Description

This Women's and Infants' Specialty Health Clinic (WISH) was conceived to be an ideal setting for an institution specialized in providing women's health care services at every stage of life. It is part of the new $1.3 billion Parkland Memorial Hospital Campus that is publicly owned by the Dallas County. The design began with the consideration of the experiential issues pertinent to a gender-focused healthcare environment which may see anguish of an abusive relationship, sorrow from the loss of a newborn baby, and joy of a healthy childbirth, among other complex emotional aspects unique to a female patient demographic.  In response, the design sought to create a secure, warm, caring, and healing environment for women using hospitable, durable, and sustainable materials applied to a consistent and recurring theme of spatial geometry. Soft, curvilinear forms define the ceiling and suggest a sensible clarity to the spatial organization, directing patients to places of waiting, areas of transaction, and paths to treatment rooms.  Being simply rendered in white, the lyrical ceiling lines set in motion a dynamic interplay with a backdrop of well-appointed translucent colors on orthogonal rigid walls. The architecture provides an aesthetic patient experience without compromising operational efficiency.  The off-stage staff support areas were designed to minimize errors and to enable the medical staff to perform their duties in healthy working environments with generous access to natural daylight and view. Caring to apply an intellectual and artistic rigor, the architecture has improved the personal and emotional outlook of both patient and staff, elevating the overall healthcare services delivered. The WISH Clinic is now officially LEED Gold. Photos by Brad Feinknopf.

This Women's and Infants' Specialty Health Clinic (WISH) was conceived to be an ideal setting for an institution specialized in providing women's health care services at every stage of life. It is part of the new $1.3 billion Parkland Memorial Hospital Campus that is publicly owned by the Dallas County. The design began with the consideration of the experiential issues pertinent to...