Healthcare Design - October 2022 - 30

BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER AND LARA SWIMMER
construction at Seattle Children's. " [The design team] was very thoughtful
in how we create that connection across campus, and make the new building
and entrance feel like a destination. "
INTO THE FOREST
Developed during master planning, the wayfinding program features a
system of four Pacific Northwest-inspired zones (Forest, River, Mountain,
and Ocean), which debuted during Phase 1 to help patients and their
families better navigate the large campus. Together with the first expansion
project (known as Forest A), the new diagnostic and treatment facility
(known as Forest B) comprise the campus' Forest zone.
ZGF tapped into the forest theme to tell the story of Seattle Children's
rich history of giving, which dates back to the hospital's founding 100 years
ago. Like the hospital, the forest is constantly giving, from how trees share
resources with one another to how animals work together to support the
overall ecosystem, says Thorsen. " So part of the forest experience here [at
Forest B] was how could we create a destination for families and staff and a
place where people could really come together? " she says.
Artwork by local artists is used as a navigation tool and a calming distraction
throughout the building. For example, whimsical illustrations of animals
in acts of caring are placed along the walls and graphic, window-like
portals with layered 3-D illustrations are integrated on columns and elsewhere.
At the reception desk, where a backdrop of colored fins starts to familiarize
visitors with the colors of the zones, an interactive diorama offers
a playful tool for little ones to get to know the zones through the colored
scenes that represent them and come to life through the push of a button.
CAMPUS ADDITION
Built on the lower end of a hillside, the new building was designed to connect
physically and programmatically to the rest of campus. " Rather than
a traditional hospital campus where you have a thin tower that's stacked
vertically, and the next building stacked vertically, this was about horizontal
connectivity, " says Victoria Nichols, a partner at ZGF. Specifically,
treatment spaces are placed adjacent to bed floors in the connected inpa30
OCTOBER
2022
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
ABOVE, LEFT: Designed
as the new front door
to Seattle Children's
Hospital, the new facility
makes a statement on
campus with its playful
shifting volumes and
floor-to-ceiling glass
façade. ABOVE, RIGHT:
The wayfinding journey
begins in the main lobby
at the Story Pole, a
contemporary totem pole
adorned with animals
and natural elements by
artist Shaun " Qwaisus "
Peterson.
tient building, enabling patients to be moved
horizontally via the shortest distance possible.
" This was about bringing those services [treatment,
diagnostic procedures, and surgery] and
the care closer to those high-acuity patients, "
she says. " That was really the driver for [the
building] organization. "
The building's dramatic façade, including
its shifting upper volumes and floor-to-ceiling
glass, was designed to distinguish it as the
campus' new front door using a variety of architectural
devices. For example, a series of
thin columns, along with the subtle shifting of
the upper volumes, is used to break down the
scale and introduce a sense of whimsy on the
campus. " We wanted to make sure that it didn't
feel looming on entry, and so a little bit of the
geometry playfulness came from that to lighten
up the mass of the top, " says Haruka Saito,
ZGF's principal designer for the project.
Inside, the eight-story building includes
eight new operating rooms, two catheterization
labs, an expanded Cancer and Blood Disorders
Center (CBDC) and infusion center,
new clinical lab and sterile processing space,
retail pharmacy, new inpatient pharmacy, and
20 additional inpatient beds, along with three
levels of underground parking.
The building's sweeping three-story atrium
is visible through the glass façade. Designed
as a destination and gathering point where
patients and families could have a moment of
respite before heading through security, the
lobby space was also designed to visually draw
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Healthcare Design - October 2022

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