Page Southerland Page designed the Dell Children’s Comprehensive Care Clinic with young patients in mind throughout the space in Austin, Texas.

The Dell Children’s Comprehensive Care Clinic in Austin, TX is a unique healthcare facility, not only because of the complex needs of the pediatric and young adult population it serves, but also because it is co-located within the same building as the Rosedale School for children. The Rosedale School was created to serve 100 learners with diverse, overlapping, and significant special needs and includes specialized learning spaces for Medically Fragile, Social/Behavioral Disorders, and Transition to Life in the Community student populations. In addition to serving Rosedale students who can see practitioners like neurologists, ophthalmologists, social workers, and nurses in a much more seamless way without missing a lot of school, the clinic also provides healthcare services to more than 850 children from the greater Austin community.

Prior to construction of the new clinic, many of the families whose children attend the school already utilized Dell Children’s, previously located in a leased storefront across town. Now housed within a single facility, it was designed entirely with these families and students/patients in mind. The clinic design includes larger than typical exam rooms to accommodate caretakers and adaptive equipment, as well as a procedure and exam rooms, child life specialist playroom, neuropsychology testing space, laboratory and infusion rooms, and meeting and administrative support spaces. Details throughout support a warm and welcoming multi-sensory environment, providing positive distractions for patients and family members receiving care.

The design team partnered with ASID, Ascension, Medxcel, the contractor, clinic staff, and others to coordinate the functional and aesthetic design of the clinic with the school, while also tailoring the design to best meet clinic needs. Visioning sessions included interviewing families and staff, highlighting the importance that all stakeholders provide input to establish goals for the project. The programming, planning, and design was accomplished with weekly steering committee meetings and targeted multi-disciplinary workshops, often utilizing 3D room data sheets to best communicate the design details and functions of the clinic spaces. Page and the contractor created an integrated team early on, sharing a vision and strong passion for the project’s success.

Design: Page Southerland Page
Contractor: Rogers O’Brien
Photography: Raymond Castro