It is vital for healthcare architects to design for flexibility in ways that are cost effective over the life of the building, and to redefine the imagery of pediatric hospitals in ways that are both timeless and ageless, state the authors of a new report by Shepley Bulfinch.
In Designing for Children, Shepley Bulfinch pediatric design experts single out design elements that help hospitals achieve those goals. Their advice:
1. Hospitals need to welcome children and their families with imagery, recognizable elements, and nonthreatening spaces that reduce anxieties. The imagery should appeal to children of all age groups, including teenagers.
2. Detailing of casework, floor patterns, colors, and the integration of art determine the character of the hospital. These should work together to capture the imaginations of younger and adolescent patients.
3. The design of human- and child-scaled environments creates a sense of comfort and security, and supports treatment and healing.
4. Design and functionality should be age-adaptive. For example, adolescent patients have a greater need for privacy, especially during illnesses.
5. Designs should allow patients to create personal spaces, explore, and play. This can include letting the patient control the room’s lighting, sound, and privacy, as well as allowing for self-care like access to bathrooms, water, and snacks.
6. Hospitals encourage family involvement when they provide places where visiting family members can sleep, eat, work, participate in care giving, and occasionally escape.
7. Sick kids need escape, too, from the intensity of their illnesses or treatments. Activity spaces, cafés, and gardens are among the places that afford necessary distractions for patients, family, and visitors.
Related Stories
| Dec 13, 2013
Safe and sound: 10 solutions for fire and life safety
From a dual fire-CO detector to an aspiration-sensing fire alarm, BD+C editors present a roundup of new fire and life safety products and technologies.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 10, 2013
Modular Pedia-Pod: Sustainability in healthcare construction [slideshow]
Greenbuild 2013 in Philadelphia was the site of a unique display—Pedia-Pod, a modular pediatric treatment room designed and built by NRB, in collaboration with the editors of Building Design+Construction, SGC Horizon LLC, and their team of medical design consultants.
| Dec 3, 2013
Creating a healthcare capital project plan: The truth behind the numbers
When setting up a capital project plan, it's one thing to have the data, but quite another to have the knowledge of the process.
| Nov 27, 2013
Pediatric hospitals improve care with flexible, age-sensitive design
Pediatric hospitals face many of the same concerns as their adult counterparts. Inpatient bed demand is declining, outpatient visits are soaring, and there is a higher level of focus on prevention and reduced readmissions.
| Nov 27, 2013
Exclusive survey: Revenues increased at nearly half of AEC firms in 2013
Forty-six percent of the respondents to an exclusive BD+C survey of AEC professionals reported that revenues had increased this year compared to 2012, with another 24.2% saying cash flow had stayed the same.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 27, 2013
LEED for Healthcare offers new paths to green
LEED for Healthcare debuted in spring 2011, and certifications are now beginning to roll in. They include the new Puyallup (Wash.) Medical Center and the W.H. and Elaine McCarty South Tower at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin.
| Nov 26, 2013
Construction costs rise for 22nd straight month in November
Construction costs in North America rose for the 22nd consecutive month in November as labor costs continued to increase, amid growing industry concern over the tight availability of skilled workers.
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
