Healthcare Design - June/July 2016 - 35

corresponds to one of the hospital's floor colors; and a top
layer with the donor names, which can be easily replaced
as updates are needed. Special wall mounts are used to
make the frames appear to float from the wall and edge-lit
LEDs give it a glowing effect within the space. "The metal,
glass, and plexi have a rich look when seen together in
layers," says Marty Gregg, principal and creative director
at ArtHouse Design. "The finishes sparkle and the signage
looks elegant."

JACKIE SHUMAKER-ARTHOUSE DESIGN (VIGNETTES); ARTHOUSE DESIGN (WAITNG AREA)

Layering on the fun
Illustrations and vector graphics are put to work in some of
the specialty departments to serve as positive distractions
as well as hide medical equipment-for example, silhouettes of kids fishing or playing on a swing are used on the
walls in the imaging department. However, not all of the
graphic elements are designed to stand out immediately.
"You see some of these things, but I don't want you
to see everything at once because, unfortunately, a lot of
these kids come back to this hospital again and again,"
Gregg says. On those repeat visits, he says, there's still
more for children and family members to notice, such as
the cut-out shapes of leaves and airplanes featured in light
fixtures installed in the hallway ceilings of patient floors.
In the Level III NICU, graphics not only help with wayfinding but also create a nursery-like setting and provide a sense
of privacy within the patient rooms. High-impact rigid vinyl
graphics of tree silhouettes and different colored birds are
displayed on the footwalls, coordinating with each of the
five NICU neighborhoods. Each of the 68 rooms also has a
three-panel glass door that features an interlayer of botanical-shaped graphics displayed on the door's bottom half to
create some privacy for families while still allowing staff to
see inside the room. While it was important to choose colorful images and shapes, Lattimore says that the staff was
concerned that certain colors, including blue, yellow, and
green, could reflect onto patients and make them appear
sicker. The solution was to use more muted colors, such as
a warm gray color, on the walls and place brighter tones on
the doors so they wouldn't affect patient care.
Achieving the right look
The project team met with focus groups, staff members,
and the hospital's patient advisory committee throughout
planning and construction to gather feedback on images,
colors, and more to ensure their goals were achieved.
Nearly every sign type was mocked up and installed so that
the staff could see and touch the individual pieces as well
as test their durability against the hospital's cleaning protocol. Feedback was gathered to direct additional tweaks
and changes, including sizes and material choice.
For example, Gregg says the directories in the elevator
lobbies originally had half-round globes that looked like a
big water droplet over each icon. But because the hospital
was concerned about dust collection, the element was

Mind games
Colorful graphics, icons, and photography aren't
the only elements adding a touch of fun inside
the new Golisano Children's Hospital. During
focus group discussions, families and patients
also requested that the hospital consider
including moments of surprise to help break
up what can be an otherwise stressful visit.
Marty Gregg, principal and creative director at
ArtHouse Design, says the design team used
that opportunity to design interactive elements
on some of the patient room floors, including a
wall-mounted "light-bright" toy for the seventh
floor waiting area.
In the hallways on the upper floors, 1-by-1.5foot dioramas and 2-by-1.5-foot automatas are
embedded into the walls, where children can
turn cranks or push buttons to move internal
gears and turn on lights. "The hospital was behind us all the way, pushing us to do something
that was really creative and fun," Gregg says.
"The fact that these things got built and installed
just knocks us out."
The hospital also houses colorful play pods on
several floors, which feature kid-friendly illustrations and kinetic ceiling lights, to provide a place
to play games or just take a break. There's also
a teen lounge and two-story gross motor skills
room on the seventh and eighth floors, which
include abstract images of fish and lily pads that
are inset into the gym flooring material.
Elizabeth Lattimore, chief administrative officer at Golisano Children's Hospital, says these
types of elements are important to help get kids
out of their rooms and walking the halls, meeting
others, and "still acting like kids." In fact, the
interactive elements have been such a hit that
Golisano Children's has asked ArtHouse to make
additional units for the other floors. "We want
it to be a fun space so that it kind of takes their
mind away from being in the hospital," she says.

Top: A wall-embedded "light-bright"
interactive toy features a panel of backlit,
colored cylinders that can be pushed and
pulled to different lengths to change the colors of the cylinders.
Above, right: A series of interactive kinetic toys is embedded in the walls to
encourage interaction and play by turning oversized buttons that make the
mechanical elements inside the wall move.
HCDmagazine.com 07.16

Healthcare Design - June/July 2016

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