UCSD Jacobs Medical Center
Initial headwall rendering
Shield headwall in the first completed room
Birthing center headwall
Another view of the headwall
Custom nightstands were added to the project scope later
Mockup room tested the space with hospital staff
About This Project
Cannon Design and Shield Casework first partnered to turn an institutional medical product, the patient headwall, into an architectural element that is as functional as it is beautiful. Seamlessly integrating design and technology, it incorporates physical care and technology infrastructure in a sleek package to create a highly functional finished solution for the University of California, San Diego’s new Jacobs Medical Center.
Challenge
This project did not set out make a design statement, but instead to use design thinking and research to craft a functional and healing space. The problem? Technology is crucial to hospital operations, yet too often it overwhelms the space.
Fitting hundreds of feet of infrastructure into one compact, functional hub was a design and fabrication challenge for this project. The solid surface headwall also had to meet stringent healthcare standards for cleaning and use, which made executing the headwall’s compound, curved design difficult for any other material.
Solutions
It was essential to ensure this often-touched piece was inherently clean, which is why thermoformed solid surface material covers the entire headwall, right down to custom outlet covers that meet the gentle slope of the headwall’s curvature. Nonporous and seamless, the solid surface not only preserves design intent but also makes the headwall easy to sanitize.
Results
This work led Cannon and Shield to partner on a solid surface birthing center headwall that Cannon designed with scallops that conceal all technology and utilities to create a complete, healing environment. This second entirely solid surface headwall will be fabricated by Shield with an integrated solid surface bed and bench, enabling much of the room to be easily sterilized.
This birthing center design is natural and comforting, yet syncs patients with advanced medical technology in mere moments if needed. Shield will also work with Cannon to deliver custom solid surface nightstands for the standard patient rooms at UCSD Jacobs Medical Center that match the curves of the canopy headwall in a monolithic white treatment.
Product Line
Canopy, Scallop, Custom
Date
2014