Nemours Children’s Hospital
Nemours Children’s Hospital
For patients, the anxiety of a hospital admission can be
moderated by prior acquaintance with caregivers and the close and continual
presence of family members. For adult family members, creature-comfort
amenities and spaces where siblings can safely play allow a more uninterrupted
attentiveness to the patient and the medical process. For clinicians, known and
less disoriented, even if understandably apprehensive, patients and families
make far more effective partners in the healing process; in addition, precious
staff time is saved by this prior familiarity, especially at the often critical
moment of a hospital admission. All of these benefits are inherent in the
design of this hospital.
Distinguishing features
• Outpatient and inpatient care are aligned in a single
building, with outpatient clinics and inpatient rooms devoted to a particular
medical specialty located in adjacent wings of the same floor, sharing waiting
spaces.
• The building is highly integrated with its site. Extensive
outdoor spaces designed for both quiet relaxation and active play include
landscaped rooftop terraces, interactive water features, a “discovery garden”
and a lawn with an outdoor community stage for live performances.
• Delivery and service functions are located in a daylight
basement, ensuring that they do not intersect the paths of patients and
families.
Ecological impact
The 60-acre greenfield site had very little vegetation. And
as is typical in this humid subtropical region, it has a high water table. In
response, a curving ramp subtly raises the entry drive one level, allowing the
daylight basement that accommodates the delivery and service functions. This
curving gesture continues through and out the back of the building where,
planted with gardens, it slowly returns to grade at the back of the site.
Rainwater drains naturally from rooftops and site into created bioswales and
retention ponds.
In this environment, intense sun is a major concern.
Extensive solar studies not only allowed the landscape architecture to maximize
agreeably shaded outdoor spaces, but also helped determine the design and
placement of exterior shading devices that block direct sunlight while
admitting abundant natural light to the building interior.
A large team supported the design of the Nemours Children’s
Hospital, including patient-care-team consultants Bowen & Briggs, Associate
Architect: Perkins+Will, Inc., Hospital Interior Design Architect, Landscape
designers AECOM (formally Glatting Jackson), civil engineers Harris Civil Engineering,
structural engineers Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, mechanical electrical
plumbing and fire protection consultants TLC Engineering for Architecture,
lighting designers CD+M, medical equipment planners Source Atlantic, security
consultants HSJ, and fountain consultant ADE.
moderated by prior acquaintance with caregivers and the close and continual
presence of family members. For adult family members, creature-comfort
amenities and spaces where siblings can safely play allow a more uninterrupted
attentiveness to the patient and the medical process. For clinicians, known and
less disoriented, even if understandably apprehensive, patients and families
make far more effective partners in the healing process; in addition, precious
staff time is saved by this prior familiarity, especially at the often critical
moment of a hospital admission. All of these benefits are inherent in the
design of this hospital.
Distinguishing features
• Outpatient and inpatient care are aligned in a single
building, with outpatient clinics and inpatient rooms devoted to a particular
medical specialty located in adjacent wings of the same floor, sharing waiting
spaces.
• The building is highly integrated with its site. Extensive
outdoor spaces designed for both quiet relaxation and active play include
landscaped rooftop terraces, interactive water features, a “discovery garden”
and a lawn with an outdoor community stage for live performances.
• Delivery and service functions are located in a daylight
basement, ensuring that they do not intersect the paths of patients and
families.
Ecological impact
The 60-acre greenfield site had very little vegetation. And
as is typical in this humid subtropical region, it has a high water table. In
response, a curving ramp subtly raises the entry drive one level, allowing the
daylight basement that accommodates the delivery and service functions. This
curving gesture continues through and out the back of the building where,
planted with gardens, it slowly returns to grade at the back of the site.
Rainwater drains naturally from rooftops and site into created bioswales and
retention ponds.
In this environment, intense sun is a major concern.
Extensive solar studies not only allowed the landscape architecture to maximize
agreeably shaded outdoor spaces, but also helped determine the design and
placement of exterior shading devices that block direct sunlight while
admitting abundant natural light to the building interior.
A large team supported the design of the Nemours Children’s
Hospital, including patient-care-team consultants Bowen & Briggs, Associate
Architect: Perkins+Will, Inc., Hospital Interior Design Architect, Landscape
designers AECOM (formally Glatting Jackson), civil engineers Harris Civil Engineering,
structural engineers Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, mechanical electrical
plumbing and fire protection consultants TLC Engineering for Architecture,
lighting designers CD+M, medical equipment planners Source Atlantic, security
consultants HSJ, and fountain consultant ADE.