Rebecca Balanza - Healthcare Interior Design Portfolio by Rebecca Balanza

Rebecca Balanza Healthcare Interior Design Portfolio

Hello, Hola and Bonjour...

After graduating with a bachelor’s in fine arts in architecture and a minor in fibers from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), I worked as a health interior designer at HKS, Inc in the Houston Studio.

Working with a collaboration of creative people and talented leaders I learned how to make a design concept and a client’s vision reality throughout the different design phases.

After 2 years on a professional role, I decided to move to New York City to pusue my master’s degree in professional studies for Healthcare Interior Design at the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID)

I’m currently working as a Healthcare Interior Designer at Perkins&Will in the New York City Studio.

I believe that every designer needs to be on top of their game all the time to be able to deliver innovation, design, and beauty. Architecture and Interior Design are a transformative engine and an opportunity for a never-ending learning path in the future.

I aspire to keep growing my creativity, keep learning how to create enrich human experiences though out an interior space, keep exploring the use of healthier and sustainable materials and the different impacts on our health, keep improving my overall design solutions for real-world problems and keep growing as a person and a professional.

I believe that we as human beings can surpass our expectations and deliver the unexpected.

Table

of Contents

Welcome to my mind...

2. ADDITIONAL WORK

1. INTERIOR DESIGN

INDIGO WELNESS CENTER

COLLAGES AND DIGITAL PRINTS

PEDIATRIC RESEARCH HOSPITAL

O’QUINN TOWER AT McNAIR TERRA ORTHOPEDIC REHABILITATION MICRO-HOSPITAL

CONFIDENTIAL PEDIATRIC RESEARCH HOSPITAL

This confidential pediatric research hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, is a healthcare project that redefines the patient and family experience through imaginative and immersive design.

Comprising three new ground-up buildings—the Clinical Center (15 stories, 700,300 SF), the Clinical Office Building (15 stories, 596,000 SF), and The Hall, a dynamic connecting space—the campus expansion fosters healing, innovation, and community. The Hall features engaging amenities such as a theater, a digital aquarium, and interactive experiences designed to delight young patients and seamlessly link the new and existing facilities.

Inspired by the concept of “Magical Gardens,” each clinic floor transforms into a unique, whimsical landscape that sparks children’s imaginations through real and fantastical worlds. This project is a collaboration across three studios—Atlanta, New York, and Miami—led by an all-female interior design team from the New York Studio.

Currently under construction, the hospital is set to open in 2026.

This project was made in collaboration with Perkins&Will .

CHILI’S

MARLO THOMAS CENTER

GARDEN

GARDEN GARDEN

CONNECTOR

HALL

Overall Clinical Building Concept - “Magic Gardens”

The Magical Garden is about engaging a child’s imagination through wondrous places, real and imagined. The journey moves through curvilinear spaces where one may find interactive elements that draw inspiration from a variety of ideas, for example, flower gardens, sea gardens, firefly gardens, and light gardens.

Garden Corridor View

Lobby View

The Magical Cosmic Garden celebrates a child’s curiosity for the world. It introduces children to the benefits of fantasy play that motivates them during procedures.

Level 03 - Infusion Floor - “Camping Sites” Concept

Level 03 - Infusion Rooms - “Lake Camping Site”

Headwall View

Footwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Level 03 - Infusion Rooms - “Rainforest Camping Site”

Level 03 - Infusion Rooms - “Safari Camping Site”

Headwall View

Footwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Headwall View

Footwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Level 03 - Infusion Rooms - “Beach Camping Site”

Level 03 - Infusion Rooms - “Mountain Camping Site”

Headwall View

Footwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Headwall View

Footwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Level 03 - Infusion Rooms - “North Pole Camping Site”

Level 03 - Infusion Open Bays - “Desert Camping Site”

Headwall View

Footwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Headwall View

Enlarged Floor Pattern Plan

Material Palette

Infusion Room - Headwall

Infusion Room - Footwall

Infusion Room - Staff Area

Exam Room

The Magical Cosmic Garden celebrates a child’s curiosity for the world. It introduces children to the benefits of fantasy play that motivates them during procedures.

Material Palette

2. Small Gym View

4. Big Gym View

Terra

Orthopedic Rehabilitation Micro-Hospital

TERRA - ORTHOPEDIC REHABILITATION

MICRO-HOSPITAL

Terra Orthopedic Rehabilitation Micro-Hospital is a vital healthcare facility located in Camargo, Bolivia—a small town nestled in a valley between two major cities.

As the largest town in the region, Camargo serves as a hub for surrounding villages, where 90% of the population relies on agriculture to sustain thousands of people across the area. However, the physically demanding nature of farm work places significant strain on workers’ bodies, making specialized orthopedic rehabilitation an essential service for the community.

Guided by its mission, “Terra Orthopedic Rehabilitation Hospital focuses on the treatment, diagnosis, and recovery of local farm workers in Camargo and its neighboring villages. We are committed to supporting their physical health, personal goals, and long-term well-being, valuing both steady progress and tangible results.”

Terra provides a space for healing, helping laborers regain mobility, strength, and quality of life.

Location: Camargo, Bolivia

Population: 15,000 (2021)

Climate: Dry - Warm

Camargo Site Plan

Concept Diagrams

Main connection to villages in the valley

Main connection between two sides of the village

Main visual connection to the river Main mass

Division of the main mass to create a water visual connection

Recovery Diagnostic & Treatment

Mood Board &Materials Palette

Porcelain Tile Mosaic Tile

Fitness Center View

Staff Respite Area View

INDIGO - WELLNESS CENTER

Indigo Wellness Center is a specialized clinic dedicated to women’s health and oncology, located in the heart of New York City’s Upper West Side.

The center occupies and is fully renovating the first two floors of its building, creating a seamless connection between levels through a newly integrated interior staircase positioned at the front of the space.

With a strong focus on patient-centered care, operational efficiency, and holistic well-being, Indigo prioritizes access to natural light and thoughtfully designed environments that support both patients and staff.

Guided by its vision, “At Indigo, we embrace a whole-care wellness mentality, nurturing the physical, mental, and emotional health of our patients and team members,” the clinic fosters a healing atmosphere that promotes comfort, support, and high-quality care.

of the total number of new cases diagnosed in 2020, being the most common cancer in women worldwide.

Working in a hospital setting was associated

higher odds of burnout. 80%

CT SIM

4 Exam/Consult Rooms

Prep/Post Bays

X-Ray

Stereotactic Mammogra-

Level 02 - Lobby Vignette

Wayfinding & Circulation Diagrams

Infusion Bays Vignette

Consultation Room

Hospitality Station Open Work Area

Hospitality Station Vignette

Hair / Wig Salon Vignette

Staff Suite & Respite Areas

Staff Respite Vignette

Staff Lounge Vignette

CHI BSLMC McNAIR CAMPUS - O’QUINN TOWER AT McNAIR

O’Quinn Tower is a state-of-the-art ambulatory medical facility within the CHI Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center at the McNair Campus in Houston, Texas.

Designed to enhance outpatient care, the tower serves as both a comprehensive outpatient clinic and a cutting-edge cancer center. The building program includes nine dedicated medical floors, a floor for CHI division offices, a conference center, and a shell floor reserved for future expansion.

The medical floors are thoughtfully divided between outpatient services— offering Radiation Therapy, Outpatient Imaging, Interventional Radiology, Endoscopy, Central Sterile Processing, Surgery, a Pain Clinic, and New Recruits—and specialized cancer care, featuring Infusion Therapy, a Cancer Clinic, and a Breast Center.

This project was made in collaboration with HKS Architects .

Main Architecture Concept

1. Echo the existing building to create unity across the campus.

2. Establish layers to improve performance and “scale down” to the patient.

3. Connect to nature with micro-gardens that enhance and vitalize the patient experience.

The design is simple and restrained, with soft continuous curves throughout the spaces. Deliberate compositions of vertical panels are carefully placed to create moments of arrival for patients. Art and natural materials are in harmony within a sophisticated and neutral environment, creating a soothing energy and adding layers of meaning to healing spaces.

Simplistic and streamlined design with an overall neutral palette allows for the introduction of art vignettes and eye catching natural materials. Nature is interpreted through materiality of space, as opposed to form. Timeless and classical spaces will speak to the prestige of the hospital and be soothing and comforting to the patients.

Views of Nature

Humanizing Nature