Blog
Remodel Finalist Creates Modern Space for Mother and Baby
The Mother Baby Center (St. Paul, Minn.) is more than just a facility and more than just a business model. It’s a promise to every patient and family, and the answer to the question, “What does every mother and baby deserve?” It includes all of the comforts of home, amenities of a 5-star hotel, positive distractions, and state of the art care and technology. From the first arrival to labor to departure, every step was considered and designed with patient experience in mind.
Branded Design
The Mother Baby Center at United Hospital is one of three within the Twin Cities. The brand for this service line, which was created by Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota, was carried through each facility while staying unique to its location and relevant to its community. Focusing on utilizing design cues to enhance the patient experience, four design elements were created to reinforce the interior and exterior architecture in every Mother Baby facility and to bring the brand experience to life: Iconic Exterior, Supergraphics, Sculptural Ribbons, and Lighting.
Gardens of St. Paul
Here we focused on the gardens of St. Paul: flowering trees were used as the super graphics, delivering art through architecture. We took a fresh approach to the sculptural ribbons, applied in an abstract manner to represent the flower shape which in turn mimics the Mother Baby logo. The soft indirect lighting enhances the space and the patient experience, defining the mood for the facility. With this design, we created a space that mirrors the type of care Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota delivers.
Design Challenges
The public spaces for this facility were unlike the other two centers because this was an existing facility. There were many challenges when it came to designing within the box: existing floor to floor heights, existing infrastructure, and structural columns, and the fact that work had to be divided up into many different phases to keep the facility operational through the entire construction process.
Cost per square foot: $275
Source:
Paglia Donna. “Remodel/Renovation Finalist 2017: The Mother Baby Center at United Hospital (Public Spaces).” HCD Magazine, 11 Oct. 2017, www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/projects/remodelrenovation-finalist-2017-mother-baby-center-united-hospital-public-spaces/#slide-6.
