaboration between the teams in comparison to previous years. I would like to thank the students and professors for their dedication and enthusiasm to the Charrette and their designs.
Clemson University students working on their design
Florida International University students presenting at the Student Design Charrette session
Although volunteering as the Chairperson of the Taskforce can be challenging because it demands a high level of commitment, the experience has been rewarding for me both professionally and personally. The opportunity to work with talented and inspiring healthcare professionals, students and faculty during the charrette has been very rewarding. In Orlando, I was also surprised twice by receiving recognition from both the AAH and STERIS, which not only surprised but proved how thankful I am to be a part of this group. My tenure as Chairperson for the Charrette Task-force has come to an end, in January 2018, EYP’s Renee Fiala will take over as acting Chairperson. While I am there to assist should she need anything, I know that she is more than capable for the job with her passion for healthcare architecture and this event.
In closing, my 10 years on the Charrette would never have happened if not for the dedicated people that came before me. I want to thank all of the past Taskforce volunteers, and board members for enabling and evolving this program. Special thanks for the dedication of the faculty at many Universities for helping to inspire and create a beautiful experience. To the AAH Board members and the many Presidents, I have hounded you all to be jurors and our advocates and I am so glad to continue to work with you in the future as the AAH’s Chairperson for the Healthcare Design Conference.
And last but not least, to George Godfrey and Patrick Down and the rest of my extended STERIS family, without their continual support to the Charrette our jobs on the Task-force would be not only less enjoyable but also less attainable. It is truly a joy to have gotten to know both of them and STERIS as a company. It is amazing that a company, through both good times and bad, has been committed to creating and fostering collaborative knowledge partnerships to better educate students and healthcare professionals consistently year-after-year.
_________________________________
About the author
Sara Shumbera is a talented, fast-rising medical planner with over 10 years of healthcare facility planning experience and has been with EYP Health since 2013. She continues to educate herself and her peers through active involvement within the national, state and local levels.