PHOTO TOUR: Yale Child Study Center
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
Adapting a former telephone company building into the new Yale Child Study Center required removing miles of cabling. With limited areas where the ceiling heights could be raised, the existing structure dictated where to locate waiting areas and circulation spaces such as a Main Street corridor.
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
Both patient care and family support areas throughout the facility feature integrated art with nature themes. Wayfinding elements also incorporate the nature theme. For example, rooms feature names like “Forest A-227.”
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
The lightbox features in the hallways of patient care areas link thematically to the appropriate nature-inspired wayfinding motif. Integrated artwork on the third floor follows guidelines and standards for office space set by the university.
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
Colors and finishes were chosen to evoke the natural world. For example, in this waiting area, curvilinear architectural forms, LED pendants, and blue finishes evoke the sky.
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
The stairway from the lobby to the main waiting area features a colorful overhead sculpture depicting a shimmering school of fish, which introduces the nature theme that continues throughout the center.
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
The main waiting room features a ceiling installation of white curvilinear acoustic panels on a blue ceiling to suggest the sky. Furnishings and finishes evoke a forest, as does a full-height tree “sculpture” composed of wood veneer and laminate, which disguises a structural column.
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
Nature themes and biophilic design elements are also found in smaller family waiting rooms, such as thematic finishes, built-in banquettes, and whimsical pouf seating. For the “forest”-themed waiting room, for example, a picnic table and Adirondack chairs evoke outdoor experiences.
Woodruff/Brown Architectural Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners
Wherever possible, openings were introduced in the building façade for new windows. This third-floor employee kitchenette-breakroom amenity offers plentiful daylight.
A new facility at Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) in New Haven, Conn., brings all staff and operations under one roof in a space that supports clinical and research activity for children’s behavioral health.
Previously, patients were treated at multiple locations around New Haven including the Yale School of Medicine, with research being conducted at separate facilities. Now housed in a 55,500-square-foot building that was a former telephone company, YCSC functions as the department of child psychiatry for both Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine.
The center offers outpatient services on its first floor, family support and patient care on the second floor, and research and administrative offices on the third floor. Research spaces, huddle rooms, and employee amenities that are designed to foster collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas. Staff may use the conference rooms for formal meetings and presentations, or conduct breakout sessions and other kinds of informal meetings in the break room. The third floor is also used by in-home service providers, school outreach program developers, and support groups for parents.
Architecturally integrated artwork, added window openings for daylight and exterior views, and nature themes incorporated into public spaces and wayfinding elements combine to produce a welcoming atmosphere. For example, the main waiting room features a ceiling installation of white curvilinear panels against a blue ceiling that suggests the sky, while a full-height tree “sculpture” made of wood veneer and laminate hides a structural column.
Additionally, an overhead sculpture of a school of fish hangs above the lobby’s main staircase. Wayfinding elements also incorporate a nature theme with rooms named after geographic areas such as the forest.
Project details:
Facility name: Yale Child Study Center
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Completion date: October 2019
Owner: Yale University
Total building area: 55,500 sq. ft.
Total const. cost: N/A
Cost/sq. ft.: N/A
Architecture firm: Svigals + Partners
Interior design: Svigals + Partners
General contractor: Standard Builders
Engineering: AHA Consulting Engineers
Builder: Standard Builders
Art consultant: Nancy Samotis of Art for Healing Environments
