Making a children's hospital feel less like a hospital
How Kuryłowicz & Associates redesigned Poland's largest children's hospital, where first impression matters.
Rockfon MediCare Plus tiles above a colourful, freshly painted entrance, softening the first impression of the hospital while controlling noise.
The first thing a child sees
The Children's Health Center in Warsaw is Poland's largest paediatric hospital. For a child arriving here, often frightened, often unwell, the reception and emergency areas form the first impression of the entire experience.
Those areas weren't helping. Loud noise, crowds, and sterile white walls, the usual hospital environment that does nothing to put a frightened child at ease. The architects at Kuryłowicz & Associates set out to change that, starting with the reception hall and emergency room.
"The aesthetics and standard of hospital interiors have a huge impact on the psychological comfort of children and adolescents staying here," the design team noted.
But softening the space meant solving a serious acoustic problem first.
Over 1,000 patients a day, in one entrance
The reception handles more than 1,000 patients daily. That volume of people, movement and conversation, all bouncing off the hard surfaces of a hospital interior, creates a constant wall of noise. For sick children and anxious parents, it makes an already stressful situation worse.
The space also had to do several things at once: function as a busy clinical reception, meet the strict hygiene requirements of a hospital, and feel calm and welcoming enough to soften the whole experience. No single approach covered all of that.
Project info
Project name
Children’s Memorial Health Institute
Location
Warsaw, Poland
Installation
Photography
Bartosz Makowski
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White MediCare Plus tiles and green Rockfon Eclipse islands overhead, breaking up the space and avoiding the usual hospital look.
A reception area where MediCare Plus tiles and green Eclipse islands keep the space calm despite over 1,000 patients passing through daily.
Rockfon MediCare Plus above the reception desk, absorbing noise in one of the busiest spots.
The Children's Health Center in Warsaw, Poland's largest paediatric hospital.
Balancing clinical vs warm
In the clinical, circulation and sanitary areas, Rockfon MediCare Plus was installed. Designed specifically for medical spaces, it resists MRSA and other bacteria, withstands regular thorough cleaning, and absorbs noise across the busiest, most demanding parts of the hospital.
In the waiting areas, hallways, staff rooms and café, Rockfon Eclipse acoustic islands were used instead. Combined with carefully designed lighting, they break up the space and create a softer, less official atmosphere, deliberately avoiding the "look of a hospital".
"In the rooms intended for employees and in the café, acoustic ceiling islands were installed, which, in combination with properly designed lighting, are to separate places of a less official character, in the design of which we tried to avoid the look of a hospital as much as possible," said architect Aleksandra Czubaszek-Siłuch.
Following the studio's philosophy of a "space without exclusions", the areas were designed so every patient, and every member of staff, can find their place.
The Rockfon ceiling tiles for the project were donated, part of a wider charitable modernisation led by the Virtuoso Foundation under violinist Patrycja Piekutowska.
Rockfon MediCare Plus in a sanitary area, chosen for its resistance to bacteria and regular cleaning.
MediCare Plus tiles above a bathroom, combining hygiene performance with sound absorption.
Canteen with green islands: Green Rockfon Eclipse islands in the café area, creating a softer, less clinical space for staff and families.
A better first impression for every child
The redesigned entrance and reception now give children and their families a calmer, quieter, more welcoming arrival, the first stage of an ambitious modernisation of the whole admissions area.
"Everything we do to revitalise the hospital is for effective diagnostics and safe treatment. Our goal is to provide the patient, his family and staff with safe and comfortable conditions," said Marek Migdał, MD, PhD, Director of IPCZD.
Also designing a healthcare space where acoustic comfort, hygiene and a welcoming atmosphere all matter? Get in touch, and we'll help you find the right solution for every area.
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