How we transformed a sterile space into a warm, welcoming environment
Children’s Hospital of Savannah’s Medical Outpatient Lobby Murals
While constructing a new medical outpatient building (MOB) for their children’s hospital, Memorial Health decided to make the investment in custom mural art to create a better work place for their staff and healing space for their patients. The Memorial Health team tasked us with representing different distinct areas of Savannah, GA for each level of the building. We also made sure to incorporate their existing characters in new, fun ways that fit the scene. From Tybee Island to the downtown, artists Caroline Rose and Tara Garrigan wove in fun, silly scenes for families to enjoy together.
The Problem to Solve
A hospital facility’s environment can have a huge impact on patient experience as well as on the physicians and staff. Typically, the words “large, overwhelming, and busy” can be used describe a hospital, but Memorial Health wanted to ensure that wasn’t the case here. Having impressive design that helps ease everyone’s stress already existed children’s hospital building, allowing Memorial Health to see the difference bright colors and happy scenery can make.
Helping families to feel welcomed and at ease during longer or repetitive visits was the specific challenge of this project. Differing from the children’s hospital building, Memorial Health wished for this to feel more organic, immersive, and interactive. We also needed to carry over their brand colors and established brand characters, consider the age and condition of the patients entering each treatment-specific lobby, and keep the murals calm yet engaging. Another aspect to consider was that the building would be opened and operating before the murals could be installed.
Strategy & Solution
Having experience with digital design and illustration as well as working in the real world on large scale public art, gave us invaluable insight on how to design for these spaces. Finding solutions for how to represent all the areas around Savannah, GA in a cohesive way, with perspective changes and tricks of the eye, around winding walls that varied in size was quite the challenge! But that’s what we love. All of the art was created in vector format to allow for greater scaling options. This also gave the Memorial Health communications department the ability to repurpose the illustrations for other uses.
After discussing the goals of the project and the ideal timeline, our team (+ children’s book artist Nancy So Miller) developed concepts and a schedule. Before proceeding, we met with Memorial Health’s contracted printer to discuss the best highly durable, easy to disinfect material to represent the art and to ensure we captured all the measurements and impediments. They say artists aren’t so great at math, but our team did the detailed calculating of all the design files, sharing with The Kennickell Group printer to confirm everything would print properly. We were also able to connect The Kennickell Group with an excellent wallpaper team, thanks to Tara’s background in construction (and Billy McIntosh - thank you!).
clients investment
After setting up the initial meetings and coordinating install times with The Kennickell Group, Memorial Health was able to give us the idea and let us run with much of the rest. Our team managed the schedule for this project, file sharing and troubleshooting, overseeing the installs each 2-day per mural on-site period, and of course, created the custom art. From the first discussion to the final install, the process of coordinating with the printer, wallpaper installation team, Memorial Health, and our team saw this project accomplished within one year.
Results Delivered
Memorial Health now has four beautiful, engaging murals in their new medical outpatient building. As the installs went on, we received numerous requests from the staff on where they would like more murals (and some of those are now in the works..!).
“We LOVE it all!! Our colleagues, physicians and patients love them too!!” Julie Tyre, Memorial Health
Photos of All Lobby Murals
level 1 Lobby: Savannah’s Coast
level 2 lobbies: Downtown
level 3 lobby: adventure
If your organization is looking for a solution to how to create a welcoming space for your patients, clients, or customers utilizing custom wallcovering, we’d love to discuss your project. Give us a shout.
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