EwingCole Volunteers Host Design Charrette for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children
The design charrette is a robust, unifying process we use to bring together architects, engineers, planners, patient advocates, hospital staff and stakeholders to create a series of pre-design goals and solutions that benefit all future building inhabitants.
Last month, our team had the pleasure of assisting St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and their partners at Drexel University and Tower Health, in developing a series of solutions we believe will make St. Christopher’s a world-class children’s hospital.
A leader in pediatric care since 1875, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s nationally recognized programs and pediatric specialists provide exceptional care to children throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area and around the world. St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children is committed to quality through teamwork, technology and service in a child-friendly, family-oriented environment.
St. Christopher’s mission is to continue to provide quality pediatric services in a caring, progressive environment. To assist the institution in moving forward in its next chapter, we formed a broad coalition of stakeholders and designers to lay the foundation needed to create a master plan to transform the campus into a sustainable children’s hospital and provide the elements necessary for a successful $100M capital campaign.
Aligning objectives for an elevated human experience requires early focus on guiding principles, measures of success, and an inclusive process that includes stakeholder participation to understand priorities and articulate future goals. The design charrette is a robust, unifying process we use to bring together architects, engineers, planners, patient advocates, hospital staff and stakeholders to create a series of pre-design goals and solutions that benefit all future inhabitants.
With close to 100 volunteers working together for six hours, the team developed a series of ideas that will continue to further St. Christopher’s vision. Several themes quickly emerged as favorites:
- Travel & Exploration - The Patient Journey
- Philadelphia, a City of Firsts; St. Cristopher's, a Hospital of Firsts
- A Celebration of Community: Food & Culture
- Art, Music & Nature in a Healing Environment
We want to thank Tower Health, Drexel University, St. Christopher’s team and our EwingCole volunteers; Carlos Gutierrez, Charlie Kronk, David Harrop, Evan Rotenberger, Gloria Wang, Huichao Dong, Kelly Heinonen, In Pun, Lauren Michaels, Leslie Kipps, Morgan Ye, Peter Maffei, Phil Zimmerman, Saul Jabbawy, and Suzy Genzler for contributing to this critical first step in this vital institution’s journey.
Click here to learn more about EwingCole’s previous work with St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
