Seattle Children’s Behavioral Health Unit

Seattle, Washington

ZGF Architects LLP
Lead Interior Designer, Medical Planning Team

Awards

Award of Merit, Behavioral Health Design Showcase, Healthcare Design Magazine, 2016

Designed to convey a sense of hope and optimism, this vibrant, light filled 2-story, 16,000 sf expansion focuses on humanizing behavioral health patient care. The project was planned and designed using LEAN process improvement methods to support innovation in the care of children and adolescents with a wide range of diagnoses including autism, mood and eating disorders.   The design includes flexibility and variety in daily life activities to help kids and their families stabilize and normalize healthy behaviors of self-management and self-care in an environment of compassion and respect for the individual. A bright palette of colors and soft, sculptural furniture help to create spaces that reflect qualities of joy and whimsy while maintaining the level of safety required. Specific methods of installation conceal safety hardware connections that make similar spaces feel institutional and demoralizing. Every surface here functions to enhance safety and positively impact the quality of experience. Walls are clad in built-proof materials to withstand high activity, acoustic flooring systems deaden sound and tune-able light fixtures provide staff the opportunity to change the character of the space in response to patient needs, time of day or escalation management, creating an environment of restorative calm.