Royal Hospital for Children and Young People

Architect: HLM Architect
Installer: Linear Projects Ltd
Product: ‘Shiluvit’ by Oranit
Quantity: 300m2

Photography by David Barbour

The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and Department for Clinical Neuroscience in Edinburgh was opened in March 2021 and delivers local and national services for children and young people. The state-of-the-art hospital has facility for inpatient and outpatient care as well as specialist neonatal and neuroscience departments.

HLM designed the hospital to combine services previously spread across multiple sites for a more efficient service and better standard of care for their patients.

The building is designed with holistic wellness in mind with a focus on materials that would provide a friendly and welcoming environment for the children and their families. This approach took into account lighting, scale, material finishes, artwork, and wayfinding to create a caring a reassuring atmosphere to eliminate confusion and reduce anxiety for patients and visitors.

A pro-active interest taken in sourcing materials with strong environmental credentials that will work for the space long term and have positive impact on the hospital atmosphere and environment. In addition to cheerful block colours and fun wall art, natural tones and materials are used throughout the space including textured walls and Oranit solid timber slatted ceilings.

Oranit ceiling panels were specified throughout the hospital, most prominently in the main atrium across bridge levels and above the reception desk. Shiluvit panels in A-9-1 Oak effect stained Yellow Pine were specified to allow the ceiling elements to have PEFC certification and match the design intent for the space.

The 7-501A panel type from Oranit has a large open area between narrow and deep blades, this allows for Class A acoustic performance when combined with LSA Black acoustic mineral wool. All panel types from Oranit come with class B-s1,d0 certification for reaction to fire, this is achieved using a kiln impregnation method without the use of chemical coating.