by Heather Livingston
Contributing Editor

Summary: George Tingwald, a registered surgeon and architect, director of health-care design at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a founder of the American College of Healthcare Architects and trustee of the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation. The father of 12- and 15-year-old children, Tingwald also lectures frequently on health-care design and has a particular interest in the impact of evolving technologies on design in health-care facilities.

Educational background: I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago in biology and art history. I did my thesis on Chicago architecture. I received my medical degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine, and an MArch from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. I conducted my internship and residency in general surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Professional influences: One very influential person was Malcolm Cutting, a longtime friend of my father and the campus architect for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He showed me that I didn’t have to choose one profession or the other; that I could merge them. He was a very important mentor.

On blending medicine and architecture: I’ve always had an interest and aptitude in the arts. When I was in high school, I studied drawing and even toyed with the idea of going to art school. My father was a surgeon and my mother was a nurse, so medicine, too, was always a part of my life. My interest in both areas is lifelong.

When I received my architecture license, I actually practiced both for a few years. It was fascinating working in both professions and was definitely one of the most interesting times of my life. When asked how I was able to find the time to do both, I always tell people that I wasn’t married then, so I had no life. I was working 18 hours a day, but I only did that a couple of years. You can’t keep that up.

Hobbies: I have a very strong interest in painting and drawing. I was a college gymnast almost 30 years ago. I did that for a long time, but believe me, you can’t be a gymnast after 35! Now I do yoga on a regular basis—nearly every day.

Favorite place to be: Home.

Most rewarding project: That’s like asking me which is my favorite child. The rewards are vastly different with different projects. I work on a lot of campus and hospital master plans, including some international work in developing countries. The reward in those types of projects is seeing the vast influence and impact that modern health care brings to the whole population. That’s incredibly rewarding from the standpoint of impact.

The greatest challenge in health-care design: I think that health-care architecture is the most challenging project type because of all its complexities and the vast size of the projects. Most health-care projects take at least 6 years, but hopefully not more than 10. I can’t think of another project type where you’re dealing with the client/owner, hospital administrators, doctors and nurses, boards, other health-care professionals, other design professionals, city officials, and neighborhood groups, among other players. The second challenge in health-care design is trying to balance your time among projects. Because you’re working on projects that take such a long time to complete, you’re working on multiple health-care projects at the same time. It can be difficult to find the time for them all.

What’s coming in health-care architecture: The biggest crisis in health-care architecture is the shortage of motivated and interested health-care designers. Even in large firms that do a lot of health-care architecture, there are typically only two or three architects who specialize in it. It’s similar in scope to nursing, medicine, and health-care technology issues. There are not enough people coming up through the ranks. In fact, there are nowhere near enough people to handle the workload that’s planned during the next 10 years.

Advice for young and future architects: Understand the power of design across all types of projects and be open and understanding about what a career can be.