One of the biggest struggles in the healthcare industry is knowledge sharing and patient coordination within and between hospitals. A new children’s hospital in the Netherlands is doing what many leaders in healthcare want but don’t have the resources to execute.
The Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, Netherlands, opened in May 2018.
“From that point onwards, all healthcare, research and training in the Netherlands related to children with cancer is concentrated in one place,” note the project details. “Every year 600 children aged anywhere up to 18 are diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, the treatment options are getting better all the time, and more than 75% of patients can now expect to be cured. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement: the proportion of patients cured should be raised to 100%, the side effects and late effects of treatment need to be reduced, and by 2020 the Princess Máxima Center aims to be one of the world’s top five pediatric oncology research institutes in the world.”
To learn more about the project, we spoke to Erik van Kuijk, co-founder and creative director of the experiential design firm MMEK’, which was responsible for the design and development of the new hospital.
“Until now, child cancer patients were spread across the entire country, with each hospital having a few kids,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “But all cancers are different. They said, ‘If we want to make a next step in getting a better cure rate, we have to combine our knowledge.
“The way they reorganized the processes from the ground up and combined all knowledge of oncology in the Netherlands is quite remarkable.”
Mixing Play and Care
A primary goal of the new hospital was to keep each child on track in their own development – beyond their physical healing. A development-centered design approach accounts for educational, social and emotional development along with treating physical ailments.
“Despite their illness, young patients are still growing and it is important to encourage their cognitive, socio-emotional and motor development,” note the project details. “This means that the hospital’s organisation, interior layout and facilities must meet high standards. All aspects of the new center have been designed based on a single philosophy and are devoted to development-centred healthcare. The Science Discovery Center, the Building site and the Park all form part of a seamless concept and contribute to a stimulating environment centred on children and their ongoing development.”
“Children with serious illnesses spend years going in and out of the hospital,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “We wanted to make room for their own development as people, and to make room for both them and their families to grow and learn. There are spaces for children to play, go to school, meet other children, and learn about their illnesses and what they can do to help manage it.”
Designing for All Ages
Weaving variety into the experiences, and designing for all ages, was a challenge. Children’s healthcare units often look quite childish, but the pediatric patient population also includes older children, aging up to 18 years old. These pre-teen and teenaged kids are often left out of the design conversation in pediatric healthcare spaces.
“We wanted to create spaces that look inviting to children of all ages – to 2-year-olds, 7-year-olds, 16-year-olds,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “There’s a big difference between what a 5-year-old wants to do versus what a 16-year-old would find appealing. And there’s a big jump between kids who can read and kids who can’t read yet, and the type of experiences you would create for each.
“We created a room geared for older children of 14-18 years. It’s somewhat shut off from the rest of the hospital, and it’s a place where they can come to hang out with other kids. Often these kids have grown up in hospitals, and so we wanted this space to facilitate older children in training their own social skills.
“We wanted to make a mixture of play, that is inviting to all ages, and great for playing alone or together, and for children of many differing backgrounds. And we didn’t want to pamper them too much. You see the same thing with any type of disabled or sick people. They are treated like they’re different in some elemental way, or like they’re less human somehow, and that’s not true.”
Experiential Design
MMEK’’s focus is on developing spaces using experiential design, and the firm has a strong focus of work in healthcare and museums, which made it a perfect fit for a hospital trying to revolutionize the way we care for sick people.
“MMEK’ creates environments that transform key life moments and brand messages into unforgettable experiences that seamlessly combine digital, physical and spatial elements,” notes the firm’s bio. “MMEK’ assigns a multidisciplinary team to every project, resulting in solutions that are genuinely holistic. Thanks to this wide-ranging approach, MMEK’ environments unite architecture, design and technology, crafting experiences that unfold over time, appealing to all the senses as they allow guests to explore them at their own pace.”
In addition to the design of all interiors, the firm also designed the learning and play installations nestled all through the hospital, park and science center.
“The center aims to be a safe and stimulating place for patients and their parents where everyday family life can continue as much as possible,” note the project details. “MMEK’ designs unforgettable spaces that combine digital, physical and spatial elements into unique experiences. Spaces for healthcare, museums and brand experience centers. Its architects, interior designers, industrial designers and multimedia developers spent a great deal of time working together on the design. Their reversed design approach created a holistic interior. In reversed design, it is not the architectural construction, but instead the needs and wishes of the users that are most important.”
“The Science Center speaks to our belief that children have a better chance of managing their illness if they understand what their illness is,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “Of course, we want to protect children, but we also want to empower them with knowledge. Many sick children already grow up so quickly due to their illness.”
MMEK’ developed all of the learning and play installations with the goal of helping children at the hospital learn about their illnesses, cures and treatments, and side effects of their treatments.
The main hospital building is comprised of four levels. The ground level holds an open atrium-like reception, restaurant, shops and the hospital’s imaging center. The second floor holds staff offices, the science center, and an array of therapeutic and learning development spaces, including a music room, school and library. Patient rooms, a daycare, and a separate wing for R&D are located on the third and fourth levels.
“We created a master plan of larger play zones,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “But how likely will kids move around the building to these play zones when they are sick? We had to bring the opportunity to play to them. We have those larger play zones, but also smaller opportunities near their own units. We wanted to create breadcrumbs that feed you to the bigger play experiences. Then we took that thinking and applied it to the design of the entire hospital and surrounding property.”
In the science center, a bright orange, larger-than-life indoor park spans 30 meters. One side of the “park” has floor-to-ceiling windows looking outside onto a forest.
“We thought about the idea of playing in a forest; children love to play in that space, and they often do so without any actual toys,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “They use sticks or rocks and other things native to that space. We wanted to bring that free type of play to kids on the interior. We wanted to create an abstract, organic environment that encouraged them to use more abstract, not-in-your-face play systems.”
Involving All Voices
In the visioning, designing and development phases of the new hospital, MMEK’ worked intensively with patients, parents, interest groups, healthcare professionals and building management.
“First, there was an economic fight, because many of the hospitals spread across the country didn’t like the idea at first,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “Then, where the new hospital would be located was a sticking point. There were lots of things that came up in planning that we worked through.”
Involving doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff was particularly paramount.
“For physicians and other staff working in the space, the burden of providing care should not be made more difficult from the space itself,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “The space should be designed to make their jobs as easy as possible, not a hindrance to it.”
The importance of visioning, mock-ups and change management in experiential design projects is clearly expressed in the Princess Máxima Center.
“During the design process for this integrated design, MMEK’ deployed mock-ups and virtual reality,” note the project details. “This made it possible to realistically visualise various areas and facilities at an early stage, allowing them to be discussed and assessed by the stakeholders. This meticulous approach is the only way to produce a result supported by all stakeholders.
“The brand identity of the Princess Máxima Center is expressed in all elements of the interior. Its rooms, furniture and toys form part of an integral design. The interior is styled in a uniform manner, which is recognisable throughout the building, making it an understandable and familiar environment.”
The Netherland’s small size allowed the country the opportunity to concentrate the best of its resources and completely remake the foundation of what a healthcare experience can be.
“What make this project really remarkable is that it was created from nothing,” said Mr. van Kuijk. “It’s a new hospital with new buildings, new staff, and a blank slate for organizing processes. There was room to really rethink everything in the care experience. When people go to the hospital, they can really feel it – that this is something new.”