Hello! I’m Marcy…

I founded Marcy Naismith Design on a simple idea: the built environment shapes how people feel, heal, work, and connect. When it's designed with real attention to the people inside it, a space can lower stress, support clinicians in doing extraordinary work, and give residents and patients a sense of safety in moments when very little else feels steady. That is the work I care about most.

I'm trained in both interior design and architecture, with degrees in Interior Architecture and a Master of Architecture, and I hold NCIDQ and EDAC certifications. Over 23 years, I've worked as principal, project manager, medical planner, architectural designer, interior designer, and lean design facilitator. That range is deliberate. It lets me see a project from every angle at once: how a plan supports clinical workflow, how the level of design proposed affects schedule and budget, how the layered experience of a space, light, materials, proportions, and flow, shapes the people moving through it. On any given project, I'm happy to focus in one lane if that's what the team needs. The whole picture is still with me, whatever role I'm holding that day.

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare is the heart of my practice. I've been through significant health challenges myself and walked alongside people I love through theirs, and it has shaped how I think about every square foot of a clinical environment. Health systems and the clinicians inside them do some of the most demanding, high-stakes work, with patients often at their most vulnerable. My job is to design spaces that quietly hold that weight.

From a medical planning standpoint, that means listening first. I spend time understanding clinical workflows, adjacency needs, and the small operational frictions that add up over time, so the plan supports the work rather than fighting it. From an aesthetic standpoint, I design for the full sensory experience of a space, not just how it looks. What patients see, hear, feel, and even smell all shape how their bodies respond to a room. That experience shows up in patient satisfaction scores, which could directly influence how hospitals are reimbursed. Evidence-based design, biophilic elements, and trauma-informed principles aren't buzzwords in my work. They're the tools I use to help a space feel like calm instead of one more thing to endure.

SENIOR LIVING

In senior living I bring together my healthcare background and my years in multifamily housing design. Moving into a senior community is often a significant emotional transition, and design has a real role to play in how that lands. I create spaces that residents can personalize and truly call home, that invite connection without forcing it, and that respect how an aging body moves through a room. My work supports aging in place, wellness and lifestyle programming, and the daily experience of the staff and families who share these environments. The goal is a community that expands what this chapter of life can be: safe, comfortable, beautiful, and full of possibility for new friendships, new interests, and a genuine sense of home.

WORKING WITH ME

Clients and collaborators can expect a designer who listens more than she talks in the early phases. I stay current on best practices, FGI, Department of Health, and emerging trends, but the clinicians, patients, executive teams, and residents I design for are the real experts on their work and their lives. The more I learn from them, the better the ideas I can bring back.

As a solo, women-owned firm I offer direct access, senior-level attention on every project, and real flexibility. I have long-standing partnerships in place to support for larger scopes, and I love collaborating with larger firms as a sub-consultant. That kind of partnership helps firms meet business equity goals on publicly funded work, expands their healthcare portfolio, and gives me the chance to mentor emerging designers as part of the process.

EDUCATION

Master of Architecture | University of Idaho

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Interior Architecture | University of Idaho

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

c|a Architects | Director of Interior Design |
Long Beach, CA

Ankrom Moisan Architects | Principal,
Healthcare Team Co-Leader | Seattle, WA

ZGF Architects | Interior Designer and Medical Planner Seattle, WA

NBBJ | Interior Designer and Medical Planner |
Seattle, WA

CollinsWoerman | Architectural Designer,
Interior Designer and Medical Planner | Seattle, WA

CERTIFICATIONS

NCIDQ Certified Interior Designer

EDAC Certified in Evidence-Based Design

Lean Certified Professional

BUSINESS CERTIFICATIONS

Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), Washington and Oregon

Emerging Small Business (ESB), Oregon

Public Works Small Business Enterprise (PWSBE), Washington

Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS) King County, Washington

COMMUNITY AND LEADERSHIP

Oregon Director, Association of Medical Facilities Professionals (AMFP) Pacific Northwest Chapter

Associate AIA, American Institute of Architects

CURRENT ON-CALL AND ROSTER CONTRACTS
Providence
Legacy Health
King County Small Works

SELECTED CLIENTS
Health Systems and Hospitals
Adventist Health · Centinela Hospital Medical Center · Evergreen Health · Good Samaritan Hospital · Harborview Medical Center · Legacy Health · MemorialCare · Providence · Randall Children's Hospital · Redlands Community Hospital · Saddleback Medical Center · Seattle Children's Hospital · Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium · Swedish Medical Center · Torrance Health Center · UCI Health · University Medical Center New Orleans · USC Medical Center · University of Washington Medical Center · Western State Hospital · West Covina Medical Center

Ambulatory, Behavioral Health, and Specialty Care
Kinwell · MultiCare Indigo · Telecare · Vera Whole Health

Senior Living
Aegis Living · Pacific Retirement Services

Affordable and Supportive Housing
Bridge Housing · Imagine Housing

Includes clients served as principal designer with Marcy Naismith Design and in previous roles at c|a Architects, Ankrom Moisan, ZGF, NBBJ, and CollinsWoerman.