HCD Rising Star: Renee Lawrence, medical planner and architect, Boulder Associates
A few years after starting her career designing schools in the education sector at VMDO Architects (Charlottesville, Va.), Renee Lawrence had the opportunity to join her colleagues in designing a student health and wellness facility for her alma mater, The University of Virginia. That experience, she says, opened her eyes to the influence of the built environment on how people heal, live, and grow. Inspired, she returned to school to pursue a master’s degree in architecture and health at Clemson University. After graduating, she joined Boulder Associates as a designer, and upon earning her architect’s license, advanced to the role of medical planner within the firm.
In her work, Lawrence says she’s driven to create care environments that are not only accessible but inclusive and dignified. Over the past two years, she has helped pioneer projects that expand access to health and addiction services by designing modular specialty care clinics specifically tailored to underserved populations on rural Tribal lands. These Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) clinics consist of 12 steel-framed modules that she helped design in-studio and were constructed in the contractor’s fabrication shop, then shipped to the rural Tribal communities.
Holding roles in design leadership, visioning, and team co-management, she supported the team in using a Lean design approach that leveraged highly collaborative workflows. This strategy enabled the team to complete production in just five weeks and shorten the overall design and construction schedule by 10 months.
Additionally, Lawrence’s work has encompassed several high-profile projects, including AdventHealth Littleton’s Heart and Vascular Institute in Littleton, Colo., which is poised to open in late 2025. Working with diverse project teams across the firm, she’s also played a key role in setting benchmarks for projects across a variety of sectors, driven by evidence-based practices and real-world data. This work currently includes researching clinic, cancer center, and dialysis typologies aimed at developing new planning approaches for delivering care to patients undergoing infusion treatments.
Using an empathetic lens, Lawrence is helping to deliver fresh approaches to healthcare environments that serve and support communities and their needs.
Path to healthcare design: I was first drawn to healthcare design when I learned how the built environment can have a direct impact on our health and healing. Our surroundings aren’t just the background to our lives; they shape our behavior, mood, and well-being. Healthcare design offers a powerful opportunity to create environments that not only function well but actively contribute to healing and dignity at some of life’s most vulnerable moments. I can’t think of a better career in architecture!
Describe your design approach: Guided by curiosity, grounded in order and balance.
On your desk now: Currently, many of my projects include planning and laying out behavioral health facilities, clinics of various typologies, and hospitals. Outside of my project work, I’m conducting research on a Lean-informed kit of parts for prefabricated modular clinics. By analyzing case studies and benchmarking data, I’m exploring how modular construction can support speed and flexibility without sacrificing plan efficiency. The goal is to develop a streamlined programming approach that maintains high-performance design standards while maximizing the benefits of prefabrication.
Most rewarding project to date: Working with a wonderful IPD team to design modular specialty care clinics with the mission of delivering critical healthcare services to underserved Tribal communities in rural areas. Being part of a project that addresses the opioid crisis with dignity and long-term impact was deeply meaningful.
What success means to you: Success isn’t marked by a beautiful building. Rather, it is about designing experiences rooted in empathy, dignity, and care. When a space supports healing, brings people together, or simply offers a moment of peace, that’s success to me. That is the impact I want to leave behind.
Industry challenge on your radar: One challenge I’d love to see the healthcare design industry take on is designing for uncertain futures. We’ve all experienced the impact of the pandemic, and many communities are facing increasing threats from climate-related events like fires and floods. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to continue pushing innovation in adaptable design, whether that’s through modular care spaces, flexible staff workflows, or resilient infrastructure. It’s critical that we plan for change out of our control before it happens, not after. I’m looking forward to seeing how our industry continues to rise to this challenge
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