The newly remodeled pediatric unit at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital is part of the hospital’s ongoing program to comply with California Seismic Safety Regulations (SB 1953), as well as to upgrade its services and provide patients with optimum care.

The program called for the relocation of the existing unit from a nonconforming building to the fourth floor of the Perry Pavilion—a bed tower completed by the architects in 1994—by remodeling an existing medical/surgical bed floor into a 32-bed pediatric unit.

The conversion involved adding isolation rooms, a soundproof treatment room, a four-bed observation room with family room, a pediatric tub room, and a children’s playroom to the existing patient rooms.

In addition, significant interior design changes were made to transform an adult unit into a child-friendly environment. The theme of travel was selected to stimulate children’s minds, as well as to promote and hasten the healing process.

The nurses’ stations were rebuilt using Corian, translucent plastics, and backlighting to provide a noninstitutional character. The corridors were transformed into fantasy worlds with photomurals (real photographs superimposed onto vinyl wallcoverings), inset carpet, and paint. From the time they step off the elevator, children are transported on an airplane ride through the surf and sun of the tropics, underwater in a coral reef, into the depths of intergalactic space, and through the jungles of Africa. The imaginary trip ends on an airstrip in the clouds, complete with working landing lights.

Project category: Remodel/Renovation (completed March 2006)

Chief administrator: James West, CEO, (562) 698-0811

Firm: RBB Architects, Inc., (310) 473-3555

Design team: Joel Jaffe, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, Principal-in-Charge; Roy Holman, AIA, LEED AP, Project Manager; Annie Laurie Becket, NCIDQ, Interior Designer; Leilani Chirino, Assistant Interior Designer; Xavier Garcia, LEED AP, Project Architect; Joseph Ma, Construction Administrator

Photography: © RMA Photography, Inc.; RBB Architects, Inc. (before views)

Total building area (sq. ft.): 19,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $89

Total construction cost (excluding land): $1,700,000