ESa
EBD Goals
To create a warm welcoming, familiar, calming wellness setting with appropriate sensory experiences to help relieve anxiety of young patients. Guiding principles were developed to achieve the client's desired nurturing and healing environment.
Overview
This outpatient specialty clinic diagnoses and treats children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental conditions. Inspired by the surrounding heavily wooded site, the center’s freestanding treehouse-themed design creates a comfortable, relatable environment for children.
The clinic has multiple entrances with a dedicated entry for behavioral health services on the first floor. The main entry on the second floor provides access to therapy clinics, physical therapy and sensory integration gyms. This floor also houses administrative areas for family support services, public lobby and cafe amenities. The third floor features a subspecialty clinic and shell space for future growth.
Challenge
The client and designer relationship began with site tours to similar centers across the country along with interviews to gain knowledge about lessons learned. Parent and caregiver focus groups were held to determine the pediatric needs. Research indicates that children on the autism spectrum can easily become agitated when faced with bright colors, florescent lighting, loud noises and unrecognizable abstract forms. These distractors were taken into account during design. Another challenge was to create spaces that support interaction while melding safety and comfort into this specialized pediatric environment without being intrusive to the patients.
Solution
Wood and stone materials and key architectural features connect to the natural landscape. Exterior portal elements mimic the holes in the floor or roof of a treehouse, while interior skylights also incorporate similar portal elements. Window portals, installed at varying heights, allow children to peer into the lobby from clinic spaces. A whimsical tree sculpture spans the height of the three-story lobby.
The building's three floors represent levels typically seen in a forest: forest floor, understory layer and canopy layer. The sloping site provided an opportunity to create two dedicated entrances to serve patient populations. The north main entrance on the second level, serving patients who have frequent visits for various therapies, features a 40-foot tree replica on axis with an existing historic tree on the site. The south's first level entrance, utilizing calming brown tones, is for children on the autism spectrum or that have other behavioral health diagnoses.
- Color – use of a whimsical, but not overwhelming color palette.
- Neutral tones were used rather than jarring colors.
- Soft and comfortable finishes were incorporated.
- Exam rooms and care spaces were designed to emulate residential spaces.
- Ample natural light flows into the public spaces, exam rooms and treatment areas and is supplemented with uniform artificial lighting.
- Circulation is simple with no blind spots.
- Carpeted flooring masks distracting sounds in the first level lobby.
Other child-focused design features, meeting program needs and safety requirements, include:
- Turning support beams into tree-like structures
- Coordinating wall vinyls with room names
- Incorporating a tree sculpture into stair landings
- Including child-height commodes
- Including a sensory integration room
- A large gym and smaller therapy rooms, and
- A crawler therapy gym for children not yet walking
Results
Shortly after the April 2019 opening, the Institute's Executive Director Terri Woodruff observed, "The treehouse design refocuses the child's attention from the usual fear of a sterile doctor's office to the natural browns, greens and blues of the wall vinyl featuring playful forest animals. Medical details are hidden. Children with autism relate to patterns, and the gray cobblestone patterns in the carpeting give them a focal point when they look down, as they typically do. Using the carpet design for wayfinding, the patterns slowly transition into a more solid color as a child reaches a destination."
Affirmation of the center's design was given by a young patient who said, "Hey, Ms. Terri, I am here to see the Treehouse Doctor."
Post-occupancy data from customer satisfaction surveys conducted by the National Research Center are being gathered. The surveys will provide feedback on design functionality, response to the built environment and lessons learned. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has hampered data collection.