Health & Wellness students represent KU in design competition in New Orleans.

Four students from the KU School of Architecture & Design’s Health & Wellness academic program were invited to the 31st Healthcare Design STERIS charette in New Orleans in early November. 

Jaxon Freeman, Jason Loraine, Claire Namovich, and Keara Greunke presented their concepts for homeless population supporting ambulatory facilities in a nearby community. The team was supported by professor Kent Sprekelmeyer and associate professor Hui Cai.  

“The students spent 48 hours designing an ambulatory care facility in downtown New Orleans that was focused on providing medical and social services to the homeless population,” Sprekelmeyer said.  “Their final design concepts and renderings were presented at two public forums during the conference.” 

In their final presentation, the team showed their designs to about 100 architects, designers and healthcare professionals. Representatives from each of the students’ internships were also in the audience such as Lawrence Group in St. Louis, ACI Boland in Kansas City, and HKS Architects in Fort Worth, Texas. All of the students are in the Health & Wellness graduate program and are completing seven-month internships as part of their study. 

KU was one of four university teams invited to participate in the charette. STERIS also invited teams from Clemson, Cornell, and Temple Universities.  

This is the charrette’s thirtieth year in which student work with faculty and practicing architects on a local community healthcare design problem. 

The Health & Wellness academic program combines academic classes and studios with a seven-month internship. This balance of theory and practice is designed to prepare graduates with the knowledge and skills for immediate participation in planning and design of complex projects.