Princess Máxima Centre for paediatric oncology

The newly constructed building of the Princess Máxima Centre had to provide facilities for cancer patients ranging from 0 to 18 years. How does one realise this in an appealing and clever way, and in line with development-oriented care? The Princess Máxima Centre presented this question to MMEK, an agency that specialises in experience design. Erik van Kuijk of MMEK: ‘First of all, we wanted to make sure that the children who are being treated get enough exercise. We let them walk, run and do their own thing. Exercise is very important for children with cancer, because it allows their physical and mental development to continue for as far as possible. In addition, we wanted to create an environment in which the child, parents and brothers or sisters feel safe and welcome. When a child gets cancer, everything comes to a standstill. Now, the only important thing is to get better; continuation of family life is very important. In addition to the employees of the Princess Máxima Centre, the parents and children have also been closely involved in the plans for the new interior.’

Based on MMEK's design plan, a request for proposal was published for the furnishing of the building. Gispen came out as winner of the tender process. Erik van Kuijk: ‘In their very first proposals, Gispen immediately showed that they thought along the same lines as we did. In only a handful of sessions, we already came to definitive decisions, both in terms of furniture design and aspects such as hygiene, maintenance, operation and price.’ Gispen furnished all the outpatient rooms, waiting areas, offices within the lab, the staff department, the learning environment, a library and – a first in healthcare – a specially designed parent-children's room. A private room that houses both the child and their parents, with a flexible sliding wall in between. Parents can spend the night there, and talk quietly in their own room as their child sleeps.

Nelleke Lagerwerf, interior architect at Gispen: “It was a great journey to find solutions for various spaces together with MMEK. Take the parent-child armchair, for example, which is an important element of the parent-child room. This is a large, comfortable armchair in which a child can sit safely on the lap of their parent. In order to make this chair easy to move around in the room, we added a special base and castors to the original version of the chair. Naturally, the chair complies with all hygienic regulations. The waiting areas for day treatment are also quite special, where there is lots for children to play with. If a child wants to lie in bed during chemo treatment, it’s possible, but they can also play a game. They are and always will be children! We have respected their needs and provided them with various options to choose from.’

There are many relaxation and play areas throughout the building. On the first floor, for example, there is a Discovery Centre: a science centre where children of different ages can discover everything about their bodies and their illnesses. On the second floor, there is a Construction Site and a Teenager Lounge. On the third floor, there is a Park that serves as a general meeting place. Nomi chairs can be found throughout the building, fitted with different frames but all in the same design family. Durable but also flexible in application. The same universal shell offers a great deal of variation due to the synthetic leather covers in different colours, which are easy to swap out. Other included products: TM duo desks, Zinn office chairs, SDK sliding door cabinets with plants and TM Doc, the organically shaped desk that really comes into its own at the consultation and examination rooms.