Expanding Access to Care

Sited on the northern-most part of Cincinnati Children’s Burnet campus, the new building connects seamlessly to existing inpatient critical care facilities, adding 225 beds, an expanded emergency department, rooftop heliport, and right-sized clinical support functions to meet increased demand. The new ED—which triples the capacity of the existing ED—also features a wet lab to support clinical research and a flexible behavioral health and medical treatment space.

With 80 total ED patient positions, the department is organized into five neighborhoods including 12 flex treatment rooms dedicated to behavioral and mental health. The 7,200 SF neighborhood incorporates four safe treatment rooms, one low stimulation room, seven convertible medical treatment rooms, consultation space, family waiting, and clinical support space.

The material palette takes cues from the existing architecture and Cincinnati Children’s brand, but in a new and playful way. Textured brick, colored glass fins, and ribbon windows create patterns and visual interest to give the building its own distinct personality.

Changing the outcome together

The building’s interior design is inspired by Cincinnati Children’s vision that by working together we can transform outcomes for all children. This idea is represented as a kaleidoscope: many singular elements coming together to create moments of discovery, delight, and transformation. Each individual care team member, staff member, family member, and patient coming together to improve child health. The kaleidoscope comes to life throughout the design—in the materials, colors, lighting, artwork, graphics, architectural shapes and patterns.

Including everyone in the care process

When Cincinnati Children’s set out to build a word-class critical care facility, ZGF and GBBN enlisted the help of patients and families to ensure the design reflects what they need and expect today. The result? Significantly more space to enhance the family experience and encourage the self-care needed to support patients in their healing. A range of quiet and social spaces, both functional and experiential, are easily accessible from patient rooms, such as family lounges, respite spaces, outdoor gardens, wellness amenities, and other family resources such as laundry, nutrition, and counseling services.

In one family design workshop, the architects spoke to a young teenage boy who had spent years with a critical illness that required multiple stays in the hospital, with parents and providers on either side of his bed talking over him. When asked his opinion about the design of the patient room, he went straight to the zoning of the room. His one request was that the bed be positioned so he could see both the provider and his parents, to be able to look them in the eye and be part of the conversation. It was a small comment that made a huge impact in how our teams think about patient room design to include everyone in the care process.

Supporting scientific discovery and innovation

Designed to augment Cincinnati Children’s culture of research and innovation, the new building integrates novel treatments and care delivery strategies that will enhance care for all patients. The facility positions Cincinnati Children’s at the forefront of fetal care, enabling the hospital to care for newborn babies and their mothers in the same facility, improving outcomes for both patient populations.

Cutting edge research is being implemented in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where a unique spectral lighting system builds upon recent discoveries about how light affects development. ZGF led the collaboration with a team of Cincinnati Children’s researchers and industry-leading lighting designers and manufacturers, to develop a first-of-its-kind programmable and tunable LED lighting system, which optimizes the quantity and quality of light newborns receive during key periods of development. The system has the potential to not only transform outcomes for the hospital’s tiniest patients, it could also transform lighting design standards in healthcare industry and beyond.

Supporting staff

Staff support space was also a top priority, as their existing space had been sacrificed over the years to accommodate patient growth. Direct input from providers and care teams ensured they are not only equipped with the latest tools, technologies, and workflows to support the complexity of their jobs but they can also step away to care for themselves. Hospital staff have their own lounges and respite spaces on each floor and a private staff garden where they can take a break, have a meal, and get fresh air.

Being a good neighbor

When a large hospital campus sits in the heart of a residential community, designing a new building is an opportunity to engage the neighbors. ZGF and GBBN worked closely with local leaders and community partners—including the hospital’s Community Advisory Committee, Avondale Partnership Committee, and Avondale City Council—to understand the community’s needs and co-create a space that serves them too.

For example, when the street grid needed to be rerouted to make way for the Critical Care Building, it created a pocket of green space on Erkenbrecher Avenue that Cincinnati Children’s preserved for community use. ZGF met with Avondale residents and neighbors living closest to the building to learn what they wanted in this new neighborhood amenity.

Central utility plant

The project also includes a new 10,000 SF utility plant to serve the new building. Given its location on the edge of campus adjacent to the residential zone, the design utilizes the texture and form of the metal cladding to create a dynamic elevation facing the neighborhood. The darker palette emphasizes the vertical slot windows and glossy panels to create beauty in utility.