Firm: ZGF Architects

Project Name: Seattle Children’s, Building Care: Diagnostic and Treatment Facility

Project Statement: Transformative Care:
What does transformative care look and feel like? For children and families, it means starting and ending their hospital journey with ease so they can focus on the care, not the process. For physicians and staff, it means optimizing their work environment so they can focus on what’s important—patient care—while having dedicated amenities and respite spaces close by. As the new front door to this children’s facility, that’s exactly what this building is designed for.

The project represents the dedication of hundreds of employees, families, project team partners, and community members, who came together over the course of 18 months and 55 immersive planning and design workshops to inform the design of a flexible, high performance, patient centered model of care. Broad user engagement helped the team understand what patients and families need before, during, and after their care. The design ensures they have the right information, resources, and amenities to support their journey at every step—from scheduling and appointment prep, to their campus arrival, discharge, and return home. By designing the building to meet users most basic needs, they can spend less time figuring out where to go and focus on healing.

Creating Connections Across Campus:
As phase two of a one-million-square-foot campus expansion outlined in this children’s facility long-range master plan, it brings the hospital one step closer to maximizing development capacity on campus amidst historic and anticipated growth. With eight floors above ground and three levels of underground parking, the project adds eight new operating suites, two catheterization labs, 20 flexible inpatient rooms, a new outpatient Cancer and Blood Disorders Clinic (CBDC), outpatient infusion center, retail pharmacy, inpatient pharmacy, laboratories, and sterile processing space. The building connects to phase one, an inpatient bed tower and emergency department designed by the same team. A future third phase will bookend the building with another bed tower.

A key design driver was to connect physically and programmatically to the rest of campus, which is built on a hillside. Unlike a traditional, vertically stacked hospital campus, the project needed to maximize horizontal connectivity across the sloped site. For example, treatment spaces are located adjacent to the inpatient beds next door, enabling patients to be moved horizontally via the shortest distance possible. This brings critical diagnostic, treatment services, and surgery care closer to high-acuity patients.

A Cohesive Experience:
From a wayfinding perspective, the new “Discovery Trail” is what ties together all four zones within the hospital—Forest, River, Mountain, and Ocean—into one cohesive experience. Starting in the Forest zone, this project creates major horizontal connections, or trails, on Level 3 to the rest of lower campus and on Level 7 to the rest of upper campus. The name alludes to the Pacific Northwest trails that inspire and connect users to the natural habitats after which the zones are named. It also references the discoverable moments found along the trail, such as artwork and interactive design elements. The Story Pole, created by Native American artist Shaun Qwalsius Peterson, is not only a gathering point at the new front door but the beginning of this comprehensive wayfinding story. A large trail map in the lobby illustrates how the four zones connect and identifies the easiest path for families to take.

Story of Giving:
More than 10 years in the making, the project gives care teams the space they need to provide lifesaving and life-changing treatments, surgeries, and procedures to even more patients in the coming years. The design also helps this children’s facility integrate more breakthrough research into the clinical care environment as they tirelessly work toward cures. This story of giving and receiving care, regardless of a family's ability to pay, is represented in the Forest interior design concept. Both the physical design and the direct results of patient care and research reflect how the forest constantly gives back—from how trees share resources with one another, to how animals work together to support the overall ecosystem.

Starting in the lobby, the Forest story unfolds like rings of a tree, representing the strong foundation that supports patients and families. Wood details, organic textures and patterns, and other forest-friendly elements instill a sense of warmth and wonder. These details reveal themselves as families move throughout the building, from tiny paw prints embedded in the terrazzo floors, to wood slat carvings around the seating nooks and niches, to large-scale wall murals in waiting areas and corridors. The artwork and graphics evoke a sense of whimsy and discovery to comfort kids on their journey.

New Models of Care:
The new Cancer and Blood Disorders Clinic (CBDC) features universal patient rooms that allow a multidisciplinary team of providers and staff from this children’s facility and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (formerly SCCA) to work side by side in one space, minimizing travel and disruption for patients, who can spend up to eight hours receiving outpatient care in one day.

To streamline surgical care, universal operating suites allow any surgeon to operate, regardless of specialty or case type. New histology and pathology labs are located near the ORs to support the most complex cases. The design facilitates conversation between surgeons and pathologists in real time, allowing faster processing of specimens and reducing the time a patient is sedated. The ORs and catheterization labs also feature induction rooms, allowing family members to stay with their child as long as possible before they’re sedated.

Supporting and Uplifting Staff:
Back-of-house and staff respite spaces are designed with the same attention to detail as patient and family spaces to support care teams in an emotionally demanding environment. Labs and sterile processing spaces, which are often relegated to basements or interior spaces, are intentionally placed on the perimeter with floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize daylight and views. The innerworkings of the hospital are illuminated from the outside-in to put care on display.

Helping this children’s facility Meet its Sustainability Goals:
The project meets nearly all available LEED low carbon credits. Interior finishes meet both performance and sustainability requirements, including low-emitting, LEED compliant materials that adhere to the hospital’s standard palette of paint and finishes. The Healthier Hospitals standards were applied wherever possible, such as PVC-free flooring, wall protection, and furniture. State of the art MEP systems provide the highest level of safety, comfort, and efficiency while reducing the hospital’s environmental footprint.

Designing for Wellbeing and Belonging:
Thoughtfully scaled spaces with integrated wayfinding elements break down the family journey, making the building easier to navigate. Spaces are sized to support individual families and allow choice within the options. A wayfinding icon system indicates which spaces are public and more engaging, such as gathering spaces, or quieter spaces that allow for more privacy and decompression. Daylight and views are maximized in public and back-of-house spaces alike, a significant improvement for staff who often work in interior spaces. Inclusive gender-neutral restrooms, a nondenominational chapel, and ramps rather than feature stairs, also foster a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

Creating a Restorative, Nature-Rich Environment:
The site design includes a native prairie landscape, showcasing the regional natural history while providing dense forage opportunities for pollinators and birds. The “forest floor” pedestrian corridor between the project and the building behind it offers places of respite amongst the rich textured plantings native to the Olympic Forest. The project is also certified SalmonSafe.

Victoria Nichols
Partner
Allyn Stellmacher
Partner
Todd Stine
Partner
Kari Thorsen
Principal
Tobin Thompson
Principal
Mark Gesinger
Principal
Craig Rizzo
Principal
Haruka Saito
Principal
• Kendall Strong, Associate Principal
• Gordon Metzger, Associate Principal
• Tony Delles, Associate Principal
• Ryan Marzo, Associate Principal
• Rosemary Carraher, Associate Principal
• Bethany Childress, Associate Principal
• Chris Peterson, Associate Principal
• Kazuya Mizuno, Associate Principal
• Fiona Booth, Associate Principal
• Mackenzie Elrod, Associate
• Matthew Rothlisberger, Associate
• Justin Rabe, Associate
• Maiko Terao, Associate
• Julie Ramsey, Associate
• Robin Wilder, Associate
• Michelle Montgomery, Associate
• Charlotte Jolly, Associate
• Jeff Chin, Associate
• Catie Bausinger, Associate
• Alyssa Stein, Associate
• Ashley Dimick, Associate
• Paulina Gaurys, Associate
• Ryan Galliford, Associate
• Wenwei Wu, Associate
• Lauren Wabiszewski, Associate
• Kristi Hope, Associate
• Ron Corniels
• Sonja Carlisle
• Maggie Hart
• Scott Simpson

General Contractor | Sellen Construction | Shanna Dennis | Director, Project Management

Wayfinding/Environmental Graphics | Studio SC | Mark Sanders | Principal

Mechanical/Plumbing Engineer and Sustainability Consultant | Affiliated Engineers, Inc. | Jim Sokol | Principal

Electrical Engineer and Lighting Designer | Stantec | Michael Newbury | Senior Principal

Civil/Structural Engineer | Coughlin Porter Lundeen | Steve Savage | Principal

Landscape Design | Site Workshop | Jim Keller | Principal

Owner’s Representative/Project Manager | Seneca Group | Clint Cameron | Development Manager