Family-Oriented and Environmentally Integrated Care

St. Mary’s Health Center St. Joseph is surrounded by highways to the south and low-rise residential neighborhoods on the other side. At this hospital—one of the oldest hospitals in Toronto—children’s services were initially decentralized, and in some cases merged with adult programs. The decision to demolish long-term care facilities in the 1940s that could not be adapted to modern health care standards created an opportunity to consolidate the Mother and Child program into a specifically constructed space with its own identity. Although attached to the south-facing main hospital, the new four-story Our Lady of Mercy Wing (OLM) faces east, onto a quiet residential street. Everything from the multi-story structure and use of brick to the low, child-friendly window sills has been designed to make the building feel like part of the community, as opposed to a wing inside a large hospital.

OLM accommodates the expanded Mother and Child Program which consists of Maternity, Postpartum, Level II Neonatal Intensive Care, Pediatric Inpatient and Day Clinic facilities, as well as Inpatient and Outpatient Mental Health Child/Adolescent facilities. Additionally, this wing includes two Surgical Inpatient units with 32 beds, and a Sub-Acute Care unit with 28 beds on the top floor. All inpatient and outpatient Pediatric Services have now been consolidated onto the third floor of the new OLM, and access to this area is separate from the general circulation of the main hospital. Along with ample access to natural light and views as well as a warm, non-institutional color palette, this separate circulation helps create a healing and low-stress environment for the hospital’s youngest patients and their families.

The double-height lobby was designed to feature restored 1940s stained windows salvaged from the chapel of an earlier building in the area, and statues from the same structure were preserved and reinstalled at the OLM’s main entrance. click here

Challenge

Create specific facilities to meet the specific needs of children and families within the context of the larger health center.

Location

Toronto Canada
Size
12,080 m² (130,030 ft²)
Status
Completed in 2012
Sector
Health
Service
Architecture , Interior Design
Client
St. Mary’s Health Center Joseph