In 2004, after decades of operating from a site in central Denver, The Children's Hospital in central Denver announced it was moving to the new Fitzsimmons complex in Aurora, Colorado. Denver-based Arthouse Design was commissioned to create a signage and wayfinding program for the new, 1.44 million-square-foot Children's Hospital complex and surrounding site.
“Our job was to work with management and employees to develop a wayfinding program for the new complex that was both colorful and functional. In fact, Children's Hospital management repeatedly told us, ‘You cannot make our color palette bright enough’,” says Marty Gregg, Arthouse Design principal and founder.
In addition, the Arthouse Design team's wayfinding program needed to complement the architecture, which had a “regional nature” theme. “Obviously, when you're doing a nature theme in Colorado, you don't use dolphins and pelicans,” says Gregg. “You use icons like buffalo, trout, and pronghorn deer, and you hitch a ride on what exists in the region.”
The team also worked closely with Children's Hospital management on what not to do. “Children's Hospital has done lots of testing with kids about what feels good, and we incorporated that information into our designs,” notes Gregg. “For example, we learned early on to never design anything with clouds and stars because terminally ill kids associate those images with heaven. It sends a shiver up your spine when you hear that.”
Total wayfinding program
Arthouse Design developed wayfinding and signage for the exterior site, parking garage, building interiors, and a donor-recognition signage system. The main design challenges were three-fold.
First, Children's Hospital signage needed to honor the adjacent University Hospital signage program, yet communicate the Children's Hospital personality.
Second, because the hospital complex is situated right on Colfax Avenue (a state highway), signs could not be located any closer than 60 feet to Colfax Avenue, and had to conform to size limitations.
Third, the location of the Children's Hospital Emergency room posed challenges. “If you are coming from the west, you have to turn in before you get to the ER, or you have to drive past the ER and turn in, and head back toward it. That could not be changed,” says Gregg. The solution was to meet with the design review board and get special permission to put red emergency room information on the current signs located near Colfax Avenue.
Arthouse also found a way to provide a huge visual cue to frantic parents rushing a child to Children's Hospital emergency services. Since the facility was not allowed to locate signage right near Colfax Avenue and had to observe size limitations, the firm obtained approval to put the Children's Hospital signature logo-a child holding a bunch of balloons-high up on the side of the main hospital building. The “Children's Hospital Child” logo was crafted into a three-dimensional, 18-foot-high, illuminated sculpture that's attached to the building five stories up.
Once it was fabricated, the sculpture was hooked through pre-drilled glass to the fifth floor structural supports. Then, conduit was run through the fifth floor supports to provide wiring for the illumination.
Exterior signage
Arthouse Design created exterior monolith signage in two basic versions: One with a sandstone-slab base topped with aluminum accents, and the other with brightly colored, curved rectangular boxes with three-dimensional lettering. Building entrance monoliths feature a brick base blended with vertical aluminum frames with inset glass and three-dimensional lettering.
Comments
Post new comment