Design Agency Adds Chapter to New Clinical Building at Boston Children’s Hospital

ArtHouse Design has completed its immersive experiential graphic design program for the 11-story, 575,000-square-foot Hale Family Clinical Building at Boston Children’s Hospital. The program centers around a 3D pop-up book theme and features interactive, multi-layer automatons under 8-foot arches that foster a sense of wonder and engagement. Boston Children’s opened the clinical building for occupancy with a public celebration and parade, followed by patient move-ins, this summer.

The EGD program is intended to distract, surprise and entertain children without the use of tech and screens. Carrying forth the hospital’s eight themed floors of the original clinical building to the new tower, ArtHouse blended authentic Boston iconography, from puffins to harbors to swan boats, with scenes from the metro region recognizable to local and international guests, alike.

Five years in the making, this project called for a variety of special considerations:

Because of COVID-19, ArtHouse had to pivot from its original designs first concepted in 2017. Instead of hands-on mechanical cranks, for example, motion sensors and electric motors were used to make elements move. This contactless solution is longer-lasting, more cost-effective and more sanitary.

As an international hospital, Boston Children’s receives visitors from all over the world. Designs are inclusive and respectful to different cultures.

Extra attention needed to be paid to scalability, lighting, blocking and positioning due to the range of materials used in the fabrication of the artwork, from hand-painted and -sculpted polymer clay to etched and paint-filled wood to acrylic and print pieces.

Working remotely from Denver, Colorado with partners across the country, ArtHouse handled the logistics of getting the life-size art pieces transported across the country, delivered to the loading dock and into the elevator — during a pandemic.

Because of the various layers and components that came from different fabricators, the order and precision of operations for install mattered — and it varied from floor to floor.

“Whether you’re a first-time visitor or lifelong patient, we hope you’ll discover new things to enjoy each visit and come away with good memories of your experience,” said ArtHouse Principal and Founder Marty Gregg. “We wish you good health, but if you do have to visit Boston Children’s, we hope to make your visit a little more comfortable.”

Source: arthousedenver.com/arthouse-design-and-boston-childrens-hospital/