The Meyer's Children Hospital is made to measure for children. Furniture, fittings and the structure itself are entirely and expressly designed for them. CSPE (Centro Studi Progettazione Edilizia) building experts who took care of the project, based their efforts on innovative criteria and technologies for a culture of healthcare premises keeping enviro-friendliness in mind and to successfully integrate the existing historical park, an old mansion and a hill of great landscape value.
According to this uncommon design principle, architecture is not valuable for its own sake, but accomplishes a therapeutic function, which perfectly meets the needs of a very special project as this one.
Living and managing the space are upgraded from an exclusively physical level to a psychological experience that helps the little patients come to terms with hospitalisation in a time of weakness and difficulty.
The transparent glass tunnel winding through the park and into the hospital, contributes to the psychological wellbeing of the little patients and their families. It offers a protected path among the greenery and leads to the entirely glass-panelled entrance hall, actually an innovative “bio-climatic greenhouse” that turns sustainability in a language made of materials, light and colours.
Bubble luminaires illuminate and decorate this important area of contact and, notwithstanding their big size, they fluctuate lightly in the air perfectly integrating with surrounding arches and columns.
Global sustainability of the Meyer's Children's Hospital of Florence takes shape in innovation targeted at environment protection, production and containment of energy resources and psycho-sensorial research on children-tailored hospital space.
The Meyer Children's Hospital of Florence received the famous Design & Health Award that was given during the 6th Design & Health World Congress held in Singapore from June 24 to 28.
(Photo by Alessandro Ciampi)
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