We’ll go through the basics of a beautiful MedicRooms in another post. Let me tell you about how I hired a designer for a recent project we did for MedicRooms, as most of you will have a similar experience fitting out your own rooms.

The client's brief was to establish a floor of an existing building as a specialist / drop-in clinic.

Visiting this beautiful late 1980s / early 90s building, I was struck by the staircase (yes, another internal staircase), connecting the floor of offices to the meeting rooms above. Wrought iron, gilded in gold leaf it was such a dominant feature and spoke to the quirky beauty of the office space.

Further the windows of the main waiting room were huge - stretching two floors, meaning lots of light and that the building (outside) was most definitely part of the experience (inside). I think as health professionals we've all experienced internal healthcare environments that are wholly disconnected from the outside experience of the world. It doesn't feel great, much like the absence of light or the relentless stimulation of a lit space - be it a plane or a casino.

Combined with the parquetry floors and the brown-black colours, it was clear that this place was going to need someone with a clear aesthete and understanding of earthy, home creature comforts and the ability to make brown sing (not an easy task).

I checked out a number of design and DIY sites - including PABS and other furniture hire companies.

Finally I found a site called houzz.com and could search down to the suburb and style I was looking for. I was fortunate to find Edwina Harris and Designs, a company based in Caulfield North - literally right up the road!

From Houzz.com I could see the photos of her past work and loved the placement of the furniture - it was where I would put things too in a room to make it functional yet attractive. Her work would naturally fit into the style of the house.

I called her up and was able to explain the project in one or two sentences.

I then told her the style of the design I was going for and how it fits into the building.

She got it. She sounded pleasant and professional over the phone, and when I met her, she was on time and able to observe items that were important and complementary to the design.

In summary, there will always be creative tension and how you handle this is going to make it break the place. Setting up a clinical rooms is stressful enough - work with people who are easy to work with and at the standard you work at, so they help contribute to the work, rather than make you do the heavy lifting. The project is better for it and, this is their area of expertise - you are the project manager and vision keeper.

Have an understanding of the building and the style. Your profession will have its own internal standards, usually determined by your clientele (eg dentistry for paeds Vs cosmetic dentistry), the cost and nature of your work (eg rehab Vs cosmetic) and your clientele’s expectation of their service level. You should be able to describe each of these categories and a good developer and designer will ask you about them.

Gather some pictures of places you'd like your rooms to look like. To make this easy for you, we've put together a Pinterest site and Instagram feed of different clinical rooms from around the world or take a look at our MedicRooms Awards page for examples of great, award level rooms.

Ideally have someone on the project team that is health-minded, or hire a project manager with clinical rooms experience. They don't necessarily have to be a practitioner (though this is ideal), but they should be empathetic to the patient experience. This understanding can better determine everything from desk height, chair selection, room positioning,and waiting room furniture. More importantly, it can save you a whole raft of minor decisions that the team would otherwise wait and pause to look to you for guidance (ie expensive non-work time) whilst you finish up your actual clinical work.

Start gathering a list of furniture you require per room. A good designer will help you pull this together - a great one will have sources in the industry to get it at the off-book price, and know the wearability and the experience of using that furniture at industrial levels. This will pay off in the long run as issues of wear and tear can really hit a balance sheet into the coming years.

Write out the key must-haves for your space and put it into the first two sentences of your project pitch. This “vision statement” is the one that remains and resonates with your team and will be the way they can check they are doing the right thing when they have to make decisions in your absence.

Choosing a Designer

Do they reply promptly and turn up on time?

Do they take responsibility?

Do you find yourself agreeing or nodding as they speak? Is there good and positive language that indicates a repoire? Or do you find yourself tensing up as you speak to them?

Do their suggestions indicate they understand your vision?

Can they provide references and a look-book (visual summary of their work) of rooms that are similar to the one you want to develop?

Do they have a strong aesthetic voice (similar style) or are they haphazard in their styles?

Do they have the standard and quality as you (particularly, furnishings and attention to detail)?