Abstract
This is the report about my placement in EUREKA!, the children's museum in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. In the following pages, this report attempts to highligh a global view of a design project such as a children's waiting room in a hospital and on a wider scale, the work of an exhibition designer. The mission I was assigned to do was re-designing the children's waiting room in the local hospital, the Calderdale Children's Hospital. Different research topics have been investigated: designing spaces for kids as the waiting room must be designed for them, and taking into account the hospital as the waiting room would be located in the Accident and Emergency department. According to the research undertaken and to the brief that we had at our disposal, we created a sensitive and interactive waiting room where children can enjoy the space around them and develop their creative thinking. This project shows that Eureka! can be successful in applying their knowledge.
Extract
[...] More and more designers are trying to create learning spaces for kids, so they can meet their different needs and experiences. A learning space helps children grow and learn about themselves and can even be a vector for meeting new people and sharing with others. Creating a space for kids involves not only a designer, but also architects, historians, neurophysiologists and even environmentalists. There is actually a topic being currently debating: how could we conciliate Matti Bergstrom's theory about the matter of an unstructured and empty space (Children in Europe, March 2005, p 1-13) and the wish for children to destroy and rebuild. [...]
[...] Robinson was given a short but open-minded brief. Actually, the Calderdale Children's Hospital wanted to re-design the waiting room according to several instructions: > We had to insure that none of the structure will be changed. Indeed,as soon as we start changing the structure of a building, the cost dramatically increase. > The hospital staff wanted the waiting room to be a point of interest for a wide range of ages > The hospital staff wanted it to be convenient for both parents and carers > The hospital staff wanted the new waiting room to be more engaging > They didn't want any element that was time-consuming for the staff The children's waiting room in Calderdale Children's Hospital, the main area 9 The children's waiting room in Calderdale Children's Hospital, the main area The children's waiting room in Calderdale Children's Hospital, the space between the napping room and the toilets 10 2.2 PLANNING Eureka used to have a grant chart for their events and projects. [...]
[...] Every member has its own desk, and I was allocated the desk of a member who was off on the days I was in. I had a computer to my disposal which I used for internet research. But unfortunately, I didn't have all the software I needed such as ArchiCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator or SketchUp so I preferred bringing my own laptop than using the company's one. The version of software can often vary from a computer to another one which is why working using my own laptop allowed me to avoid such problems. [...]
[...] Colours can have significant properties on our physical and mental health. This could be useful, especially for spaces like a hospital. Actually, the waiting room is located in a stressful environment, so using some colours can help people, both children and parents, to enjoy their waiting time. And more importantly, it can help them calm down before seeing the doctor. 20 3.2.2 RESEARCH PHASE This step was more about defining a universe and a concept for the waiting room. I had at my disposal a short brief that A.Robinson gave me to help me identify the objectives of the project. [...]
[...] As I came to Eureka only once a week, I could not really meet all the members of the staff although they were working in the same office area. Most of the members of the staff working within the Eureka Building work within the Play and Learning field or Project field, and are not closely interacting with the exhibition designer. 4.2 PERSONAL OUTCOMES Working at Eureka brought me new communication skills. Actually, as English is not my first language, the communication skill especially about design was improved. A new topic have been investigated that I did not learn about before, which is designing a space for kids. [...]
