DesignInc created an innovative and welcoming environment at Cabrini Health Paediatrics Ward in Melbourne, Australia.

Redevelopment of the Cabrini Health Paediatric Ward brought its visual identity in line with the rest of the Cabrini Malvern precinct and aligned the department with Cabrini’s quality of care vision.

Cabrini is a charitable Catholic institution caring for children and adolescents since 2005. It treats 3,000 inpatients and 2,500 day cases annually — from emergency surgeries and treatment to complicated, elective procedures.

The healing experience starts from the entry and unfolds through the space in surprising, and joyful ways. A light-emitting timber wall system greets you with a moment of happiness, revealing itself in articulate colour forms. Movement through the ward triggers animations of landscape and animals to the delight of children.

Cabrini Health’s initial brief for the project was to provide a space that ‘engages, stimulates, and entertains’. We designed the space to support their philosophy of inclusive, family-engaged ‘child-centred care’.

Patients range in age from young children to adolescents; so we developed a solution that isn’t age or gender-specific, and furthers Cabrini’s commitment to health, wellbeing and vitality.

We took a biophilic approach in the use of flowing, rounded forms, natural materials, and use of light. Our extensive use of timber panelling in the corridor – building a barrier up around the wash stations – helped conceal the appearance of clinical elements without cluttering or obstructing the fast-paced, high-performing functions of the ward.

We gave literal form to the natural elements referenced in the design on the LUMES WOOD light-emitting wall in the corridor.

We collaborated with Eness to implement the panels and program animations that change and grow with interaction.

The animations of animals and landscapes change according to time of day, weather, seasons and holidays. The integration provides a welcome distraction from the medical experience and shifts the perception of the ward environment – needed for parents, siblings and staff as much as the young patients themselves.

Architect: DesignInc
Photography: Haydn Cattach