The latest pediatric design solutions for our tiniest patients

As the mental health crisis among children and teenagers continues to surge, many of our projects will deliver specialized inpatient and outpatient care through purpose-built mental health units and standalone facilities.

Here’s a more specific update the latest milestones and progress on a few of these ongoing projects:

Dayton Children’s Specialty Care Outpatient Center + Mathile Center for Health and Wellness

Following up on the Dayton Children’s Hospital Patient Tower, our ongoing work and relationship with Dayton Children’s Hospital continues with two exciting projects: a specialty care center and a dedicated behavioral health building.  

The 152,000-square-foot specialty care center on Dayton Children’s main campus responds to the increase in patient complexity by creating collaborative spaces to support multi-disciplinary care teams. By utilizing standardized clinic modules, the design fosters the sharing of exam rooms among pediatric specialties, allowing for flexibility and improved operational efficiencies as patient volumes fluctuate over time. Recognizing the increasing number of patients with mental health issues and medical complexities, the design prioritizes inclusivity and joy. The building provides a playful, light-filled backdrop for care while sensory items are featured in key areas such as exam rooms, diagnostic spaces, blood draw rooms and feature walls. Design and implementation of experiential art including hanging flower sculptures, a multi-level mosaic and donor wall was led by Distinctive Art Source.

With a strong commitment to their community, Dayton Children’s is addressing the mental health crisis with the Mathile Center for Mental Health and Wellness. The freestanding facility, which opened in late 2025, allows Dayton Children’s to double the number of behavioral health inpatient beds currently available at the hospital from 24 to 48 and bring behavioral health inpatient, outpatient and crisis services all within the same building. The defining feature of the design is the courtyard-centric patient unit layout, where every inpatient room borders an outdoor courtyard and play area.

Rady Children's Southwest Outpatient Tower 

The outpatient tower from Rady Children's (formerly Children’s Health of Orange County/CHOC) is a nine-story, 330,000-square-foot outpatient facility houses five floors of specialty clinics; a research institute floor for clinical trials and pediatric research; oncology infusion services; a comprehensive imaging center; and other vital resources and amenities for children and families.

Vivid and informative experiential graphics and wayfinding are infused throughout the building, many featuring Rady Children's Health's beloved mascot, Choco the Bear, and other elements that celebrate the institution’s “Long Live Childhood” mantra. Waiting areas are sprinkled with interactive activities designed to educate children about healthy habits and more. 

Designed to match CHOC’s Bill Holmes Tower, the Southwest Tower boasts bright colors and a kid-friendly feel. It includes advanced features that enable better telemedicine opportunities, interactive screens for patients and staff, digital check-in kiosks and wayfinding interior graphics.

Connecticut Children’s 

We were honored to be apart of the team that brought Connecticut Children's latest phase of growth and expansion plan to life. Alongside DPR Construction and Colliers Project Leaders, CannonDesign was part of the team that designed and built a 190,000 square-foot clinical tower, connected to the existing medical center in Hartford.

The clinical tower includes two floors with 50 private neonatal intensive care rooms, a fetal care center with six labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, as well as two dedicated operating rooms, and an advanced gene therapy unit where bone marrow transplants and liquid radiation treatments can be performed. Each inpatient floor offers an open-air terrace for fresh air and respite and the building is sited to maximize the positive impacts of a ground level courtyard as people arrive and move through the building. It also features expanded kitchen facilities, high tech meeting and conference space as well as an expanded pharmacy and gift shop. 

Oklahoma Children’s Hospital 

As Oklahoma’s only comprehensive, freestanding children’s hospital, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital (OCH) OU Health (OUH) is the main facility caring for children with mental and behavioral health issues in the state. There are more than 40 pediatric patients a month using an inpatient bed in the hospital who would be better treated in an acute psychiatric facility. 

To meet this crisis, our health and pediatric practices converged to create an empathetic space for children that leaves the old institutional feel of behavioral health facilities in the past. OCH is building a comprehensive acute pediatric Behavioral Health Center with 72 inpatient beds connected to the existing Children’s Hospital set to open in 2026. The patient rooms are private with acuity-adaptable ensuite bathrooms. Done in partnership with local firm Bockus Payne, the design lets kids both be connected to others or create boundaries if needed, as well as balancing safety and calmness. The new center will also house intensive outpatient programming and partial hospitalization care, as well as a shared gymnasium and outdoor activity areas.

Designing through the lenses of neurodiversity was a key goal for the team. Some of the guiding principles included:

• Design with our hearts to preserve the wonder of childhood for all ages.
• Celebrate curiosity and learning by building rich environments that recognize a child’s intelligence.
• Promote inclusivity and accessibility by creating integrated experiences for all ages, abilities and neurodiversity.
• Help children understand their surroundings by creating spaces that are intuitive and relatable.