Gresham Smith is pleased to announce that four designers will present at the 2026 Healthcare Design Conference & Expo, held Oct. 7–20 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The presentations will explore AI-driven visualization in healthcare design and innovative pre-engineered facility delivery models.
See below for an overview of each presentation.
AI Visualization in Healthcare Design: Integrating Emerging Tools into Practice
Sunday, October 18 | 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Room 221
Presented by Gresham Smith Architect Ellen Fuson, AIA; Studio Design Leader Reid Cimala, AIA; Architect Patrick Gerhart, AIA; and Director of Architectural Design Chris Hoal, AIA
Artificial intelligence has rapidly transformed how healthcare designers communicate complex clinical environments, engage stakeholders, and explore design solutions. This session offers a practical overview of current AI tools and their application to healthcare design challenges, covering node-based workflows (ComfyUI, Automatic1111), integrated design tools (Veras, Hypar), real-time AI-enhanced rendering (D5 Render, Enscape AI features), and AI-powered video generation (Runway, Luma, Pika, Sora).
Through healthcare project examples, the presenters will examine AI’s practical applications across design phases—from early programming visualization to client storytelling and competition submissions—while addressing how to maintain design quality, authorship, and ethical standards when representing clinical environments. Attendees will leave with strategies for incorporating AI into healthcare design practice while preserving the specialized knowledge and human judgment essential to excellent healthcare architecture.
Revolutionizing Healthcare Facility Delivery: Kaiser Permanente’s Pre-Engineered Outpatient Hub
Sunday, October 18 | 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Room 215
Presented by Gresham Smith Studio Leader Ashley Wood, RID, IIDA, alongside industry partners Britta Monson, RA, Assoc. DBIA, LEED AP, Nelson Ferreira, and Deb Sheehan
The Kaiser Permanente Lakewood Medical Offices project in Lakewood, Colorado, is a 116,000-square-foot, multi-specialty outpatient facility delivered through Kaiser Permanente’s Pre-Engineered Medical Office Building (PMOB) program, which leverages standardization, prefabrication, data-driven design, and industrialized construction to reduce cost, improve quality, and accelerate delivery. The Lakewood facility includes urgent care, pharmacy, laboratory, optical, and multiple clinical services, delivered through modular design, prefabricated assemblies, and early collaboration among the architect, integration manager, digital archivist, and trade partners, with Kaiser Permanente now expanding the program to additional markets in Colorado and California.
This session will explore how the standardized model was adapted to local conditions while maintaining consistency, offering insights into change management, team alignment, digital coordination, and scalable outpatient delivery.
