Our study proposes a way of building therapeutic spaces, wards, admin offices and a rooftop school to create a striking façade and entrance befitting the global status of the hospital. A colonnade at ground floor collects pedestrians from both directions along the street and creates much needed drop-off space. A hexagonal geometry governs the elevation taking in the colonnade, the lofty entrance and the variety of private and semi-private spaces behind the façade.

The façade is made up of precast units of four types with different sizes of openings. Two of the types have the opening set asymmetrically so that simply by rotating the unit, six different arrangements of window can be configured within the hexagon to suit the rooms.

The geometry is resonant of soap bubbles, bee hives and also the chemical notation of neuro-transmitters. The design explores how a children’s hospital could be like a palace with a sense of the fantastical.