Meals “at Your request” - Johns Hopkins Children's Center

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n sept. 21, 2009, Bridget Diveley’s breathing suddenly became heavy, which prompted a quick visit to her pediatrician, then to the local ED, and finally to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center where her parents heard the last thing they wanted to hear—their daughter might need a heart transplant. Debbie Long knew even before her daughter Emily’s birth that multiple cystic lesions had invaded her brain, a condition that would require repetitive surgeries throughout her life. Indeed, the now-18-year-old has undergone more than 90 operations by renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson. A surgical procedure shortly after birth delayed for six years the liver transplant Sam Tiemann would eventually need to live, but during that time he and his parents spent countless hours, days and weeks in the Children’s Center, which had become their second home. These parents, like many parents of pediatric patients at the Children’s Center, came in crisis, fought through turbulent times, returned time and again for followup treatment. They knew of Hopkins long history of success in treating complex, lifethreatening conditions, and they met physicians and nurses committed to providing the best possible outcome for their child. They felt they were in good hands—the best hands—and were grateful for the continuing care their child received. But for all the compassion and clinical expertise the hospital contained, the building itself—the Children’s Medical & Surgical Center, or CMSC—did little to lighten their emotional burden. The CMSC, a linear tissue-box of a building erected in the early 1960s, served practical clinical purposes quite well for almost a half-century. But over the years the brick and mortar began to lose its luster and imagination, freshness and uniqueness, its personality—aesthetic dynamics today’s hospital designers say create and sustain human connections and help heal. The clinical staff more than made up for any design deficits in the building, but both families and staff knew the Children’s Center could be much more with a new structure and style, which led to a new 16 HOPKINS CHILDreN’S | hopkinschildrens.org building—The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center—an artful design and a healing environment. “A growing body of evidence shows that you can create a hospital environment that connects with patients and families during a medical crisis, reduces their stress and anxiety, and enhances their health and wellbeing in a number of ways,” says Pediatrics Administrator Ted Chambers. “That’s what we set out to do through the art and design of this building.” One of the early goals was to make the new building approachable, but how do you do that with a structure twice the size of its predecessor? With, building designers decided, a curved façade covered by a Monet rainbow of paneled window boxes marked by countless brush strokes in the glass known as frit—the creation of installation artist Spencer Finch. The resulting effect is a translucent and shimmering curtain wall that constantly reflects and refracts the ever changing light of day. “From the beginning we were thinking about glass as an analog for water, how glass and water behave in similar ways, and what we could do with the glass so that it’s always changing,” says Finch. “Also, it’s a big building and it can be intimidating, but water has a certain softness and A growing body of evidence shows that you can create a hospital environment that connects with patients and families during a medical crisis, reduces their stress and anxiety, and enhances their health and wellbeing in a number of ways. – PeDIATrICS ADmINISTrATOr TeD CHAmBerS
welcoming aspect to it.” At night, Finch adds, the frit and façade transform the Bloomberg Children’s Center into a glowing lantern—a snow globe filled with bustling activities: “There’s a certain amount of complexity in the design, and a feeling of activity and aliveness that reflects all the great stuff that happens here.” A long, two-story canopy, an expansive vehicular entry plaza a football field long, and a series of gardens and stonework were designed as welcome signs, too, adds consulting architect Allen Kolkowitz. “The overall frit helps dematerialize the façade, the gardens help soften your approach, and the canopy adds visual clarity and unifies the entry,” says Kolkowitz. “It is the point of arrival.” And what a point of arrival. A childlike rhino, atop the back of a larger parent rhino just outside the ground entrance to the Children’s Center—one of set designer Robert Israel’s 11 supersize sculptures in the building—curiously peers up past the canopy. And what does he or she see? A 22-foot-long orange ostrich dangling from the ceiling of a four-story atrium, a winged cubist cow jumping over a necklace of 28 moons, and a family of yellow puffer fish playing in an imaginary pool over the stairwell connecting the ground and main levels of the building. The idea for groups of creatures, Israel notes, came from Children’s Center Director George Dover, who cited his young patients’ great need for family connections during a hospital stay. “The Hopkins spaces became a fantastic opportunity to bring a sense of fun and playfulness to this very formidable institution,” says Israel. “So I started with very basic, block-like shapes, and made an effort to include pairs or groups to remind children that they are not alone.” “It is a playful response,” adds Kolko- witz. “Simply put, the sculptures are an attempt to make the hospital experience friendly and unintimidating.” But not in a frivolous way, adds art curator Nancy Rosen: “Visually the aesthetics are fresh, unique and thoughtful. They don’t fall back on simple clichés.” To be sure, visitors are curious as they spy a large blue egg atop a tall information PHOTO By KeVIN weBer Summer 2012 17
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Page 17: PHOTO By KeVIN weBer The rchitectur
Page 21 and 22: window shade in every patient room.
Page 23 and 24: Flying High, Flying Low in an Artfu
Page 25 and 26: a swimmer herself, 18-year-old emil
Page 27 and 28: on bloomberg 10, patient Sam Tieman
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Page 31 and 32: pediatric patient and middle-school
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Page 35 and 36: seamless Care tailored for Children
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Page 41 and 42: Meals “at Your request” A nEw C
Page 43 and 44: a dedication For the Future By Gary
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Page 47 and 48: Sara’s Garden will be a place of
Page 49 and 50: A Room with a view for Teens Chairm
Page 51 and 52: A Quieter, Homier Home By Rebecca M

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