Kwalu Moments Patient & Exam Rooms Designing for Outcomes
Patient & Exam Rooms
Designing for the Whole Being Von Robinson, Designer of the Ellie Collection In the patient room, nothing is neutral. Every object has a specific use that shapes the experience for those inside. For Von Robinson, founder of Play Orbit Studio, that understanding defines his approach to furniture design. “Anything you add to a system makes a positive or negative impact. So when you think about the patient room, you have to account for a person’s emotional, physical, cognitive, and spiritual needs.” Patients are more than bodies receiving treatment. They are whole people managing a range of emotions—from vulnerability and anxiety to dependency and uncertainty—often all at once. “When you ask how we design for someone who does not want to be in that space,” Robinson says, “the answer is simple: treat them at least as well, or better than, we treat them outside of it.” Consider the Ellie patient recliner. What may seem like a secondary element is in fact central to recovery. “The recliner’s role in the space is to get you out of the bed,” Robinson explains. “It is the first step of
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