Built for Hope, Care, and Cures

Built for Hope, Care, and Cures

Seattle Children’s, Friends of Costco Building: Cancer and Critical Care Expansion

Healthcare

The 330,000 SF, eight-story Friends of Costco Building at Seattle Children’s expands pediatric in-patient and emergency care in the region while preparing the hospital campus for its next generation of care on the site. After completing the Long Range/Major Institution Master Plan to expand the campus by 1 million SF, ZGF programmed and designed the Friends of Costco Building. Friends of Costco Building houses a ground floor emergency department, an intensive care level and two cancer care units. There are 80 beds, with the capacity to expand to accommodate up to 192 beds. Level 8 is home to the country’s first dedicated inpatient cancer care unit for teens and young adults. Landscaping and outdoor enhancements contribute to a sense of well-being and healing.

Location

Seattle, WA

Square Feet

330,000

Completion date

2013

Project Component

Architecture services

Master planning 

Interior design and space planning 

Certifications

LEED Gold®

Using a Lean, cross-functional approach, the design team engaged a diverse group of over 200 caregivers and family representatives at more than 20 Integrated Design Events to evaluate existing care models, identify areas of waste and improvement, work through process refinement options, and develop design solutions to deliver an operationally efficient patient-centered care environment. 

The process resulted in a design that tripled the time caregivers provide in-room treatment to from 26% to 76%, reduced caregiver travel distances by 80% and supply search time by 90%. Strategies implemented include just-in-time supply and medication delivery, medication preparation in the patient room, in-room charting, flexible furniture systems, demountable partitions, unobstructed views across the unit to patient rooms, and clear wayfinding. 

Four themed zones – Forest, River, Mountain and Ocean – represent Pacific Northwest geography and simplify the overall campus wayfinding strategy. Modern clean lines and pops of color build a branding story that is uniquely Seattle Children’s. The inviting interior environment characterized by layers of “integrated art” is appealing to patients, age 0 to 21. The project is located exclusively in the “Forest” Zone of Campus. Evoking the “Forest” concept for the building, playful patterns and art installations bring an element of cheerfulness to the space – relevant to kids, visitors and staff of all ages.

A variety of dedicated family spaces both inside and outside the patient room give families options for rest and support. Parents who need space to work and siblings who need a place to get away will find a touch of home with comfortable furniture, computers and areas to store and prepare food.

Each eight-bed neighborhood has access to the same central resources, including open and closed team spaces for collaboration, medications, nourishment, supplies and equipment. This creates a “simple to navigate” environment and minimizes travel distances for patients, families, staff and supplies. Universal room design provides maximum operational efficiency to accommodate a wide range of acuity levels, or a change in services. A variety of spaces also accommodate ‘rounding’ of teaching teams at bedside, in circulation nodes and in care team zones. The concept for an extremely narrow building core supports “just-in-time” delivery of supplies and improved visibility, while allowing daylight to filter across the entire unit.