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. For our design, 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.
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 an...