Sharon Architects, located in Tel-Aviv, Israel, is currently designing three structures in three different medical centers in Israel, and shared their design for the Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital. The new hospital ‘is a milestone in the design of medical institutions. The building was designed with sensitivity to the needs of the child, the parent accompanying him 24 hours a day and the attending medical staff,’ explained the architects. ‘My sincere hope for the hospital bearing my name is that it will care for all the children of the State of Israel without religious, ethnic or gender bias,’ says Ruth Rappaport.

Designed as ‘a simple, white monolithic cube, partly recessed like a pitted avocado,’ the 18,000 sqm children’s hospital is one component of the new medical center which will also include a research tower and a cardiology and oncology building. Healing gardens surround the hospital and a new urban layout connects this part of the hospital to the others in the complex.

Atriums fill the voids of the form as the lower atrium will feature a lobby, a children’s science museum, an auditorium for showing films, a coffee shop and shopping areas, and the upper atrium will include waiting areas and internet stations. The atrium spaces were designed with emphasis on creating an atmosphere ‘of familiarity and intimate belonging to help ease the distress that accompanies a visit to the hospital.’ To create more of a welcoming environment to comfort both the children and parents, day halls and special areas offer a range of activities (work areas, entertainment, dinning, halls for celebrating birthdays and holding special events) for parents staying in the hospital with their children for extended periods of time.

The architects have disregarded the classic white atmosphere of medical institutions and have substituted vivid reds, yellows, greens and blues in the public spaces to express ‘measured liveliness in a field of white.’ Each floor follows a different color scheme to create a sea floor on one level and a forest floor on the next. These specific themes ‘invoke a sense of belonging that is so important for the  children being hospitalized,’ explained the architects.

‘A delicate balance between architecture and medicine is struck through the ability of white, soft, sensitive and upbeat architecture to assuage the user’s sense of anxiety and distress, without the annoying need to try to masquerade as another type of building,’ stated the designers.

The hospital accommodates about 120 beds in about 60 hospital rooms. The rooms offer maximum views of the Mediterranean sea through curtain walls, and  a bed and desk for parents staying with their children. A regional emergency ‘war-time’ hospital, which will be underground, will accommodate 1730 hospital beds. In peace time, the emergency area will be used to accommodate 1500 parking places for staff and visitors, but when needed, the space can quickly transform into a sheltered hospital. The basement is currently under construction while the children’s hospital above ground should enter the construction phase this October and is slated for completion in 2010.

Project Name: The Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital at the Rambam Medical Center (slated for completion in 2010)

Architects: Arad Sharon, Nir Yashar – Sharon Architects

Interior design consultants: Perkins Eastman New York, Architect Mary -Jean Eastman

Design Team: Amos Rimon, Arch. Sharon-Gur Zeev, Arch. Gadi Israeli, Arch. Inna Fogel.