09.30 - 09.35 OFFICIAL OPENING SESSION
Curator: Oana Gavriliu, founder of HealthScapes Studio, UK;
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.
09.35 - 11.35 Session 1, powered by DACORUM
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
Technology presentation ALUPROF
Sabina Gustof, Business Development Manager Aluprof
Presentation: Blueprints of better care: Lessons from advanced aluminium applications in healthcare architecture
Case Study: Haukeland Proton Center, University Hospital in Bergen
The presentation explores how the right design choices—and especially the right materials—are essential to unlocking full functional performance in healthcare architecture. Aluminium is an excellent choice for medical facilities because it combines durability, safety, hygiene, acoustic insulation, and thermal efficiency. One of the most interesting projects completed with the use of Aluprof systems is the Haukeland Proton Center in Bergen.
Cristina Olga Gociman, Manager and Chief Architect, Criba Proiect
Project: Fundeni Clinical Institute – relocation, development, and construction of a medical complex
The Fundeni Clinical Institute is one of Romania’s leading medical centers and the only one performing liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplants. It forms the core of the “Fundeni Medical Platform,” a major medical hub developed through successive expansions. Due to limited land and the need for integration between existing and future departments, a new complex is planned in front of the main building. Its design, comprising specialty clinics, administrative and educational spaces, is inspired by “healing hands” and the idea of therapeutic environments that support patient recovery and staff wellbeing. Project Team: Cristina Olga Gociman, Alfred Toader, Cristian Iosif Moscu, Andrei Grămoiu, Alina Micloș, Anna Abronov
Technology presentation KADRA
Andreea Strugaru, Marketing Manager & Co-owner KADRA
Presentation Title: When Design Meets Reality: Hospital Access as Critical Infrastructure
Why access solutions in healthcare must be designed as a system — not selected as a product.
Medical Access Solutions: Automated, Hermetic and Integrated Door Systems for Healthcare
Hildegard Brandl, co-founder of UNITH2B
Project: Bacău Municipal Pavilion – Integration into the Medical Campus of Bacău County Emergency Hospital.
"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. Project Team: arch. Hildegard Brandl, arch. Anca Brandiburg, arch. Alexandra Al Aloul, arch. Bianca Salceanu, arch. Maria Hincu
Technology presentation DACORUM
dr. Laszlo Sztankovszky, Sales Director
International New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Alex Senciuc, Associate Director, Archus, UK
Project: Western Memorial Regional Hospital. Corner Brook, Canada. Project Speciality: Acute Hospital
Tackling healthcare planning challenges for Corner Brook's new 164-bed Acute Care Hospital to create a modern healthcare hub, fit for a dispersed community. Archus performed the Bridging documents and the clinical brief as part of the procurement package. The hospital was opened in 2024. Project Team: EY IBI Plenary -Developer PCL Constructors Canada Inc./Marco Services Limited - Contractor B+H Architects/Parkin Architects Limited - Architect WSP - Structural and landscape
Project: Cape Verde National Hospital. Praia, Cape Verde. Tertiary Care Hospital
As part of a national strategy to reduce patient evacuations abroad for specialist surgery and treatment, the 108 bed Cape Verde National Hospital aims to provide new tertiary oncology and cardiology services locally. The project is delivered through PPP procurement involving infrastructure as well as clinical services. Project Team: Price Waterhouse Cooper - Lead and Financial Advisor; PLMJ - Legal Expertise PdR Infra Advisory; Procurement Advisor Archus - Lead Technical Advisor; Murphy Phillips Architects - Architect WT Partnership
Rachelle McDade, Director of Healthcare Advisory, Currie & Brown, UK
Topic: The Importance of Early Briefing
This presentation will explore the importance of early briefing in shaping successful healthcare projects. It will highlight the value of early engagement, whole-system transformation, and strong client-side healthcare advisory input in delivering effective new models of care. It will also examine how early briefing can support digital transformation, improve project outcomes, and help avoid common mistakes in complex healthcare developments. The presentation will be illustrated with case studies from the UK National Hospital Programme, the HSE hospital programme in Ireland, and recent healthcare projects in Saudi Arabia.
Dominic Hook, Architect Director BDP; UK
Project: The Oak Cancer Centre for the Royal Marden Hospital
The Oak Cancer Centre is a new clinical care and research centre for the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust’s Sutton campus in South London. The Royal Marsden Hospital opened in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to cancer diagnosis, treatment, research, and education. The Oak Cancer Centre will enable clinicians to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage and will help accelerate the development of new cancer treatments, offering hope for cancer patients worldwide. The new building for the world-renowned specialist cancer hospital is located adjacent to the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), The Royal Marsden’s principal academic partner. Team: BDP- Architects, Landscape Architects, Interior Designers, Acousticians Campbell Reith- Civil & Structural Engineers Desco- Mechanical, Electrical, Public Health consultants
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12.00 - 13.55 Session 2, powered by KAPAMED
Romanian New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Gabriel George Dumitrache, arhitect-șef – INNOVA
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 presentation PROVENTUSS
Diana Mateescu, architect – 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 presentation ABB
Ciprian Pop, Panel Builder Channel Manager ABB
Presentation Title: Busch-Infoline® by Busch Jaeger (ABB)
Get Help when Needed
Busch-Infoline® by Busch-Jaeger (ABB) is a specialized alarm and signaling system, primarily used as a disabled toilet emergency call system and for monitoring water leakages. It includes components like pull-cord switches, LED status lights, and buzzers to provide audible and visual alerts for assistance or fault detection.
Cătălin Robert Podaru, Founder & CEO Leviatan Group
Project: Hospital of Pneumophthisiology and Infectious Diseases Brașov
The project involves the construction of a modern hospital complex designed to NZEB+ energy standards, comprising four interconnected buildings with height regimes ranging from S+P+1E to S+P+4E.
The facility will centralize services for Infectious Diseases, Pneumology, Phthisiology, and Thoracic Surgery, providing a total capacity of 279 beds for continuous hospitalization, 22 beds for day hospitalization, and a 15-bed Intensive Care Unit (ATI). Key facilities include an operating block, an integrated outpatient unit, high-security isolation wards, and an imaging center,. The design prioritizes epidemiological safety through separated circulation flows and incorporates renewable energy sources like photovoltaic panels and heat pumps.
Technology presentation KAPAMED
Elodie Galy, Partner Manager, ZIPPSAFE KAPAMED INTERNATIONAL SRL
Presentation Title: Zippsafe - The locker room for employees
With our innovative locker solution, we save up to 70% of space while being loved by employees. Let's revolutionize your locker room together.
International New Hospitals Architecture – Case Studies
Joost Hopman, Chair of Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands
Topics: Water-free and water-safe patientcare. Infection prevention and control/patient safety
Bio: Professor Joost Hopman, MD, PhD, DTM&H, is Medical Director and Consultant Microbiologist at Radboud University Medical Center, the Netherlands, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. An internationally recognised expert in infection prevention and control, he has advised organisations including WHO and Médecins Sans Frontières, and played a key role in major global health responses, from the Ebola outbreak to the COVID-19 pandemic. His work focuses on healthcare-associated infection prevention, patient safety, and the impact of the built environment on healthcare delivery. He is also the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and a contributor to international guidelines in the field.
Dr Manjula Meda, Chair, Visiting Clinical Senior Lecturer, Healthcare Infection Society, University of Surrey, UK
Topic: 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
Bio: Dr Manjula Meda 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.
Paul Yeomans, Director Medical Architecture, UK
Presentation:
Developing mental health hospital infrastructure is presented through the example of projects delivered for the same client over more than 20 years. In 2006, the UK’s mental health hospital estate was in poor condition. A significant number of services were still operating from Victorian asylum and post-war buildings, too many patients were accommodated in dormitory-style bedrooms, and funding remained only a fraction of that allocated to acute healthcare.
Projects: Hopewood Park Hospital, Ferndene Children and Young People’s Centre, Sycamore at Northgate Park Hospital
Bio: 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.
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14.40 - 17.10 Session 3, powered by ZUMTOBEL
Oana Gavriliu, founder of HealthScapes Studio, UK
Presentation Title: From Vision to Reality: Delivering Large-Scale Hospital Projects
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 masterplan sets success parameters for immediate phases while establishing a coherent framework for future development.
Beyond phasing and capacity planning, strategic thinking ensures that each project is positioned within a wider context — spatially, operationally and over time. It enables campuses to evolve, adapt and regenerate, while creating environments that support patients, staff and the surrounding community. The session reflects on how strong strategic foundations maximise long-term value, protect design quality and ensure that healthcare developments remain flexible, connected and future-ready.
Technology presentation ZUMTOBEL
Roxana Mitarca, Creative Lighting Designer
Presentation Title: Lighting solutions for care homes/ Solutii de iluminat aplicabile in centre de ingrijire pentru senior
Tecton II, Slotlight Lynx, Ondaria, Slotlight, Sconfine, Panos III, Crossign, Emergency Lighting
We are a part of Zumtobel Group, which aims to create wellbeing and improve people’s quality of life through light. As a leading supplier of innovative lighting solutions, the Group offers its customers around the world a comprehensive portfolio, where the focus is invariably on people and their needs.
Moritz Spellenberg, Director Llewlyn Davies, UK
Project: Stavros Niarchos Foundation Global Health Initiative. Komotini, Sparta, Thessaloniki (Greece)
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s $1 billion-plus Global Health Initiative (GHI) seeks to strengthen physical and mental health by improving the quality of care for all, expanding access, and empowering providers on the front lines. The initiative is founded on collaboration: an ,extensive public-private partnership in Greece and collaboration with international research institutions. Project Team: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Llewelyn Davies, Betaplan, LDK Tetras, Buro MIlan, Penellis, Helli Pangalou, Hill International
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.
Benedict Zucchi, Principal, Head of Architecture BDP, UK
Project: Alder Hey Children’s Health Park in Liverpool; The new Children’s Cancer Centre at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London; National Children’s Hospital in Dublin
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. Project Team: BDP: Architects, Masterplanners, Landscape Architects, ARUP: Environmental Engineers, OCSC: Civil and Structural Engineers, Linesight: Cost Advisors
Sunand Prasad, Principal of Perkins&Will, UK
Presentation title: Architecture for Healthcare: Building on the Past, Anticipating the Future
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
ASK AN EXPERT SESSION with Representatives from Public Administration and the Public Sector
Special Guest
Raed Arafat
State Secretary – Head of the Department for Emergency Situations
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Guests
Valentin-Florin Ciocan
President
National Authority for Quality Management in Health
Prof. Univ. Dr. Daniel Timofte
Manager
“Sf. Spiridon” County Clinical Emergency Hospital, Iași
Cosmin Bezede
Manager
Colțea Clinical Hospital
Dr. Andrian Țîbîrnă
Manager
“Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia” Clinical Psychiatry Hospital
09.00 - 09.15 Welcome coffee
09.15 - 10.10 Round Table
Healing places or machines for treatment – how attitudes to standardisation and procurement affect hospital design
Panelists:
Ioana Daescu, Operations Manager & Lead Architect at Quadratum Architecture
Romanian Case Study: New burn unit at “Grigore Alexandrecu” children’s Hospital
The project involves the development of a new specialized medical facility dedicated to the treatment of severe burn patients within the Grigore Alexandrescu Emergency Hospital for Children. Financed by the World Bank, the intervention integrates a state-of-the-art burn center into an active hospital campus, ensuring continuity of medical services throughout construction.
Technology presentation ABB
Ciprian Pop, Panel Builder Channel Manager ABB
Panelists:
Dominic Hook, Architect Director BDP
Benedict Zucchi, Head of Architecture BDP
Moderator:
Oana Gavriliu, founder of HealthScapes Studio, UK
Roundtable description
Perhaps more than any other twentieth-century building type, hospitals were heralded as exemplars of the modernist ideal of functional design. Practical, measurable challenges of hygiene, ventilation, circulation, and buildability lent themselves to rational standardised solutions: machines for treatment, which would be fitting architectural counterparts to the fast-evolving machines for diagnosis and treatment that they now contained. The emphasis on, and architectural celebration of, technological progress expressed itself most obviously in a preoccupation with flexibility, both in the modular planning of hospitals and their realisation through modern methods of construction. This often came, however, at the price of qualitative considerations that had been intrinsic to the evolution of hospitals since antiquity when they were first cast as cities of health.
Today, the debate continues. Should hospitals reflect the specific characteristics of their context or be designed as standardised solutions geared primarily to ease of construction and future flexibility? Or is there a way of achieving both objectives?
In the UK, the government agency tasked with procuring the next generation of projects under the New Hospital Programme has prioritised standardisation, developing a universal whole-hospital template known as Hospital 2.0, intended to achieve a ‘minimum viable product’ as quickly and cheaply as possible. But how well does this cater to the patient and staff experience? And is it the only way of procuring hospitals efficiently and cost-effectively?
Forty years after Roger Ulrich first provided scientific evidence that the physical quality of the therapeutic environment has a measurable impact on patient well-being and recovery times, are we in danger of losing sight of what really matters?
10.10 - 10.55 Round Table
From healthcare standards to concept design: process, lessons, requirements
Panelists:
Tiberiu Vișan, General Manager; Adriana Dimache, BIM Manager; Popp & Asociații Architecture
Applying healthcare standards in complex contexts: hospital extension design using Scan-to-BIM
Case study: extension of Pavilion C at the “Dr. Constantin Papilian” Military Emergency Clinical Hospital in Cluj-Napoca
Panelists:
Paul Yeomans, Director Medical Architecture
Moderator: Alex Senciuc, Associate Director, Archus
Roundtable description
The discussion will open with The Lifecycle of Healthcare Standards, led from the perspective of Archus. Building on the themes introduced in the day one lecture, this part will provide an overview of the global map of healthcare standards, with a particular focus on UK standards such as HBNs and HTMs, alongside World Bank guidance. Drawing from Archus’ experience in authoring and applying healthcare standards, the session will examine their full lifecycle: from creation and implementation to learning and updating. It will also address how standards are translated into real projects and conclude with a SWOT analysis of standards, assessing their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
The second part, presented by Medical Architecture, will focus on case studies and lessons from developing hospitals abroad. Through projects in Moldova, Oman, and Turkey, this discussion will highlight the realities of working in healthcare systems that are less mature than those in developed economies. Key topics will include the capacity and decision-making processes of client organisations, health planning and brief development, funding methodologies, guidance and standards, as well as the opportunities and constraints that shape each project. The case studies will include the Cahul and Bălţi Regional Hospitals in Moldova, the National Women and Children’s Hospital in Oman, and Bakırköy Hospital in Turkey.
By bringing together the expertise of Archus in healthcare standards and the international project experience of Medical Architecture, the roundtable will offer both a strategic and practice-based perspective on contemporary healthcare design. It will provide valuable insight into how standards are created and used, and how they can be adapted to different institutional, cultural, and economic environments in the development of hospital architecture.
10.55 - 11.40 Round Table
Developing practical, multidisciplinary solutions to fight AMR
Panelists:
Rachelle McDade, Director of Healthcare Advisory, Currie & Brown;
Dr Manjula Meda, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Healthcare Infection Society;
Joost Hopman, Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control, University Medical Center Groningen
Moderator: Oana Gavriliu, founder of HealthScapes Studio, UK
Roundtable description
One of the great threats facing the world in 2026 is antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which undermines the effectiveness of life-saving treatments and creates heightened risk to patients in healthcare settings, whether from common infections or routine medical interventions. The World Health Organization (WHO) AMR factsheet notes that bacterial AMR alone was estimated to be directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019, and contributed to 4.95 million deaths, and we know viruses, fungi and other pathogens are also developing resistance.
It is increasingly accepted that the hospital environment is a breeding ground for AMR in microbes. While techniques such as handwashing and disinfection are important defences against AMR infection, identifying and fixing flaws in the built environment could prevent AMR pathogens from taking hold at all.
The workshop brings together leaders in infection prevention and control (IPC), clinicians, healthcare planners, architects, engineers, contractors and estates teams to accelerate progress on reducing infection risks in healthcare environments and reducing the threat of AMR.
The interactive workshop builds on the work done over the last year by HIS and BEIPI, summarised in the BEIPI prospectus. Through scenario-based exercises and focused discussions, participants explore how to strengthen cross-sector education, improve communication, and develop practical tools for risk assessment and decision-making.
12.05 - 12.50 Round Table
Delivering Hospital PPP Projects in Romania: Design, Procurement, and Construction Perspectives
Panelists:
Moritz Spellenberg, Director Llewlyn Davies
Sunand Prasad, Principal of Perkins&Will
Moderator: Alex Senciuc, Associate Director, Archus
Roundtable description
How can hospital PPP procurement in Romania enable better collaboration between designers, contractors, and public authorities?
Discussion topics:
• Key design challenges in Romanian hospitals; Lessons from Europe and UK
• Possible funding and support frameworks through multilateral lenders (EBRD, EIB, World Bank)
• Requirements for modern healthcare environments
Integration of:
o infection control; flexible clinical spaces; digital healthcare infrastructure; sustainability and energy performance
• How PPP lifecycle models affect design decisions; Design responsibility under PPP; Early contractor involvement; Interface between clinical planning and infrastructure delivery; Integration of medical equipment and infrastructure; BIM and digital construction tools; Cost escalation and risk management; Design-build vs PPP delivery structures; Collaboration with clinical planners; Improving procurement clarity and bid preparation
Key Takeaways
• Successful hospital PPPs require integrated design and construction teams
• Procurement should enable early collaboration
• Lifecycle models can improve design quality and long-term performance
• Clear technical standards and realistic timelines are essential.
12.55 - 13.20
Conclusions and conference report
Curator Oana Gavriliu, founder of HealthScapes Studio, UK