Deaconess Riley Childrens Hospital

Interior Designer (Photography)

Hospital Opening collage

The Problem

The Riley children's hospital is in Indianapolis. Depending on traffic, that is four hours away from Evansville. So it was important to create a children's hospital that functioned as an extension to Riley's children's hospital. A hospital where the doctors from Indianapolis could come to Evansville and see children might be too sick to travel that far.

Now that we have the hospital built… now it has to be designed.

Nature photo sessions

Wesselman Woods
Wesselman Woods
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Angel Mounds
Angel Mounds
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Ellis Park
Ellis Park
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Eagle Slough Park
Eagle Slough
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The Solution:

Research

What we found from interviewing patients and examining other successful children's hospitals. A children's hospital has to be designed to promote healing and make the patients feel connected to their community. This is especially true of children who had longer stays at the hospital due to more severe illnesses.

To engage in the childlike spirit that promotes healing, we had to get away from the typical hospitals' sterile blues and whites. We had to study color theory; we had to study child psychology; we had to put ourselves in the shoes of these children so that we could see life from a child's perspective.

Once we put the research altogether, the plan appeared. We were going to call our designs "Paths of Nature." We could showcase the natural beauty of the outdoor activities that are apart of Evansville and southern Indiana.

This plan was twofold. The first fold was that we would be connecting these patients to their community by reminding them of the beauty that their community offers.

The second fold is that we would be bringing the outside to the inside. This would make these children not feel like they are just in a sterile hospital. We could bring the colors of nature and blend them in a way that felt childlike and filled with imagination.

Now that we had a plan, Tara and I divided our roles up. She took care of the designs, and I was to do large-scale photography.

Zoo photo sessions

Sun Bear
Sun Bear
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Red Panda
Red Panda
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Turtle
Turtle
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Monkeys
Monkeys
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Birds
Birds
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Camel
Camel
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The Solution:

Design

So I mapped out the most beautiful places in Evansville and its surrounding areas. The four-month journey began—one of the things that separated our designs from many other children's hospitals. We were going to make enormous prints of photography to make the children feel like they were in the environment.

These photos were photographed at extremely high megapixels. Our Angel Mounds photo was printed 30 feet wide by 15 feet tall. The Angel Mounds photo was a whopping 253 megapixels. Even our Wesselman Woods photo that was printed 16 feet wide by 10 feet tall was 50 megapixels.

The Result

We had our grand opening, and there were hundreds of people that attended. My friends that came with me were surprised that I was not boosting my work. Instead, I walked around and watched how the children interacted with the environment.

To my delight, I watched a little boy go over the angel mounds 30 foot printed photo. The little boy danced around the backdrop and told his mother in delight, "Mommy, it's like I am at the Angel Mounds."

Hospital Opening

Hospital Opening

Paths of Nature

Paths of Nature

Wesselman Woods

Wesselman Woods

Angel Mounds Picture One

Angel Mounds 1

Angel Mounds Picture Two

Angel Mounds 2

Tara and I

Tara and I

My wife Missy and me

My wife Missy and me

Designed furniture

Designed furniture

Tara's Tree

Tara's Tree

Tara's Tree far

Tara's Tree far

Garvin Park

Garvin Park

Exam Room

Exam Room