Marc Schweitzer

Marc Schweitzer has always been passionate about the architectural and interior design of healing spaces. While working on his Masters of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, Marc studied with the renowned professor, Roslyn Lindheim.
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Following her death, shortly after the first unit opened, Marc volunteered to carry on her work, designing Planetree's four additional model sites, including San Jose Hospital, Mid-Columbia, Delano Regional and Beth Israel Medical Centers.

Through his work he developed, defined and expanded the Planetree design principles, translating them into a variety of settings, including emergency departments and critical care areas. He worked with Candace Ford to design the second Planetree Health Library in a restored Victorian house in San Jose. His work can also be seen at Bergan Mercy of Alegent Health and at Highline Medical Center. Marc has also served as a Planetree consultant for many additional sites, including Longmont and Fauquier, inspiring and educating other architects and design teams in Planetree's principles.

In the tradition of Roz Lindheim, Marc often stayed overnight on the hospital units he designed to more fully appreciate the patient's perspective. Marc has always believed that hospitals are emotional spaces and need to provide places to both celebrate and grieve.

Marc is a senior architect with The Design Partnership, specializing in staff participation and consensus building, as well as the human interface with design. He remains at the forefront of standards of evidence-based design and current research.

In addition to his outstanding work in healthcare, Marc is accomplished in the area of historic restoration. He served as a director for the non-profit Foundation for San Francisco's Architectural Heritage and has won numerous awards for his work. He also brings his expertise in healing environments into workplace settings and has designed Charles Schwab Headquarters in Denver, San Jose International Airport Corporate Offices and the Chancery Offices of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.

He has published many articles, including co-authoring the white-paper, "Healing Spaces: Elements of Environmental Design that Impact Health," published as a supplement to the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in October, 2004. He is an international speaker on Planetree design. Marc brings passion and compassion to his work, as well as wisdom and dedication.

Marc SchweitzerArchitect

By: Marc Schweitzer, M.Arch., Laura Gilpin, M.F.A., R.N., and Susan Frampton, Ph.D.

"The early Planetree model was based more on social science research," notes Marc Schweitzer, senior architect, The Design Partnership, San Francisco. "It was about the connectiveness and social interactions that people need to stay well and then giving them a place where they can interact well and lower stress."

Schweitzer worked on most of the five original Planetree test sites. The sites incorporated the same design principles that continue to guide affiliates today. "We would reverse the nurse station, make it more open and inviting, so it was more of an encompassing, embracing space with cafe tables or dining tables where patients could sit down with staff and go over their charts," says Schweitzer. "That nurse station would typically be placed somewhere at the heart of the unit to create a center. Adjacent to that would be a lounge where patients and families could hang out. A library would either be part of the lounge or a separate room, and the intention there was to create an educational-social focus to the unit. So, rather than just being a place where nurses worked it became a center where people could congregate, information could be exchanged and there could be general interactions.

"It's always been important to have a residential-type kitchen on the unit that was open to patients and family so they could bring in food from the outside and prepare it," adds Schweitzer. "We tried to create nooks and crannies where all wheelchairs, utilities, and other rolling stock could be kept out of the hallway. There was a de-emphasis of linear corridors, trying to create places with seating or highlighting and artwork. So, instead of just [an institutional] passageway to walk through there were places where patients could rest while encouraging their mobility out of the room.

"Part of the interior design was to introduce elements or materials that were more friendly at the time, such as hand rails that were custom-milled, so that you would get a sense that somebody cared about the environment," adds Schweitzer.

BY LAURA GILPIN, MFA, RN, AND MARC SCHWEITZER, MARCH, NCARB
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Marc Schweitzer, MArch, NCARB, a senior architect with The Design Partnership in San Francisco, studied with Roslyn Lindheim, Planetree's founding architect, at the University of California at Berkeley.

- Marc Schweitzer, Senior Architect, The Design Partnership

"The early Planetree model was based more on social science research," notes Marc Schweitzer, senior architect, The Design Partnership, San Francisco."It was about the connectiveness and social interactions that people need to stay well and then giving them a place where they can interact well and lower stress."

Schweitzer worked on most of the five original Planetree test sites.The sites incorporated the same design principles that continue to guide affiliates today."We would reverse the nurse station, make it more open and inviting, so it was more of an encompassing, embracing space with cafe tables or dining tables where patients could sit down with staff and go over their charts," says Schweitzer."That nurse station would typically be placed somewhere at the heart of the unit to create a center.Adjacent to that would be a lounge where patients and families could hang out.A library would either be part of the lounge or a separate room, and the intention there was to create an educational-social focus to the unit.So, rather than just being a place where nurses worked it became a center where people could congregate, information could be exchanged and there could be general interactions.

"It's always been important to have a residential-type kitchen on the unit that was open to patients and family so they could bring in food from the outside and prepare it," adds Schweitzer."We tried to create nooks and crannies where all wheelchairs, utilities, and other rolling stock could be kept out of the hallway.There was a de-emphasis of linear corridors, trying to create places with seating or highlighting and artwork.So, instead of just [an institutional] passageway to walk through there were places where patients could rest while encouraging their mobility out of the room.

"Part of the interior design was to introduce elements or materials that were more friendly at the time, such as hand rails that were custom-milled, so that you would get a sense that somebody cared about the environment," adds Schweitzer.

Marc Schweitzer

Marc Schweitzer has always been passionate about the architectural and interior design of healing spaces. While working on his Masters of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, Marc studied with the renowned professor, Roslyn Lindheim.
...
Following her death, shortly after the first unit opened, Marc volunteered to carry on her work, designing Planetree's four additional model sites, including San Jose Hospital, Mid-Columbia, Delano Regional and Beth Israel Medical Centers.

Through his work he developed, defined and expanded the Planetree design principles, translating them into a variety of settings, including emergency departments and critical care areas. He worked with Candace Ford to design the second Planetree Health Library in a restored Victorian house in San Jose. His work can also be seen at Bergan Mercy of Alegent Health and at Highline Medical Center. Marc has also served as a Planetree consultant for many additional sites, including Longmont and Fauquier, inspiring and educating other architects and design teams in Planetree's principles.

In the tradition of Roz Lindheim, Marc often stayed overnight on the hospital units he designed to more fully appreciate the patient's perspective. Marc has always believed that hospitals are emotional spaces and need to provide places to both celebrate and grieve.

Marc is a senior architect with The Design Partnership, specializing in staff participation and consensus building, as well as the human interface with design. He remains at the forefront of standards of evidence-based design and current research.

In addition to his outstanding work in healthcare, Marc is accomplished in the area of historic restoration. He served as a director for the non-profit Foundation for San Francisco's Architectural Heritage and has won numerous awards for his work. He also brings his expertise in healing environments into workplace settings and has designed Charles Schwab Headquarters in Denver, San Jose International Airport Corporate Offices and the Chancery Offices of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.

He has published many articles, including co-authoring the white-paper, "Healing Spaces: Elements of Environmental Design that Impact Health," published as a supplement to the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in October, 2004. He is an international speaker on Planetree design. Marc brings passion and compassion to his work, as well as wisdom and dedication.