Marcia Vanden Brink, IIDA

Marcia works with a number of collaborative manufacturing partners to cultivate new opportunities for HDR in the product design arena. She works with diverse teams, always striving for a singular goal: to design something fresh and innovative, not just an imitation of something already available. No two days are the same, Marcia says, and she enjoys the varied task of design, project management, research and marketing related tasks that are sometimes needed by our collaborative partners. 

High points of Marcia’s product design career include: winning a Nightingale Award for Soul, our first product design with Milliken; and winning a Best of Show for NeoCon and Best of the Year award from Interior Design Magazine for Sync, our product collaboration with Steelcase. Both of these product collaborations were complex undertakings and brought products to market that did not previously exist. 

Prior to her current role, Marcia worked as an interior designer for us, mostly focused on healthcare projects. Her interest in healthcare design began during her high school days, when visiting her mother during extended hospital stays. Because the environment was harsh and had no control over lighting or her mother’s personal space, Marcia started bringing some comforts from home to soften the space.  “I knew from that time that I could make a difference for patients and family members through design,” Marcia said. “My passion throughout my career has been to represent the voice of the patient/family while designing.”    

Marcia’s project experience includes a number of large and complex projects. She points to the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Pebble Project in Boise, Idaho, as one of her most fond professional accomplishments, in large part because of the amazing synergy between the client and the team.  From finishes to the incorporation of art to the creation of family spaces — everything was selected using guiding principles specific to the local vernacular.