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Y! MyWebLiberty Campus designed to promote patients' comfort
The new neighborhood location aims to reduce stress, create a home-like atmosphere.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Construction workers install the ceiling to an entrance at Cincinnati Children's Liberty Campus, which is scheduled to open Monday, Aug. 11, 2008. The $83 million, 230,000-square-foot facility will offer pediatric speciality clinics, radiology and imaging services, therapy services, laboratory and testing, outpatient surgery and a 24-hour emergency department.Cincinnati Children's Liberty Campus abandons traditional design for innovative elements aimed at maximizing comfort for patients and their parents.
Each level of the building has its own theme — earth for the ground floor, water for the second floor and wind for the third.
Those themes are echoed in the ceilings above entrances, artwork on walls and patterns on floors.
Color-coded lines mark specific clinics and departments, helping guests and employees navigate the facility. Color schemes stick to pastel blue, yellow and orange.
"We kept it very soft, very warm," said Renee Redmon, senior associate of marketing and communications. "It's modern and it's retro."
An open floor plan throughout the building encourages movement while helping to minimize anxiety over unseen areas.
Floor-to-ceiling windows on every floor, even in elevators and stairwells, allow patients to see out without the outside world looking in.
"The large amount of natural light provides a real at home feeling," spokeswoman Maureen Richmond said.
Modern fixtures toward the facility's interior produce soft, filtered light.
To reduce stress for children who might already be nervous about their trip to the facility, surgery entrances and exits are separate. Prior to surgery, parents can sit with their child in induction rooms and provide reassurance as anesthesia takes effect.
Outpatient recovery rooms do away with doorways, utilizing curtains instead.
"You've got a more welcoming, more comfortable environment that provides you some privacy without walling you off," Richmond said.
Outside the building's second-floor entrance, guests can stroll down a winding path through a garden with 48 types of plants.
As the facility's needs change, so can its layout and design, Redmon said.
Instead of being affixed to the floor via permanent moorings, furniture inside Liberty Campus is mobile. The building's third floor has room for expansion and a fourth floor may be added, if necessary.
