The technologically advanced inpatient unit opened in late–summer 2022 for young patients and their families.
The newly opened Guerin Children’s pediatric medical surgical inpatient unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles advances an ambitious vision for the future of children’s healthcare. Reimagined by a national multi-disciplinary team that included design firm HGA and Cedars-Sinai’s own planning, design and construction team, the unit 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. The new Guerin Children’s seeks to fill a critical gap in 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.
Located in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles, the 23,000-square-foot, 26-bed unit delivers highly specialized medical care for its patients, including a full complement of pediatric specialties such as neonatology, maternal-fetal medicine, gastroenterology, cardiac services, orthopedics, neurology, pediatric surgery and kidney transplants. Guerin Children’s also offers an array of amenities such as a playroom, a game room and a family reception and waiting area with an interactive screen that takes up much of the wall space. 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.
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.
“Guerin Children’s is a healthcare destination that transports visitors to another world through the use of technology, play and color, all while maintaining the advanced level of care for which the medical center is known,” said Bob Cull, RA, LEED AP BD+C, healthcare practice group leader at HGA and the project’s lead. “Through this space, we’ve established a precedent for the design of future pediatric facilities at Cedars-Sinai, one that is closely aligned with their core values and properly equips their medical professionals to achieve the best possible health outcomes.”
Transportive Technological Experience
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 journey starts with Guerin Children’s new dedicated entry and continues throughout the unit, as design decisions were guided by how children experience the world around them. The unit offers patients the ability to “choose their own adventure,” depending upon how they are feeling on a given day, offering welcome and positive distractions that help young patients cope with the hospital experience.
The element of patient choice is supported by state-of-the-art technology that is infused throughout the entirety of the Guerin Children’s common spaces. Children today experience the world through technology in a way that is seamlessly integrated with everyday life, and that notion is mirrored in the new unit. A full-wall interactivity screen in the large family reception and lobby waiting area allows for immersive, multi-player games that are animated by users with motion-sensing technology. In the playroom, an additional screen offers more interactive games and the ability for young patients to play with digital stickers. In the game room, a theatre-like environment offers an escape from the hospital experience with options for customizable entertainment and play. There, Guerin Children’s teenage patients can play video games and have movie screenings, surrounded by a true theatre experience with design elements that make the space a true destination—dark blue walls and floors, metallic fabric seating and starlight LEDs.
Hallway walls are also equipped with technology that can display digital artwork created by patients and professional artists alike. Furthermore, these walls can host character animations, which sense movement and “walk” alongside patients down the hallway to put them at ease. The walls also provide a physical separation between the arrival and waiting areas and the patient corridor, so that medical stations and other hospital elements that may overwhelm children are not seen immediately upon entry. The multi-functionality creates dedicated spaces where healthcare professionals can conduct their work on one side while patients interact with playful and transportive technology on the other.
Advanced technology maintains a strong presence in patient rooms as well, which have monitors for video calls to loved ones that can also be used for patients’ schooling or to watch TV. When not in active use, patients can choose artwork, including their own, to display on these monitors. This level of customization creates a space that reflects each patient’s unique personality, as they would in their own home. Each room also has a tablet that helps patients order food and allows them to control interior room lighting as well as window lighting that can be customized to a color of their choice and projects out onto the street below.
A Focus on Wellbeing
Beyond the technological components of Guerin Children’s, a variety of tangible design decisions were made to support wellness and healing as well as the comfort of patients and visitors alike. The design carefully considers the needs of the wide range of individuals who will be experiencing Guerin Children’s, including older children, teens and adult visitors. The unit is decidedly not only for young children, as the non-gendered color palette and sophisticated design elements throughout appeal to all ages. The overall design is meant to be modern and timeless, while remaining playful and engaging.
Patients of all ages receive their own room painted in one of three selected colors that start as a ribbon of bands down the corridor and continue into private rooms, providing a sort of “front door” as well as continuing the sense of identity and place. Shared spaces, like the lobby and family room, also have physical portals of color for additional interest. These common area colors are notably different from that of patient rooms to present a physical distinction. Cobalt blue and teal mark the entry, and bright aqua, yellow, purple and orange add vibrance to more active spaces.
The incorporation of biophilia is a critical component of patient wellbeing throughout Guerin Children’s. One way this is promoted is through three large ceiling lighting fixtures that mimic natural skylights which are installed at major intersections in the unit. These artificial skylights are timed to brighten and darken as the sun rises and sets, offering a sense of daylighting that is often mistaken for a true skylight.
An outdoor Healing Garden, designed by MIG, also is accessible to patients, providing a peaceful respite away from technology. Designed to have a fantastical feeling, the garden includes colorful sculptural elements such as frogs and rabbits, a leaf table, and a canopy of large steel flower sculptures in pastel yellow, green, and purple provide shade and shield views of the surrounding hospital buildings. There is sufficient space and clearance for a hospital bed to be moved into the garden, so all patients can experience the quiet, serenity of the outdoors.
“This new unit in combination with the generous gift of the Guerin family will be transformational,” said Zeke Triana, AIA, vice president of Facilities Planning, Design and Construction at Cedars-Sinai. “The design and planning creates a state-of-the-art environment of where healing and holistic care for our patients and their families are central, and where we can leverage our clinical excellence across specialties to create a continuum of care from neonates to young adults.
The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center campus is widely known for its extensive art collection, and the collection continues into the Guerin Children’s environment as another component of wellbeing. HGA worked closely with Cedars-Sinai’s curator, John T. Lange, the Cedars-Sinai Advisory Council for the Arts and an art consultant (Aesthetics), to develop a narrative that was issued to artists who were specially commissioned to create unique pieces for the space. The art infused throughout the unit not only aligns with the design, but also supports the notable art program of Cedars-Sinai with fresh, exciting new pieces meant to both engage and soothe patients. The halls display carefully curated art installations that are meant to span all ages as well as a wall of 3-D clouds. Even nurse stations in the unit display art, and patients will soon be able to contribute by sending artwork from their room tablet to be shared digitally on a rotating basis.
“The design is aspirational for patients, families and staff and a will be a catalyst for growing Guerin Children’s into the vision we’ve established,” said Sean Collins, AIA, LEED AP, Executive director of Cedars-Sinai Facilities Planning, Design and Construction. “Our goal is to always deliver an environment that achieves a level of quality consistent with the quality of care we provide. The new Guerin Children’s inpatient unit does exactly that.”
In addition to Cull, the HGA team that handled the full scope of architectural, interior and lighting design to complete the patient experience included Scott Laoboonmi, associate vice president and project manager; Erica Im, senior project coordinator; Tiera Robinson, project design lead for interior architecture and design; and Jennifer Ries, healthcare planning principal and office director.
Collaborators include, Layton Construction, Degenkolb Engineers, Affiliated Engineers, Criterion Systems, Newson Brown Acoustics, SKA Design, St. Onge Company, MIG, MGAC, Coffman Engineers, Intertek, Aesthetics, and AVI-SPL.
The project is the one of several between HGA and Cedars-Sinai in recent years, including the completion of the Samuel Oschin Cancer Center in 2020.
About HGA
HGA is a national multi-disciplinary design firm rooted in architecture and engineering. Founded in 1953, we believe that enduring, impactful design results from deep insight into the people and passions that animate each unique environment. Our 12 offices from coast to coast craft specialized teams to serve clients in education, arts, healthcare, corporate, government, community, and energy industries. Visit HGA.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.