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Healthcare Architecture As Seen Through Ian Ritchie’s Eyes
Hussain Varawalla
 Ian
Ritchie was born in Hove on the south coast of England. He studied architecture
at the Polytechnic of Central London where he graduated with distinction in
1972. He worked with a number of prominent architects, and in 1981 he formed
Ian Ritchie Architects and co-founded the special design engineering firm of
Rice Francis Ritchie (RFR) in Paris. Peter Rice is an engineer, and Martin Francis
is an industrial designer and naval architect.
Ian Ritchie’s attitude towards the size and organisation
of his design office sounds very simple. He claims this is ‘about the number
of people who can basically communicate well together’. The number five
figures strongly in his calculations. He feels groups of up to five work well
on a design. To cut short the story, the result is a staff of 20 to 25 people
who, as Ian says ‘can actually all discuss around a table, especially when
someone has a birthday’.
Heading the architectural design section of a healthcare consulting firm as
I am, I too feel that smaller groups of people work better and with more intensity.
Alienated as I am, there is actually only one person in the firm with whom I
can communicate well (or rather excellently). S(he) is not even an architect,
not the big boss and not even one of my fellow directors. Odd, to put it mildly.
Eccentricity is flaunted by many designers, and not only in their designs. My
designs are anything but eccentric, models of rationality, rather. It’s
more the clothes I wear and the company I keep. Anyway, peace.
Robbie Williams sings in his song Better Man:“…and
I’m doin’…the best I can…to be a better man.”
No surprises there. I too am trying to improve the quality of my wardrobe. I
bought four long sleeved shirts recently, one of which can be best described
as ‘funky cool’, but what the hell, three out of four ain’t bad.
Why are we singing along with Robbie and discussing my laundry? This article
is supposed to be about healthcare architecture seen through Ian Ritchie’s
eyes. Let’s pay that some lip service, at least.
For Ian, the design process begins with an attempt to construct
a working relationship with the client. Before even discussing architecture,
he tries to lead his client into his process. He says:“It is very rare
for a client to commission a building more than once in his life, except in
the commercial sector. There is nobody who ever trains a single client on how
to commission or deal with an architect. The first move is to talk through the
brief, understand what has led to it, understand fundamentally what it is about.”
For me, the design process begins with trying to find the time to design the
damn thing. My clients are usually financiers and/or doctors wanting to build
corporate hospitals, and the brief is easy to understand. Fundamentally, it
is about making money through providing healthcare services. Jokes apart, that
is more easily said than done. Financial planning has to precede any ideas about
buildings. When I look at rows of figures they seem to be dancing to some kind
of presumably divine music, so obviously I am only marginally involved in doing
this financial planning. Fortunately for our clients, there are good people
in the firm who do this very well.
Technology is an important factor in the financial planning
and the architectural design of healthcare facilities. Ritchie, however, does
not feel that technology is a design generator for him. He has clearly been
asked about this before and describes his relationship with technology thus:“When
people ask me this question I use an analogy. I describe this beautiful parrot
sitting on my shoulder – multicolored, very beautiful – called ‘technology’.
Very often he leaps off the shoulder onto the paper and shits all over it before
we’ve actually stared thinking and you have to get hold of him and stick
him back up there. He is tame, he does behave himself and he doesn’t always
end up in the project at all, but he’s there and we talk to him all the
time.”
All I can say is it’s a good thing he jumps onto the paper to do his thing,
otherwise we would be discussing Ian Ritchie’s laundry along with mine,
and his would not be ‘funky/cool’.
What does healthcare architecture have to do with beautiful parrots doing what
they do? I’ll try to tell you. Technology can indeed do what the parrot
with the same name does to your best laid plans for your healthcare facility,
unless tamed. CT Scans are to be thought of as machines that help diagnose illnesses
in much the same way your GP takes your pulse, and not as ravenous monsters
that demand to be fed with warm bodies.
The architecture, the interior design and the people the patient meets on his
way to this monster need to be as reassuring and generate the same warmth and
concern as the pulse-taking GP. Ian is right about that, and very well put too,
he has a way with words, some people do. It’s an acquired gift.
Ian has a parrot on the other shoulder too:“There’s
a little one on the other shoulder called ‘art’ or ‘poetry’,
he’s very powerful squeaks a lot but he’s not got the nerve of this
one yet and that’s because we are still maturing into that field. It’s
only been a few years since we’ve been working hard at it, so it doesn’t
feel comfortable yet.”
That parrot’s also called ‘funky/cool’ and
whenever I wear one of the funky/cool selections available
in my wardrobe s/he sits on my shoulder too. Doesn’t
shit on the paper or create laundry. S/he’s a parrot
that is chilled out and we need Robbie’s help again
in describing how s/he makes me feel:
“…so high you’ll be
flyyy..yyy…ing!” (From his song titled She’s
the One).
For Ian Ritchie, it is the technology or function of the building which brings
order to the art or poetry. For me it is music that brings order to my life.
Living an orderly life then enables me to bring to bring technology, art, function
(poetry?...working hard at it…) and above all order to my healthcare facility.
In conclusion, if you’re trying to design a healthcare facility (or, for
that matter, any kind of building) attempt to keep bird-shit off your paper.
Keep both parrots on your shoulder, where they belong.
And, you know, if either of them has just gotta go, it’s only laundry,
after all.
The author is Director-Design Services at Homac India Pvt.Ltd.,
Mumbai. Email:hussain.varawalla@hosmac.com
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