Children at the Stollery Hospital are going through challenges no child should have to face - and they're still children who need to play. This project was conceived as a way to provide a safe play space for kids, as they undergo treatment. The ultimate goal was to create a fun and enjoyable space for children and their families, while the children underwent medical treatment: providing joy, escape and childhood fun.
Working with ACI Architecture, and the Alberta Health Services team, Larsen worked to design the lighting to be inviting and dynamic, fitting within the redesigned windows, while reflecting the form of the globe lights in the remaining atrium. Larsen worked through computer simulations to develop and understand the needs of space, and layer in colour-changing, to highlight and bring joy. The colour changing lights are concealed so only the impact is seen, rather than the luminaires, themselves. We then did mock-ups of the entry BlueWave passage way that transitions the children from the medical space to the play space, a physical transition into a new realm.
The project was completed in 2024, and awarded an Alberta Infrastructure Ministers Award for Equality Innovation.
All Images by Adam Borman Photography