“When you touch something and it
Kwalu Moments Patient & Exam Rooms
feels right,” Graham says, “it gives you a sense that somebody cared enough to design it that way.”
Designer Brian Graham with Ethan Wardrobe
The Beauty of Lasting Design Brian Graham, Designer of the Ethan Collection Despite its compact proportions, few spaces play a larger role in the patient experience than the patient room. As a central connecting point for clinicians, therapists, family members, and the patient themselves, it brings together more people, with more at stake, than virtually any other space. For designer Brian Graham of Graham Design, the movement inside a patient room resembles a dance. “Everybody’s moving around, trying to get out of the way of the person coming in to check on the patient. There’s limited room and a lot of equipment all competing for space.” When designing products for Kwalu, Graham’s goal isn’t to overtake the space but to stabilize it. “You’re in a room that’s beeping and chirping, people coming in and out, sometimes in the middle of the night,” he explains. “So visually, I try to create something calm and ordered.” Nothing in his work feels abrupt or harsh. Each
mobility so that you can then be mobile to leave the room and get back to your life.” Designed with an open sit angle and passive lateral support, Ellie helps patients move, stand, and regain a sense of independence. Patients aren’t the only ones the room needs to support. Family members have a vital role in recovery. Robinson believes the environment should acknowledge this the moment they enter. “They are walking into an alien environment with harsh surfaces, shiny metals, and beeping machines. But they should see something that signals to them that they are welcome.” That welcome goes beyond aesthetics. “We need to treat care partners as egalitarian participants in the healing of this person,” Robinson says. “We all have a role to play.” Providing dignified space for family members to sit, stay, and contribute is how design can honor them. For Robinson, insightful design begins with experience. In a space where every detail matters, he sees through the eyes of patients to turn a negative into a positive.
10
Powered by FlippingBook