flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Can a kids’ healthcare space teach, entertain, and heal?

Healthcare Facilities

Can a kids’ healthcare space teach, entertain, and heal?


By Iva Radikova and Olivera Sipka, Stantec | Stantec | July 15, 2019
ErinoakKids treatment center, Erin Sauga, courtesy Stantec

For our design for an ErinoakKids treatment center, we needed to include a staircase that incorporated a large landing, since kids with mobility issues require a space to rest. So, we came up with a treehouse concept, which can be seen at the top left of this image. Photo courtesy Stantec

Sometimes a building isn’t just a building. Occasionally, a building invites you to interact with it, injecting a moment of levity in your visit to a museum, gym, school, office, or hospital. And who appreciates those whimsical touches the most? Children. We brought this idea to our work on three new treatment centers for ErinoakKids, an organization that provides treatment, rehabilitation, and support services to children with a wide range of physical and developmental disabilities, communication disorders, and autism.

Our design at ErinoakKids focused on three pillars: play, achievement, and memory. We strove to infuse the buildings with elements of these pillars to engage ErinoakKids’ young clients.

Each of ErinoakKids’ three treatment centers—located in Mississauga, Brampton, and Oakville—gave us chances to think differently about standard building requirements and turn them into fun and engaging elements. If you’re looking at creating a dynamic healthcare space for children, here are six ways to inject creative touches into everyday design features:

1. Create playful seating: A sense of play seeps into each entrance space with fun, wavy benches. Kids might feel nervous walking into a treatment center, so we wanted to provide a playful and exciting space. We took a requirement—seating in an entrance area—and gave it a child-friendly twist.

2. Turn a staircase into a focal point: We needed to include a staircase that incorporated a large landing, since kids with mobility issues require a space to rest. Instead of developing a standard seating area on the landing, we designed a treehouse that engages both the interior spaces and the playground in the courtyard. The treehouse has become a focal point of the building. We also numbered the steps leading up to the treehouse, so children can gauge their progress while climbing the stairs. We turned a requirement for a landing into a central feature for the building, infusing play and achievement into a lively spot that stimulates a child’s imagination.

3. Inject artistic flair into your wayfinding: We approached wayfinding and art with play, achievement, and memory in mind. Each corridor at ErinoakKids features an accent color to help orient patients and staff. We decided to leave one wall white in every corridor, to create a blank canvas for artwork by patients in the form of hand-painted tiles. These "memory tiles" let kids leave their unique mark on the building—something especially meaningful for patients that have been coming to ErinoakKids for years.

 

"Memory tiles," seen at the right side of the photo, let kids leave a piece of themselves on the building–something especially meaningful for clients that have been coming to ErinoakKids for years. Photo courtesy Stantec 

 

4. See possible disruptions as play opportunities: The Mississauga location presented us with a unique opportunity—how would we deal with the train tracks nearby? Are the trains an irritating disruption, or a form of entertainment? We took the second perspective. Instead of blocking the view of passing trains, we decided to embrace our inner sense of play by designing a trainspotting nook. It’s become a memorable feature of the play area. Kids might feel nervous walking into a treatment center, so we wanted to provide a playful and exciting space.

5. Give kids an inside look: What do the inner workings of an elevator look like? At ErinoakKids, patients can get a glimpse at building machines that are usually unseen. We designed "truth windows" throughout the treatment centers—in mechanical rooms, ceilings, and elevators—to teach kids about the building systems inside. Sections of the buildings contain see-through plexiglass surfaces so kids can learn about building systems inside. We designed brightly colored pipes and added timed lights to illuminate the mechanics and give kids a peek into the inner workings of the building.

6. Turn noise reduction features into fun elements: The pool at the Brampton location required us to design sound baffling to reduce the level of noise coming from the pool area. We took that requirement and gave it a playful twist by selecting colorful acoustic panels and creating a three-dimensional sculpture that resembles flying kites. The kites also serve a secondary purpose, as they can distract kids who need to spend most of their time in the pool on their backs for treatment.

 

This image shows the colorful kites that function as sound baffling for the pool area at ErinoakKids’ Brampton location. Photo courtesy Stantec 

 

If you’re tasked with working on a similar healthcare space, we hope you’re able to turn project requirements into occasions for joy and curiosity. Many people think of a building as a static structure, but a building can teach, entertain, and heal. It can invite you to behave in a different way.

Infuse your project with meaningful pillars—like play, memory, and achievement—and you’ll be rewarded with a satisfied client and happy users. Now, make that building come alive.

ErinoakKids was delivered via public private partnership (P3) procurement. Stantec served as the Proponent’s Designer and Architect of Record. Parkin Architects served as the Planning & Design Compliance (PDC) Architect.

 

Numbered steps help children gauge their progress while climbing the stairs. Photo courtesy Stantec 

 

About the Authors
Iva Radikova is a strong conceptual thinker with an extensive background in healthcare, education, mixed-use and corporate workplace. She’s an interior design lead in our Toronto office, and much of her work is focused on large, multi-layered architecture and interiors projects.

Olivera Sipka is a senior architect focused on healthcare design and has a special interest in developing the design of pediatric facilities as well as designing for behavioral health and senior care. Making sure that her designs always have a positive impact is Olivera’s goal.

More from Author

Stantec | Jul 18, 2024

Why decarbonizing hospitals smartly is better than electrification for healthcare design

Driven by new laws, regulations, tariffs, ESG goals, and thought leaders in the industry itself, healthcare institutions are embracing decarbonization to meet 2050 goals for emissions reductions.

Stantec | Jun 18, 2024

Could ‘smart’ building facades heat and cool buildings?

A promising research project looks at the possibilities for thermoelectric systems to thermally condition buildings, writes Mahsa Farid Mohajer, Sustainable Building Analyst with Stantec.

Stantec | Jun 8, 2024

8 ways to cool a factory

Whichever way you look at it—from a workplace wellness point of view or from a competing for talent angle—there are good reasons to explore options for climate control in the factory workplace.

Stantec | Apr 18, 2024

The next destination: Passive design airports

Today, we can design airports that are climate resilient, durable, long-lasting, and healthy for occupants—we can design airports using Passive House standards.

Stantec | Mar 18, 2024

A modular construction solution to the mental healthcare crisis

Maria Ionescu, Senior Medical Planner, Stantec, shares a tested solution for the overburdened emergency department: Modular hub-and-spoke design.

Stantec | Nov 20, 2023

8 strategies for multifamily passive house design projects

Stantec's Brett Lambert, Principal of Architecture and Passive House Certified Consultant, uses the Northland Newton Development project to guide designers with eight tips for designing multifamily passive house projects.

Stantec | Apr 10, 2023

Implementing human-centric design in operations and maintenance facilities

Stantec's Ryan Odell suggests using the human experience to advance OMSF design that puts a focus on wellness and efficiency.

Stantec | Jul 6, 2022

5 approaches to a net zero strategy that communities can start right now

Whether your community has started on a plan or is still considering net zero, now is the time for all of us to start seriously addressing climate change.

Stantec | Feb 14, 2022

5 steps to remake suburbs into green communities where people want to live, work, and play

Stantec's John Bachmann offers proven tactic for retrofitting communities for success in the post-COVID era.

Stantec | Feb 8, 2022

How gaming technology is changing the way we design for acoustics

Adding 3D sound from gaming engines to VR allows designers to represent accurate acoustic conditions to clients during design.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021