"In order to provide medical services nearer to the homes of its regional patients, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has built and is building a network of ambulatory medical centers. One such offering is the new center near the King of Prussia Mall. The building's goal was to create an environment that children and teenagers can find to be fresh and interesting using CHOP's exterior envelope brand: colored glass. A child's gaze wanders along the surface of the glass, constantly discovering nuances that emerge from the changing quality of the light depending on the time of day and the season.
The northern façade is clad with curtain wall and patterned with color bars and ceramic fritt strips that invite the eye to move along the glass surface. The abstracted internal forms and colors visually transform as natural light enters through the colored glass. The mood of the building changes while moving throughout the space as well as during different times of the day. The public and waiting spaces, stacked along the northern façade in a linear manner, are given a unifying color on each floor.
Along these linear spaces, each portal is marked by a ceiling form announcing entry into the clinical zones. Separate seating zones or program areas along these spaces are delineated with white soft forms that read as landscape formations against the horizontally-striated, color background. The building, by providing a constantly changing environment, helps distract the young visitors and their families from the concerns and worries surrounding their health. The light and colors, visually and emotionally stimulating and accessible to all ages and cultures, create an uplifting environment supportive of the healing process."