Swedish Medical Center ~ Pediatric Therapy Services
"Swedish Pediatric Therapy Services, located on the First Hill campus, offers a complete spectrum of physical, occupational and speech therapy services in a spacious, stimulating facility especially designed for children ages newborn to teen. Highly skilled and experienced pediatric therapists are dedicated to providing the best possible treatment for children with special needs. Their therapists work with children to help them recover from serious injuries or overcome certain aspects of long-term disabilities." Current description after design.
heather lowe DESIGN became involved with SPTS when they moved from their cramped quarters to a newly renovated space within the main hospital and needed new artwork. The budget was minimal. During my research of the clinic's services, staff and clients, it was evident that daily life could be very stressful for parents, afflicted children and also the staff. It would be best if this intense medical environment could be enlivened in a major way to entertain, fascinate and de-stress visitors.
Innovation to Enhance the Human Experience
Instead of designing to the puny budget I enlisted an architectural artist to co-create a computer-generated graphics adventure story enveloping the entire space. We presented the concept in detail on boards to clinic executives who fell in love with it. Swedish went and found the significant funding to execute.
The design concept transformed an ordinary hospital floor into a special world just for the clinic. The reception area was transformed into a station where visitors arrive on the Paradise Express train. The elevators were made to look like a real train with authentic train design specs. Since the patient families are multi-cultural, I selected animals to play the role of humans so that visuals didn't offend or
exclude anyone.
The journey was depicted in digital visuals in a combination of very large 3D mounted elements and murals along the two main walls. As you enter the doors to "Paradise" there is a water adventure on the right side and a land adventure on the left side. All the stories within the adventure include humor combined with real-life environments and feature animal characters.
The waiting room where parents stay was decorated with tropical imagery from Hawaii to create an atmosphere of a lovely vacation. A custom, contemporary northwest forest scene was created for the clinic's gym. A sophisticated sports and dancing mural was created for the teen therapy room to make the teens comfortable in a child-focused environment. For the staff dining room a custom French Café mural was created to "virtually" transport staff to the outside world during breaks.
Research with staff identified the top 8 cultures and languages of those who spent time at the clinic. I had good-bye translated into those languages and printed the words across the exit doors.
Innovation to Enhance the Human Experience
Instead of designing to the puny budget I enlisted an architectural artist to co-create a computer-generated graphics adventure story enveloping the entire space. We presented the concept in detail on boards to clinic executives who fell in love with it. Swedish went and found the significant funding to execute.
The design concept transformed an ordinary hospital floor into a special world just for the clinic. The reception area was transformed into a station where visitors arrive on the Paradise Express train. The elevators were made to look like a real train with authentic train design specs. Since the patient families are multi-cultural, I selected animals to play the role of humans so that visuals didn't offend or
exclude anyone.
The journey was depicted in digital visuals in a combination of very large 3D mounted elements and murals along the two main walls. As you enter the doors to "Paradise" there is a water adventure on the right side and a land adventure on the left side. All the stories within the adventure include humor combined with real-life environments and feature animal characters.
The waiting room where parents stay was decorated with tropical imagery from Hawaii to create an atmosphere of a lovely vacation. A custom, contemporary northwest forest scene was created for the clinic's gym. A sophisticated sports and dancing mural was created for the teen therapy room to make the teens comfortable in a child-focused environment. For the staff dining room a custom French Café mural was created to "virtually" transport staff to the outside world during breaks.
Research with staff identified the top 8 cultures and languages of those who spent time at the clinic. I had good-bye translated into those languages and printed the words across the exit doors.
A pioneering blend of technology + art + materials + psychology
Clinic Gym Full Wall Mural
