Client: SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital

Overview

The project Animals playing hide and seek meets an assignment by Sant Joan de Déu Children Hospital in Barcelona. The request was to “pediatrise” their recently renovated emergency ward. The hospital officials defined the term “pediatrisation” as an adaptation of hospital space that would increase the children's comfort and foster interaction and play in typically unpleasant spaces. Animals playing hide and seek not only solves the need of “pediatrising” the hospital, but also provides a coherent visual identity to a space of over 5,000 m², while adapting to the preexisting architectural elements.

Goals

The concept of Animals playing hide and seek has been developed as a storyline throughout the hospital areas. The designers have created a visual language based on real scale animal shapes that hide behind the hospital's architecture. The animals arise from a repetition of patterns, a fixed colour palette and a constant dialogue between 2D and 3D. Such language allows a multitude of interrelated interventions, which has resulted in over a hundred different animals that relate to each other and spread all around the hospital.

Process

Although the project was initially conceived as a solution for a specific area, it soon expanded to the entire hospital and its outer environs. Therefore, the hospital's signage system for both inner and outer spaces has been redesigned accordingly, in order to increase cohesion.
The project has achieved several renowned international awards and two special juries awards in recognition for the social impact.

Wood Pencil D&AD Award by Design & Art Direction, London
Designism Special Jury ADC Award by Art Directors Club Global, Miami
Gold ADC Award by Art Directors Club Global, Miami
Best of Year Award by Interior Design Magazine, New York
ADC*E Award by Art Directors Club Europe
Laus Aporta Special Jury Award by ADG-FAD, Barcelona
Gold Laus Award by ADG-FAD, Barcelona
Silver Laus Award by ADG-FAD, Barcelona

Additional Information

Animals playing hide and seek, environmental design project Client: SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital Location: Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona Year: 2012-2018 Co-authorship: Rubio Arauna Project team: Dani Rubio, Maritza Ramos, Nerea Borrell, Raimond Pinto, Berta Comellas, Marta Angrill, Mireia Sandoval, Pablo Estarriaga, Pol Pintó, Alba Prat. Architecture firm: Llongueras Clotet Arquitectes Photography: Victòria Gil and Borja Ballbé Video: Cristina Gómez