"I was astounded at the emotional experiential feeling that the space gave to me," commented a member of the jury upon return from a site visit. "I think it's a real project of social significance."

Administrators of the Texas Children's Hospital, a 41-year-old pediatric institution, realized they needed a new facility to meet the business objectives of the hospital in the changing health-care market. Design goals included increasing customer satisfaction through decreased waiting times and to recruit/retain quality staff. FKP Architects worked with the client to create an outpatient design that was flexible enough to meet changing needs and still be cost-effective, create a family-friendly environment to calm fears and reduce stress, and enhance the hospitals image within the community.

The highly collaborative design process included weekly meetings with the board of trustees, a building steering committee, nine meetings with each of 50 departments to develop individual spaces, and a patient advisory board review. Clinic floors are organized around two-story, color-coded geometric play shapes that help grownups with way finding and carve out check-in and play spaces for kids. The new building facilitated concurrent new business procedures, such as "timeshares" of clinical space by several physicians using the same exam rooms during different time slots.

Following seven months of operation four measurable improvements are already evident.
• A 19-percent jump in exam room use now allows collaboration among physicians treating the same patient.
• The benchmark of optimal registration time for patients increased from 69 percent to 94 percent in three months.
• Although designed to handle a 4 percent annual increase in the number of patients, a 9 percent annual increase was accommodated without need for additional staffing or building modifications.
• Physician feedback shows that they feel more productive and that the space promotes collegiality.

"The architects and the hospital collaborated to create a unique, wonderful place on the inside, and a functional, practical hospital," the jury reported. "The interior of this building was its most successful part."

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.