UK-based healthcare architect and strategic advisor with over 20 years’ international experience delivering complex hospital and healthcare projects across the UK, Ireland, the Middle East and Australia. Her work spans strategic planning, masterplanning, healthcare design and delivery, with notable projects including the New Children’s Hospital in Dublin, Great Ormond Street Hospital masterplan and Children’s Cancer Centre (London), Leeds Hospitals of the Future, the Canberra Hospital Expansion, and the Kingdom Health Academic Medical Campus in Amman. Her focus is on translating international best practice into buildable, adaptable and human-centred healthcare environments.
09.30 - 09.40 OFFICIAL OPENING SESSION
WELCOME REMARKS
09.40 - 11.30 Session 1
Moderator:
Romanian New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Raluca Șoaita, founder of TESSERACT Architecture
Project: Lugoj Municipal Hospital. The project is under construction, including SP / Masterplan. The Concept of Liminality in Healthcare Design / In anthropology, “liminality” is defined as the state of being in a transitional or in-between phase, a threshold between one stage of life and another. Tesseract instruments this concept to create a project in-between city and nature, present and future, uncertainty and reassurance – in the process transforming healthcare development into a potential economic growth engine for the region. Project Team: Raluca Șoaita, Minodora Toma, Diana Buța, Andreea Neguțescu, Andreea Sârbulescu, Alexandru Truță, Alexandru Marcean
Gabriel Georges Dumitrache, arhitect-șef – INNOVA / ERBAȘU
Project: Centrul de Chirurgie Buco-Maxilo-Facială, Bucuresti - Construcție nouă. Documentație Tehnică pentru Autorizarea Construirii (DTAC) aprobată. The proposed functional layout includes: outpatient specialty clinic and dental radiology unit; patient admission and discharge department; closed-circuit pharmacy intended exclusively for internal use; continuous hospitalization Ward I – capacity: 25 beds; continuous hospitalization Ward II – capacity: 25 beds; operating block comprising 2 operating rooms; anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) – capacity: 6 beds; sterilization unit; administrative offices; conference rooms and spaces dedicated to educational activities; logistical spaces; technical spaces
Technology presentations
Q&A
Expert: Joost Hopman, Chair of department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands
Joost Hopman, MD, PhD, DTM&H is working as Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection prevention and Control at the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands and is appointed as adjunct professor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He acted more than 6 years as Medical director of the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. He is trained and specialized in medicine and medical microbiology, tropical medicine, infection prevention and control and health care management at the University of Utrecht, Radboud University Medical Center, Liverpool University and Harvard Business School.
Expert: Dr Manjula Meda, Frimley health NS Foundation Trust, Healthcare Infection Society, UK
She currently holds the position of Chair of the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS). In this role she has led the development of a HIS water and wastewater safety course and the formation of BEIPI (Built Environment Infection Prevention Initiative) bringing together all those involved in building hospitals from architects to IPC teams together with the aim to build safer hospitals. She is passionate about bringing innovation and transformation required in current and future healthcare buildings to reduce risk of AMR transmission from the built environment. She is actively involved in research and been part of many national clinical trials and working collaboratively with other organizations.
Presentation: I will aim to introduce the concepts around the importance of healthcare built environment design to combat antimicrobial resistance and other healthcare acquired infections, water and watewater safety and its impact on safety of occupants in healthcare
International New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Paul Yeomans, Director Medical Architecture, UK
Paul is a highly skilled and experienced healthcare designer with over 19 years’ specialised experience. He brings an approach to design that values improved clinical outcomes and enhances the human experience of treatment and care. In 2022, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. He has led the design of multiple award-winning buildings, receiving awards from RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, Design in Mental Health and European Healthcare Design. He is leading the design of significant hospitals in the UK, Oman, Moldova and Canada. In 2024 Medical Architecture was awarded Architectural Practice of the Year at the IHEEM Healthcare Estates Awards.
Presentation: Ferndene Children and Young People’s Centre. From dormitories to dignity – improvements in mental health design 20 years ago, in 2006 the UK’s mental health hospital estate was in poor shape. A significant number of services were still being run from Victorian asylum and post war buildings, too many patients were sharing dormitory style bedrooms and funding was always a fraction of the money given to acute health. In 2006, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust was formed. One of the largest mental health Trusts in the UK. Presentation: Case studies and learning from developing hospitals abroad Taking examples from working in Moldova, Oman and Turkey where healthcare systems are less mature than Developed Economies. The focus will be on: • Capacity and decision making of the client organisation • Health planning and brief development • Funding methodologies • Guidance and standards • Opportunities and constraints Case study examples include: • Cahul Regional Hospital, Moldova • National Women and Children’s Hospital, Oman • Bakirkӧy Psychiatric Hospital, Turkey.
Q&A
12.00 - 14.00 Session 2
Moderator:
Romanian New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Hildegard Brandl, co-founder of UNITH2B
Project - Name: Bacău Municipal Pavilion – Integration into the Medical Campus of Bacău County Emergency Hospital. The project is under construction, including SP / Masterplan. "Completing the Bacău Municipal Pavilion" aims to transform an existing structure into a modern medical hub, strategically integrated into the Emergency County Hospital complex. The project proposes an "architecture of healing," where the S+G+5F volume is organized around a generous interior courtyard (15x21m), serving as a vital core for natural light and ventilation. The central objective is to achieve the highest standards of care by optimizing clinical flows and ensuring patient comfort, while implementing sustainable energy efficiency solutions for reduced consumption. Project Team: arch. Hildegard Brandl, arch. Anca Brandiburg, arch. Alexandra Al Aloul, arch. Bianca Salceanu, arch. Maria Hincu
Diana Mateescu/ Matei Sandulescu, architects – CONCRETE & DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Project: Centrul de excelență din cadrul Institutului Oncologic „Prof. Dr. Alexandru Trestioreanu”, București. The project is under construction, including SP / Masterplan. It is a medical infrastructure project dedicated to advanced oncological treatment and clinical research. The complex integrates a proton therapy center, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine facilities, an operating block, intensive care and oncology wards, and research laboratories. Functionally connected to the existing hospital, the center creates an integrated system in which diagnosis, surgical interventions, oncological therapies, and research are carried out in a coordinated manner. The center provides patients in Romania with access to cutting-edge medical technologies that are currently available in only a few centers worldwide.
Technology presentations
Q&A
Expert: Alex Senciuc, Associate Director Archus, UK
Archus are healthcare infrastructure specialists providing strategic and technical consultancy services across the full lifecycle of healthcare planning, development, specification, and delivery. Since our establishment in 2017, we have delivered more than 1,000 projects valued at over £15bn across the UK and internationally. Our team of 80+ experts work at every level of the health system, supporting national governments, shaping technical policy, developing system‑wide strategies, and implementing complex capital programmes. We have authored World Bank IFC standards, UK Government guidance, contributed to the NHS national hospital programmes, and advised on global digital‑health and innovation frameworks. Lead author of UK Government standards and guidance for healthcare: Healthcare Building Notes, Healthcare Technical Memoranda Lead author of World Bank International Finance Corporation technical guidance and standards for PPP (Public Private Partnerships) projects.
Presentation: Healthcare standards and PPP investment guidance: from local excellence to national economies of scale
International New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Moritz Spellenberg, Director Llewlyn Davies, UK, GREECE
Presentation: The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Global Health Initiative as a blueprint for a new form of Private Public Partnership in Greece
Llewelyn Davies is one of the world's leading healthcare architects, designers and masterplanners. Since 1960 we have designed over 300 hospitals in more then 90 countries. Today we are globally recognized for our innovative design approach, leading to collaborations with world-renowned architects such as Renzo Piano and Gensler.More recently he is leading healthcare teams for the continued collaboration with RPBW for a world-leading hospital in Sharjah, UAE as well as being lead Healthcare Architect for a 300,000m2 hospital in Muscat, Oman. Moritz is also currently leading a technical advisory team for the Theagenio Cancer Hospital of Thessaloniki PPP, supporting the Greek Ministry of Health and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Q&A
14.45 - 16.25 Session 3
Moderator:
Romanian New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Technology presentations
Q&A
Expert: Rachelle McDade, Director of Healthcare Advisory, Currie & Brown, UK
International New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Benedict Zucchi, Principal, Head of Architecture BDP, UK
Recent healthcare projects include the National Children's Hospital in Dublin, the new Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide and Cosenza Regional Hospital in Italy. Benedict's work has been recognized through many design awards, including RIBA Best School of the Year for Marlowe Academy, a Stirling Prize shortlisting for Hampden Gurney Primary School, Prime Minister's Best Public Building for the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital and Alder Hey Hospital in the Park, and European Health Design Best Hospital of 2024 for the Regional Trauma Centre in Brighton (3Ts).
Presentation: Alder Hey Children’s Health Park in Liverpool, completed in 2015, the new Children’s Cancer Centre at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, currently under construction, and the National Children’s Hospital in Dublin, due to open in 2026. Humanising the experience of hospitals requires a paradigm shift from the hospital conceived above all as a functional machine to the hospital conceived as an urban neighbourhood, familiar. welcoming, permeable and diverse. Thinking of hospitals in urban terms not only transforms the way they are experienced once complete but also makes the process of designing them more accessible and engaging for non-experts. In my recent book, ‘Big House Little City - architectural design through an urban lens’, I trace this conceptual approach back to Leon Battista Alberti, the Renaissance architect, who saw a reciprocity in cohesive communities between the form of houses and the form of the wider city as a collective house. I bring his message up to date with examples of health projects where an urban approach to the design of the hospitals underpins striking new identities as well as effective processes of co-creation. Project Team: BDP: Architects, Masterplanners, Landscape Architects, ARUP: Environmental Engineers, OCSC: Civil and Structural Engineers, Linesight: Cost Advisors
Q&A
16.50 - 18.15 Session 4: Cross-Sector Design: Synergies Between Healthcare and Education
Official welcome address
Oana Gavriliu, founder of HealthScapes Studio, UK
Large hospital projects rarely succeed in isolation. Whether redeveloping an existing medical campus or creating a new one, long-term success depends on a clear strategic and spatial framework that extends beyond any single building. This presentation explores the role of strategic and master planning in shaping resilient healthcare campuses, drawing on case studies from the UK, Australia and the Middle East. It examines how a well-structured master plan sets success parameters for immediate phases while establishing a coherent framework for future development.
Presentation: Designing the Long Game: Strategic Planning in Healthcare Campus Development
Dominic Hook, Architect Director BDP; UK
He is an Architect Director in BDP’s London studio. His work focuses on public healthcare projects, and he particularly thrives on the challenge of working on large projects with complex sites and briefs. He was the design team leader on the multi award-winning 60,000m2 Alder Hey Children’s Health Park in Liverpool completed in 2015 and is the co-design lead on the 165,000m2 National Children’s Hospital, Ireland. The project, due for completion in 2026, is the largest, most complex and significant capital investment project ever undertaken in healthcare in Ireland. Dominic was also the project director of the new Oak Cancer Centre for the Royal Marsden Hospital in south London. Other current projects include a new Cancer Centre for the Royal Free in London and the comprehensive redevelopment of Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire which is part of the UK Government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP).
Presentation: The new Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton; The New Children’s Hospital Dublin
Keynote: Sunand Prasad, Principal at Perkins Will, UK
Principal of Perkins&Will and co-founder of multi award winning architects Penoyre & Prasad with a four decades of experience in architecture for healthcare and campaigning for the regenerative design at at many levels from practice and institutions to government. President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2007-09), recent Chair of UK Green Building Council amongst other public positions.
Sunand Prasad OBE is a prominent British architect, Principal at global architecture firm Perkins&Will, and co-founder of the award-winning practice Penoyre & Prasad. As RIBA President (2007–2009), he campaigned for sustainable design and was named a top environmentalist. He specializes in healthcare/urban design and is a recognized leader in retrofitting for sustainability. He served as a London Mayor’s Design Advocate, Chair of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) Board of Trustees, and member of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission. Appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to architecture.
Presentation: Architecture for Healthcare: Building on the Past, Anticipating the Future
Conversation
BLUEPRINTS GALA EVENING
9.30 - 11.35 Session 5: Workshops
Workshop 1
Facilitators: Dominic Hook, Architect Director BDP; Benedict Zucchi, Principal, Head of Architecture BDP
Workshop 2
Facilitators: Alex Senciuc, Associate Director Archus; Paul Yeomans, Director Medical Architecture
Workshop 3
Facilitators: Rachelle McDade, Director of Healthcare Advisory, Currie & Brown; Dr Manjula Meda, Frimley health NS Foundation Trust, Healthcare Infection Society; Joost Hopman, Chair of department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control, University Medical Center Groningen
Workshop 4
Facilitators: Sunand Prasad, Principal at Perkins Will; Moritz Spellenberg, Director Llewlyn Davies
12.00 - 13.40 Session 6: Conclusion and Debate - Round Table
Closing Conference