A few weeks ago, some colleagues and I were very lucky to receive a sneak peak of Portland's newest children's hospital:
The state of the art hospital is designed by ZGF Architects.
The theme is clearly Northwest. Lots of cutouts of animals normally found in our area.
The cutouts are back-lit with varying colors too.
The idea is not make the kids feel like they're in a hospital. It's already difficult for them and their family when the child is sick. So the hospital and the designer worked really hard to ensure that the building doesn't have that atmosphere.
Check out the pics. below...
Doesn't this entrance waiting area look like a night club lounge in NYC?
Put a bird on it!
This will be a fountain. But it does more than look pretty. It helps filter the rain water before it hits the storm drain and into our rivers.
Rain water drains into this and then travels and falls into the "fountain" below for natural purification. Well, also purified. It just cleans it up enough so the fishies don't get sick.
Yes, these are ceramic tiles. So what? Well, it rains here a lot and so there are lots of issues with water leaking through the walls (over time) and cause molding. Well, this little invention is interesting. Separating the ceramic tile walls outside and the interior walls is a tiny vacuumed space. When rain water hits the ceramic, water absorbed in but doesn't touch the inside wall because of that space. As water evaporates, it is released back out to the exterior.
