With a playful perforatedmetal facade, colorful columns welcoming visitors at the entry, and a floor plan designed to maximize positive patient experiences and collaborative workflows, ZGF Architects has transformed a former big-box Circuit City store into a bright 37,000-square-foot outpatient facility. Completed in August 2015 for the Seattle Children’s Hospital, the South Clinic serves the suburbs south of Seattle and is a prototype for the hospital’s expansion across the Puget Sound Region.

Parks represent the most significant public forums in the area, and the building acts similarly, uniting the community as a child-centered connector that goes beyond functioning as a clinic to offer after-hours health education. The plan is organized with social spaces—a waiting room especially for patients’ siblings that also accommodates after-hours programming; a gym that doubles as a physical therapy facility—flanking the lobby and more private rooms beyond. ZGF principal Victoria Nichols credits the former store’s elongated footprint with the ability to centralize services and create “efficient workspaces and modules that incorporate principles of lean design.”