Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Advancing Children's Healthcare with Immersive Design

The new Guerin Children’s inpatient unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles advances an ambitious vision for the future of children’s healthcare. This new pediatrics facility is a centerpiece location of the new Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s, launched with a gift from the Shapell Guerin Family. Located in the Beverly Grove neighborhood, the 23,000-square-foot, 26-bed unit supports highly specialized medical care for its patients.

Reimagined by a multi-disciplinary design team from HGA, in collaboration with Cedars-Sinai, the new facility combines advanced clinical care, leading-edge pediatric research and forward-looking physician education and training for the benefit of children of all ages and their families. Guerin Children’s offers highly specialized care for young patients in Los Angeles and beyond—where each patient’s holistic experience is viewed as an important aspect of care, critical to their healing outcomes.

Every aspect of the design of Guerin Children’s is meant to immerse patients and their families into a new world of care by providing portals of engagement for escape and respite that promote healing. The design transports visitors to another world using technology, play and color. The incorporation of biophilia, and a fantastical outdoor healing garden that accommodates hospital beds, balances the technology and provides every patient an opportunity to experience nature.

The design meets Cedars-Sinai’s desire for all the campus to be sophisticated, modern and timeless while whimsical and engaging for this patient population. Finishes, furniture, color, and artwork were chosen to address the needs of diverse age ranges, from young children to teens, and adult visitors. Patient and family amenities include a playroom, game room and a family reception and waiting area with an interactive screen that covers much of the wall.

In line with Guerin Children’s values of nurturing and sensitivity, each patient room is a “safe zone,” meaning no treatment or procedures occur in the rooms themselves. Each patient room also includes abundant family space so that patients can have their support teams by their side. There also is a family lounge with kitchenette, showers for family members and furniture in each room that can be converted into beds. Every patient room is furnished with a full pullout bed as well as a reclining easy chair that lies flat so two adults, whether parents or other caregivers, can comfortably stay overnight with their child-patient.

Rounding out the unit are staff workspaces, including large nurse stations with collaborative areas for teaming, a conference room, a large staff lounge and respite rooms to provide a staff-focused work environment as well as support advanced medical education.

The project was the 2023 IIDA International Design Award winner in the hospital-pediatrics category and is the one of several between HGA and Cedars-Sinai in recent years, including the Samuel Oschin Cancer Center in 2020.