Kinder caring

February 24, 2010 at 8:40 am
Filed under Healthcare, Signage, Wayfinding

Amsterdam’s Emma Children’s Hospital is undergoing a major renovation to improve services and facilities for its young patients, from infants to adolescents. OPERA Amsterdam is tasked with interiors for the spaces, and the first newly renovated unit, Infants Care and Staff, opened last month.

Working with design architects OD205, OPERA conceived three layers of space representing different levels of intimacy: the most private area, around the patients; the immediate surroundings; and the space representing the patients’ relation to the outside world. The “parade,” or main corridor through the unit, is key to the design, acting like a high street in a small town. A bright but sophisticated color scheme leads patients and visitors to their destinations, with clear wayfinding signage on wall-mounted signs and on the floors. Commissioned work by international artists adds texture and whimsy and helps avoid an institutional feeling. –P.M.K.

Photos: Mike Bink