Our Head of Design, Max Lishmund, discusses his role and the unique world of healthcare design
What’s your career background?
For the last 10 years, I worked to build a Europewide architectural and design team within a global design and construction firm working in the education, retail, technology and pharmaceutical companies and workplace sectors. I set up design systems and the framework to drive projects from inception to completion. Prior to that, I worked in a traditional commercial architects’ studio, where a lot of my work was in the healthcare sector.
I’m pleased to be reconnecting with the healthcare sector at Health Spaces. I find healthcare exciting because clinicians are insightful about their challenges and, as a designer, it’s clear and rewarding to make measurable improvements that affect society and the lives of patients. Commercial projects involve short-term leasing of space and a short-term attitude to design, whereas I can walk past a healthcare project I created 15 years ago and it is still in operation. The longevity of the facility is a big part of the value of what we do.
What does a Head of Design do?
My strength is putting things into a correct and efficient sequence. When you do that, you give people a sense of logic, and designers have quality time to design, breathe and make optimal decisions. I organise things to give everybody better focus and time to technically co-ordinate across projects.
What does a typical day look like?
I meet healthcare consultants, visit sites, liaise with our design consultants and work to build a project framework to repeat success, so my mind and mode is always flexing. It’s some client-facing and some internal work, and it’s a diverse range of activities, including strategising and managing.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
The clarity. The design brief is ‘we’re building a specific health facility’, which is different to work I’ve done in other sectors, where the briefs fluctuate, plans change on a whim, and there’s subjectivity around how the space works. If you’re dealing with surgeons who are saving lives, their requirements become non-negotiable and their world is receptive to thinking laterally. In a recent session, a surgeon said it’s important that, when you’re in a lengthy surgery, you can take micro two-second breaks to stand back and refocus your eyes on the long view, which keeps you accurate. The site is adjacent to green fields, so this raised the possibility of external views in the design of the theatre. It’s insights like that and subsequent features in the design that make the facility work for the people using it.
What is the biggest issue facing healthcare construction?
I think we’ve got a skills shortage. Not many creatively talented people become healthcare oriented and there are so many facets to healthcare that I think the industry has room to dial up innovation with the right skillsets deployed across it.
How do you spend your spare time?
At the weekends, I’m a ‘dad taxi’ for my teenagers. Our eldest is on the university open day trail, so we’re booking fun road trips every weekend to visit them. I support football team West Ham. What I like about the London Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Park is that, if you get a fixture well timed, when the match ends you can go across to the Copper Box Arena or the Velodrome and see a bonus event! When it comes to playing sport, my passion is tennis and, if I’m brave, motorsport. I like music, too. The Vienna Sommernachtskonzert is my top tip – it’s free and Vienna is great.
What would be your dream project?
I would love to work on a sports stadium, perhaps in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Canada or Scandinavia – countries in which I have enjoyed working before.
I’d like to work on such a scale, on something visited by thousands of users for events, and to help create a facility with longevity and legacy.
