Click to enlarge

The new Alberta Children’s Hospital (ACH), which opens in mid-September 2006, has become an instant design benchmark thanks to its unique child-friendly design approach, lead by Prime Consultant, Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd (Kasian). As one of Canada’s leading integrated architecture and interior design firms, Kasian’s experience in health care design is helping ACH set a new standard in family-centred care - care that offers the ideal patient and family experience, creating and delivering the most advanced pediatric care hospital in North America.

Located in Calgary, Alberta on the University of Calgary campus, ACH will be the hub of the Alberta Children’s Healthcare Network, serving southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and southeastern British Columbia. Every year, nearly half a million patients, ranging from newborn babies to 18-year-olds are cared for at the hospital.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital promotes a philosophy of family-centred care, recognizing children often heal better in their own home environment. As a result, many patients are seen as outpatients. They come to the hospital for appointments with specialists and health care teams and then go home at the end of their visit. The staff and physicians at the hospital share a passionate commitment to treat children with patience, respect and sensitivity to their individual needs.

Click to enlarge

Click Images to Enlarge

Kasian’s approach and philosophy, Life Enhanced by Design, connects people with their environment and enhances their experience through the spaces it creates. In the case of the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Kasian’s challenge was to design a hospital that was user friendly and could accommodate future advances in health care.

Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd (Kasian) is one of Canada’s largest integrated design firms. Kasian is known for creating architecture, interior design, and planning solutions that enhance life by design – connecting people with their environment and enhancing their experience. Kasian has five offices located in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Vancouver with expertise in seven areas: education; health care; interior design; programming; public and recreation; transportation; and urban development.

“Our approach was to design a hospital for the future that did not look or feel like something you would typically expect to see in a hospital,” said Jim Ebbels, principal and head of the Calgary Health Studio of Kasian and partner in charge of the project team for the hospital. “The result of the design process is a world-class care facility that is focused on the patients. We believe the design will reduce anxieties and offer comfort and support to families who are going through difficult times.”

Kasian used the input and feedback received from kids, parents, healthcare providers, and hospital user groups to design and build the new hospital which is unlike any other children’s hospital in North America. The firm worked with the numerous hospital stakeholders including Calgary Health Region, the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, as well as The Institute for Family-Centered Care and EllisDon Construction.

“We were impressed with the maturity and self confidence of Kasian in its understanding and ability to change the initial conventional and rather too institutional draft scheme to reflect the desires of the user groups,” said Bob Holmes, senior vice president planning and capital development at the Calgary Health Region.

“We believe the collaborative process used on this project will dramatically change the way health care facilities, especially children’s hospitals, are designed and operated in North America,” said Milton Gardner, principal and head of the Global Health Care Studio at Kasian and partner in charge of programming and planning for the hospital. “Working directly with the Calgary Health Region and several stakeholder groups on the ACH, the project team has formed a culture of collaboration which will serve as a model for future projects.”