Marek Sebestyen, Design Principal Massa

What do you enjoy most about working in healthcare architecture and design?
Designing spaces for healthcare is incredibly diverse and inspiring, because a single facility can include a variety of settings: from entryway and retail to lobbies, offices, dining areas and patient rooms. I love the challenge of holistically designing environments that provide a consistent and responsive experience.

How is Massa specifically positioned to contribute to positive healthcare experiences?
At Massa, we see design as an opportunity to help people feel more at ease whether they’re seeing a physician for a regular checkup or experiencing a major health crisis. It’s also an opportunity to create highly functional environments for the doctors and staff. The result might include easier ways of navigating between departments or finding the right balance of privacy and utility in patient rooms. No matter what, it?s proven that reducing someone?s anxiety in a hospital setting directly results in a more positive healthcare experience. Creating these positive experiences is at the heart of Massa?s design process.

How does your own background in hospitality and corporate design contribute to the client experience at Massa?
When starting out in industrial and furniture design I became very familiar with the details of the design process. I quickly learned how design affects the end user it serves. Over the following years, as an interior designer, I leveraged this expertise in hospitality and corporate environments. Branded environments are becoming the standard in our industry, whether we’re designing for employees in their offices, patients and doctors in the hospital, or consumers visiting their favorite restaurant. Massa?s clients will greatly benefit from my background and how our designs address key details that keep the end user at center stage.

What are your insights on working with Millennials and designing healthcare facilities for their needs?
You’re talking about a generation that grew up with technology, and the best way to understand them is to work with them. Massa is already a collaborative of several generations, with everyone involved in decision-making. Considering the Millennials’ familiarity and integration with technology, this has a big effect on healthcare, in part because they trust the Internet more than their doctors. These trends affect how patients, guests, and even employees navigate the hospital, making it even more important that we address these kinds of issues through smart, effective healthcare design. Just one of the many examples we address daily.