Nemours Childrens

Hospital / Stanley Beaman

& Sears

Architects: Stanley Beaman & Sears
Location: Orlando, FL, USA
Area: 630000.0 ft2
Year: 2012
Photographs: Jonathan Hillyer

Associate Architects: Perkins + Will
Operational Consultant: Bowen & Briggs
Landscape Designers: AECOM
Civil Engineers: Harris Civil Engineering
Structural Engineers: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Mep/Fire Protection Engineers: TLC Engineering for
Architecture
Lighting Designers: CD+M
Medical Equipment Planners: Source Atlantic
Security Consultants: HSJ
Fountain Consultant: ADE
Jonathan
Hillyer
From the architect. Nemours Childrens Hospital,
situated in the Lake Nona Medical City mixed-use
development in Orlando, Florida, has set a new
design standard. Led by architect Stanley Beaman &
Sears, the new hospital and grounds are a testament
to the term healing environment evoking a life-
affirming quality sure to reassure parents and delight
children. The projects architectural solution arose out
of a collaboration with Nemours many stakeholders,
including practitioners, administrators, and a family
advisory committee of parents and children.
Jonathan
Hillyer
The hospitals philosophy is one that embraces
children across the continuum: from infancy to
adulthood, Nemours cares for children with chronic
conditions, as well as complex medical diagnoses and
life-threatening illnesses. The childrens hospital
campus is designed to both reassure and inspire,
engage and delight and the investment in landscape
in particular reflects Nemours understanding of the
role nature plays in the life of a child. During the
planning process, when core questions arose, the
design team was inspired by how often the Nemours
leadership asked simply, Whats in the best interest
of the child? cutting through debate and getting to
the heart of their priorities as an organization.
Jonathan
Hillyer
The hospitals family-centered care philosophy, led to
strategies aimed at supporting families from all walks
of life: patient rooms with overnight accommodations
for two parents, laundry facilities, and a concierge
desk in the elevator lobby of each floor to help
parents navigate a sometimes intimidating healthcare
system. Ample lounges and playrooms overlook and
give access to extensive outdoor spaces designed for
respite and recreation. These include landscaped
rooftop terraces, interactive water features, a
discovery garden and an outdoor community event
stage for live performances.
Jonathan
Hillyer
The projects 630,000-square-foot, $260-million
facility includes a landscaped entry court, 95 inpatient
beds and 76 exam rooms, emergency facilities, a
central energy plant and a parking deck. Shell space
can accommodate another 32 beds and 24 exam
rooms. The master plan anticipates expansion of
inpatient and outpatient spaces, as well as additional
medical offices, research and support facilities. The
palette of exterior materials includes precast,
terracotta, metal panels, patterned glass and
curtainwall systems. A combination of specialty
finishes and high performance materials give the
interiors a clean, modern aesthetic, and colorful
furniture and wayfinding graphics punctuate spaces
throughout. The color of patient room accent lighting
can be selected by the child, creating an ever-
changing dynamic on the buildings faade an artful
reminder of the children being cared for at Nemours.
Jonathan
Hillyer
In Orlandos subtropical environment, intense sun and
humidity were a major design concern. Extensive
solar studies resulted in shaded outdoor spaces, and
also helped determine the design and placement of
sun screens blocking direct sunlight, while admitting
abundant natural light to the interiors. In response to
the areas high water table, the architects designed a
curving ramp to raise the entry drive one level,
allowing a daylight basement that accommodates the
facilitys delivery and service functions. This gesture
also serves as a major landscape feature that
continues through the building and beyond, where it
skirts alongside outdoor garden rooms, concluding in
another landscaped destination. Both function and
feature, the honey-colored stone wall is also a
wayfinding device, giving a hierarchy to the site and
leading to and from main entries. Most notable, from a
functional standpoint, is the alignment of outpatient
and inpatient care. Outpatient clinics and inpatient
rooms devoted to a particular medical specialty are
located in adjacent wings of the same floor, enabling
a consistent care team to become familiar to children
and their families during both clinic visits and inpatient
stays. The Childrens Hospital is a smart building in
many ways: A command center monitors an array of
clinical and facility-related metrics, the technology
integration is both functional and fun, and the
sustainability goal is reaping far more rewards than
just energy savings.
Jonathan
Hillyer
The Nemours Childrens Hospital is one of only three
Childrens Hospitals in the nation to achieve LEED
Gold Certification
(http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/morning_call/201
3/07/nemours-childrens-hospital-receives.html), with
Stanley Beaman & Sears having designed two of the
three. The design team was fortunate to have a client,
in Nemours, who cared deeply about sustainability
and who understood the tangible return on that
investment in both future energy savings but also
environmental quality. Because the 60-acre greenfield
site initially had very little vegetation, Nemours put a
priority on landscaping, encouraging planting early in
the construction process, so that a mature landscape
could be created by opening day. The interior spaces
are flooded with natural light and views of nature are
abundant for children and families, as well as for staff
and support personnel. While the design of facilities
for children can easily resort to gimmick or clich, this
Childrens Hospital design avoids that tendency
entirely, striking a more authentic tone: a mature yet
lively architecture, an enriching and fresh interior
atmosphere, and a site design that celebrates the role
nature can play in the healing process.
Level 1 Plan