David Taylor catches up with HKS principal Jane Ho to talk about healthcare projects in the age of the coronavirus, working cross-sector to adapt hotels to cope with emergency surges, and the importance of communication with your staff…

David Taylor: Hi Jane. How are you finding remote working in general?

 

Jane Ho: For me, it’s not a problem really because I have had to work from home catching up in the evenings and on weekends as well as the day job in the office. So working from home, set up-wise, has already been fine; though I thought it might have been a little bit quieter! As a team leader running various projects in the Middle East and UK, we’ve got team chats during the day and so you deal with the issues face to face which is obviously so much nicer. But now, being at home every so often you get ‘do you mind having a quick call for five minutes?’ which ends up being 20 minutes, half an hour. And so I feel that the queue that’s normally at my desk is the queue on Skype and Zoom and everything else.

 

DT: I was reading something about why, neurologically, it’s so frazzling. Do you find it frazzling?

 

JH: Yes, I think it’s because it’s quite intense. Some of the calls that I have been doing are with the client as well, and so you’re sort of on show. We still try to keep the video on if it doesn’t mess up your internet. You’re just having to try and make sure you’re a lot more succinct as well and just be prepared for questions. And also, because you’re sharing screens making sure you can find stuff as well – you have to be prepared beforehand if you’re presenting, making sure you have all your material ready, otherwise you just feel like you’re just wasting the time on the call. I do find it tiring.

 

DT: …But on the technical side do you find that people are forgiving in this ‘transition period’, if you like?

 

JH: Yes, I think so. I had a problem with my headset for example where for whatever reason any notification that came up on my email or reminder would cut out so I would miss someone saying something. So yeah, people are much more forgiving. And in fact, when we all started working from home, we had quite an important interview with a central London hospital trust and we were all obviously supposed to be there, face to face. They were a room of 15 people and we were a team of seven dialling in to do the call from our own homes. Unfortunately, the technology didn’t allow us to present the PowerPoint presentation how we practiced and so we ended up just talking over the hard copies that they had – which obviously in an interview mode when you’re trying to pitch for a project is not as smooth as it could have been! But in fact I think we do very well. 

 

DT: I’m interested in healthcare buildings particularly at the moment. Do you think generally that attitudes towards the design and provision of healthcare buildings will now change?

 

JH: I’m hoping so. In fact, with the current coronavirus, and how the current NHS and even private facilities are not prepared as well as they could be, I’m thinking about the government last October announcing the 40 new hospitals that were going to be built. That health infrastructure planning – the hit 1 and hit 2 list – I think the briefing needs to be rethought.

 

DT: Why?

 

JH: In terms of how we can maybe try and allow for the flexibility for if we do have another pandemic. I think some of the facilities are designed around the guidance, which I know is being updated at the moment but which is pretty much seven years old. And so, to make sure we try and include a much more adaptable and flexible estate – I know that some of the trusts on projects around London are thinking of that. but I think in terms of the wider agenda of designing future hospitals needs to include that.

 

DT: Has it caused you and your practice to think any differently on those lines given what’s happened over the last months?

 

JH: It’s made us think much more cross-sector – and not just healthcare. We’ve been looking at how you transform spaces so that you can allow for these emergency situations. I know that’s been happening with some of our existing clients over in the States as well as some over here in the UK. How we’re adapting existing spaces to allow for looking after patients in this crisis. But we’ve been talking cross-sector as well; we do hospitality, so how can we think about how hotels can be utilised? They’ve got so many empty beds – how can we adapt those spaces to allow for an emergency situation? In London, they’re starting to think about that because obviously if we need to provide more surge facilities, where can we do that? It’s not just about the patients. I was reading about the homeless situations and the social aspect. Not everybody can afford to go to hospital and be treated in the same way, so are there different ways of making sure that all aspects of the community be in isolation in a safe place?

 

DT: So, we’re near the end of our allotted five minutes. Do you have a business tip for other architects in these times?

 

JH: I think it’s really communication. We’ve all got Zoom, Teams and Skype fatigue but I think communicating with your team, especially those who are not with a family, and who are younger or working and living by themselves, it’s just making sure that you’re touching base with the staff and making sure that their health and wellbeing are good. We try to do a touch-base with the wider team every week, twice a week, and we don’t necessarily always talk about work. It’s more generally about ‘what have you been up to?’, ‘have you had your piece of exercise for the day?’ and it just makes sure you keep the team morale going.

 

DT: Have you had yourexercise for the day? [It’s Monday morning at 0930]

JH: No! (laughs). Over the day I really notice that I just sit glued to the seat, until early evening, usually because I’ve been on so many calls, but I will go out – I am forcing myself! I will go out for a walk for half an hour. I did a bit of a run yesterday but during the day I’m actually quite frazzled sometimes. 

 

DT: Whereabouts do you live?

 

JH: West London, so I’m Hanwell/ Ealing direction and I have a lovely park near me

 

DT: Still open?

 

JH: Still open. You do need to just go out. We ended up doing a jog by the Grand Union Canal. Etiquette-wise, people were very good in moving away to the side or stopping to let you pass. When I used to go the gym first thing in the morning that would really help to set the day. My husband is working from home as well and he’s a healthcare architect…

 

DT: Not in the same firm?

 

JH: No, competing firms

 

DT: So you need to build ‘walls’ and avoid nicking each other’s ideas?

 

JH: No, we don’t talk about work. We really try not to. Only if we’re complaining and whingeing about something or have a problem about something. We work at different ends of the scale – I do much more front end and see a project through to a certain point, whereas he’s much more delivery. But his boss sometimes says: ‘oh, I think we’re up against your missus on one of these projects!’. And Mark will just say: ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’.