Rainbow Bridge Children’s Hospital
Copenhagen, Denmark
Where Healing Feels Like Home
“Designed with empathy, every corner embraces comfort, care, and the quiet courage of recovery.”
Project Overview
Situated in the heart of Copenhagen’s Ørestad district, Rainbow Bridge Children’s Hospital redefines pediatric healthcare infrastructure by placing emotional wellness, environmental harmony, and user-centered functionality at its core. Designed as a cross between a sanctuary and a learning playground, the facility prioritizes healing through light, color, and nature.
With a large demographic of children and families from across Northern Europe, the hospital serves as both a medical and emotional hub. It blends high-end pediatric care with Scandinavian design simplicity and trauma-informed spatial organization — resulting in a space that feels more like a living, learning center than a hospital.
Location:
Kyoto, Japan
Type:
Research, Product Development & Pilot Production Facility
Built-Up Area:
125,000 sq. ft
Status:
Completed 2024
Client:
KAIA Laboratories, Seoul, South Korea
Design Approach:
Biophilic Innovation, Modular Lab Design, Sustainable & Cultural Integration
Lead Architect: Ar. Sandesh Patil
Team Members:
Healing Design Consultant: PlayLab Design, UK
Pediatric Specialist Advisor: Dr. Linnea Bergström
Lighting Design: Glowform Studio, Denmark
Sustainability Consultant: ARUP Nordic
Contractor: Skanska HealthTech Projects
Global Design Excellence Award
– 2023
India Design Forum Honors
– 2024
Design Narrative
The vision was to create an emotionally responsive environment that lowers anxiety, promotes play, and accelerates recovery. The design avoids traditional sterile and intimidating healthcare spaces by instead adopting an architectural language of warm curves, organic materials, and interactive environments.
The hospital massing is broken down into village-like clusters rather than a single monolithic block. A central Healing Spine runs through the campus — a multi-story glass atrium filled with trees, art installations, and reading nooks, connecting all departments while encouraging social interaction and movement.
Each pediatric unit is designed based on developmental psychology:
- Infants are enveloped in soft lighting and pastel palettes
- Children engage with color, shape, and gamified movement
- Teenagers enjoy privacy and digital interactivity zones
Wayfinding is designed to be intuitive and age-appropriate, with floors color-coded and themed by natural elements — forest, ocean, sky, and meadow — all complemented by curated soundscapes.
Material Palette & Aesthetic
Inspired by Denmark’s nature-first ethos, the material palette uses:
- Sustainably sourced oak and pine cladding
- Recycled acoustic textiles for quiet zones
- Natural linoleum flooring with underfloor heating
- Interior murals by child artists from Denmark and Sweden
- Façade finished with glass-fiber reinforced concrete and translucent solar panels
Light is used both for illumination and therapy — with strategically placed skylights, light wells, and seasonal mood-adaptive LEDs in recovery zones. Furniture is designed with soft curves and ergonomic flexibility to accommodate children with varying mobility needs.
Sustainability Strategies
- 65% reduction in lighting load via daylighting
- 89% of materials are low-VOC and sustainably sourced
- 100% of irrigation and toilet flushing from greywater reuse
- 20% on-site renewable energy via PV and solar thermal
- 42% embodied carbon reduction over baseline hospital design
- LEED Platinum Certified
Client Thought
Rainbow Bridge Children’s Hospital is not just a facility — it’s a gentle, intelligent world designed around the fragile yet courageous lives it serves. Every corridor, every courtyard, every piece of furniture has one quiet purpose: to help children feel stronger, safer, and more seen. This is not architecture for treatment — it is architecture for healing, resilience, and hope.
Get in Touch
(+91) 6835961520
studiosp@contact.in