Bio
Barbara Burnette spent the first half of her career working in the interior design department for some of the top architecture firms in the world. Her work in a graduating interior designer role focused on a variety of market sectors including healthcare, workplace, K-12, higher education, and multi-residential projects. As an interior designer she focused on programming, planning, all phases of design and construction administration as well as brand integration. Working for international firms, she spent several years living and working with parent company of Perkins&Will, Dar al Handasah in Beirut, India, London, Syria, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Major, award winning, published projects with Perkins&Will include Princess Nora University Campus in KSA, RUSH University Medical Center bed tower, KPMG Seattle Office, and 750-bed Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. The second half of her career has been focused serving as a director on the owner’s side of the business. As design director of interior design for the 12-hospital and 65-clinic Hamad Medical Corporation Qatar, she led a team of in-house designers while providing design direction for all consultants work efforts. Major work included overseeing the Master Facility Plan for the Doha campus, comprising of several new buildings. Within the Master Facility Plan was new in-patient tower, Cancer Center, and research buildings. Hamad Medical Corporation is the government run healthcare system for Qatar, scope of work included all sites across the country comprising of a new hospital in Al Khor, new children’s rehab hospital in Al Wakra, pediatric clinic expansion in Doha, all FFE for new Medical Campus in Doha and interior direction on the Communicable Disease Hospital in Doha. Returning to the United States, she attended Northwestern University while working as a Senior Project Manager of Construction with Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. Following graduate degree, Barbara returned to the owner’s side to lead the Aspirus Health Planning and Construction team effort for just over five years. Aspirus is the largest health system in the Wisconsin area with 19 hospitals and over 130 outpatient locations, employing nearly 14,000 team members.
Creative and Research Interests
- Creative Interests: Photography, architecture, and painting
- Research Interests: Evidence Based Design in Healthcare Projects and Impact on Patient Satisfaction Scores
Teaching Areas
Interior Design – Professional Practice (current) Advanced Planning, Portfolio and Practicum and Programming & Design Studio (previously)
Selected Research/Presentations/Exhibitions
Not currently
Professional Experiences
HDR Architects, Helmuth Obata & Kassabaum (ho+k), Perkins&Will, Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar, Northwestern Medicine, Clayco Construction and Aspirus Health
Professional Memberships
International Interior Design Association (IIDA), Wisconsin Healthcare Engineering Association (WHEA), Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC)