Warren Design

Waiting and Play Spaces

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh

2015-2019

A project with William Warren

In 2015 Daniel and his brother William Warren (www.williamwarren.co.uk/) won a competitive tender to design environments, furniture and play activities within the waiting areas of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

The project aimed to enhance the waiting areas and play rooms within the new building and in so doing support the experience of patients as they negotiated the physical and emotional experience of waiting, treatment and staying in hospital. The spaces forming the project comprised of the main outpatient waiting area in the central atrium known as the Pod, the Emergency Room waiting area and 20 smaller waiting and play rooms dispersed throughout the hospital over 3 floors.

 

Workshops with the nurses and play assistants at the existing hospital emphasised the need for fun, friendly and stimulating environments along with calm activities that would offer short term distraction whilst children waited. There was a strong desire to link the new building situated at Little France on the outskirts of the city to the more familiar sites of central Edinburgh where the original much loved ‘Sick Kids’ hospital was located. Together with a concept of ‘Journeys of the Imagination’ structures, furniture, AV exhibits and sculptures were developed which referenced the distinctive architecture of Edinburgh but with a fantastical and humorous twist.

 

The tall space of the central Pod gave the opportunity for large statement installations which would create a suitable wow factor. A series of ‘arch’ structures were designed along with stand alone installations and large murals based on iconic Edinburgh landmarks. The structures incorporated seating, desks, interactive touchscreens along with hidden peephole sculptures and details within the illustrations for children to discover.

 

Artist Emily Hogarth (https://emilyhogarth.com/) was selected to provide illustrations across the project. Workshops were held with local children who were asked to draw imaginary buildings from a fantasy Edinburgh. The results were buildings made of ice cream, teacup towers, space rockets and a multitude of animals, aliens and monsters.  Inspired by the children’s creations, Emily created her own interpretation of the Edinburgh skyline. Many features are instantly recognizable, but on closer inspection unexpected details start to appear, designed especially for children to discover.

 

High up on a ledge is Edinburgh Castle, re-imagined as a sleeping dragon. The Balmoral Clocktower is given the theme of the changing seasons. In the centre of the Pod is the Scott Memorial, transformed into a rocket, ready to blast off into space. Each of these installations feature colour changing lighting which can be controlled from a touchscreen terminal in the Pod.

 

Led by William Warren, a range of furniture was designed specifically with children in mind. This included storage cabinets with built in ‘Edinburgh doors’, comfy family sofas, Orkney chairs for children looking for some privacy and deer stools that can be used for study. The furniture was proto-typed and manufactured by Teal Healthcare (www.teal.co.uk/). The bespoke play activities for younger children and built into some of the furniture units were built by SpaceKraft (www.spacekraft.co.uk).  

 

Touzie Tyke (www.touzietyke.com/) were selected to provide Augmented Reality (AR) software accessed via touchscreens mounted within the arch structures. Users can control a virtual dragon flying around the Pod, feed flocks of digital birds, spray paint walls and blow hot air balloons around the space. Poetry was also commissioned and recorded so that it plays when certain ‘poetry seats’ are occupied.

 

Artist and maker Guy Bishop (www.guybishop.com/) made a series of ‘Mini-World’ automata sculptures featuring famous local characters such as Greyfriars Bobby, Dolly the Sheep, a busking bagpipe player and the penguins at Edinburgh zoo. Children can discover these sculptures behind peepholes hidden in the arch structures.

 

The project was funded through a combination of ‘core construction’ funding and additional grant and donated funding which was generously given to NHS Lothian by two Edinburgh charities, the Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation and The Sick Kids Friends Foundation. Both organisations played an active role of the development of the design solutions.The project was managed by Ginkgo Projects (https://www.ginkgoprojects.co.uk/).

After a series delays due to basebuild issues the hospital is due to fully open in Spring 2021.