Firm: Starbucks

Project Name: Starbucks at Seattle Children's Hospital - River Building

Project Statement: This cafe is a new, secure access location within a children's hospital after the previous café was displaced by hospital renovations and expansion.

The care and comfort that the hospital puts towards children inspired the team to design a welcoming and nurturing cafe environment.

During construction, a temporary kiosk served customers for one year. In this time, the kiosk had a large quantity of mobile orders (55+%), creating a need for a dedicated mobile order station with an order status board.

Extensive coordination between the cross-functional project team and the hospital was required to ensure the cafe fit seamlessly within the hospital’s renovation. The infrastructure, terrazzo flooring, ceiling, signage, entry locations, and material palettes were just a few of the key components.

Localization was essential to the project’s success as the café acts as a respite for the patients, families, and staff of the hospital and sets the stage for an uplifting experience. The cafe is an important destination within the complex with its multiple seating types and softer atmosphere; a higher percentage of accessible seating options and wider aisles were also incorporated for inclusivity. Design decisions such as having large openings instead of doors between the hospital corridor and cafe all contribute to the effortless user experience the team was trying to achieve.

The use of curved forms throughout the walls, furniture, and bar complements the conceptual, flowing layout of the hospital’s main corridor and the river-themed building. A calming palette of green, caramel, and warm wood tones balances out the hospital building’s color theme of yellow, red and orange, while a custom mural by a local artist is playful and brings both the cafe's and hospital's palettes together. The artist's mural also showcases a variety of characters and objects from the region.



Ryan Wong
Store Design Manager
Bret Lewis
Senior Designer












Wendy Wu - Store Design Manager
Annette Rogers - Senior Design Manager
Danielle Lancaster - Store Development Manager
James Heizer - Construction Project Manager
Bekki Williams - Associate Construction Project Manager

Casework | DisplayIt Inc. | Justin Parker | Division Manager - Starbucks Program

General Contractor | Edwards Construction Group | Rob Edwards | Project Manager

General Contractor | Edwards Construction Group | Jodi Coon | Superintendent