Teamwork at its best
Teamwork was certainly key to this project. Peter van der Linden, Healthcare business manager at Gispen: “We really tackled the new layout as a team. The Gispen team consisted of Ed Wulterkens as project manager, Nelleke Lagerwerf as the interior architect and myself as sales manager. We worked closely together with our partners at Amphia; short lines of communication with, for example, Tini Bakker and Mariska Ek.” Nelleke: “We also had Amphia patients and employees share their thoughts with us. During the two-day trial placement, at least 100 people gave their opinion on the trial furniture. Everyone was allowed to have their say – very thoughtful of Amphia. Moreover, we were able to include the feedback in the final products. We retrofitted the wheels of the patient chairs to improve their functionality, for example.”
'Aesthetically, functionally and technically on point’
After the project team made its kick-off, Nelleke spent six weeks talking with other project team members as well as employees from all departments who would be working at the new building. Nelleke: “What will be installed in which area, and where will it be allocated exactly? The architect had provided us with a preliminary floor plan and colour schemes for each department. Mariska Ek, interior design and renovation project coordinator at Amphia, developed various experience concepts. These served as my starting points for the final layouts, products, materials and colour proposals. What we needed to keep in mind was that each department has its own colour scheme, but with the possibility of exchanging items. It had to be possible for some products to be used in different departments.” Mariska: “We decided to give the patient rooms a tranquil interior design. More colour is found within the outpatient clinics, as well as the maternity and paediatric ward, of course. We constantly searched for the right balance: it all had to be just right – aesthetically, functionally and technically.”
Extra comfortable patient chairs promote recovery
Peter: “Amphia specifically asked for extra comfortable patient chairs to be installed in the patient rooms. Getting out of bed as quickly as possible and getting in motion will contribute to a patient’s recovery. Chairs from Prominent and Moments now assist them in doing so.” The consulting rooms are furnished with the TM Doc: an organically shaped table which makes it easier for the doctor and patient to come up with a treatment plan together, with additional 4-legged Zinn visitors’ chairs. At the office areas, physicians and other employees make use of incredibly comfortable Zinn office chairs – Gispen supplied 1,000 of these. The central reception area is furnished with round Gispen TEAM tables and Nomi chairs as well as Casala Corals waiting area seats: a modular piece of furniture, used slightly differently every time it is installed. The variety of furniture allows visitors to choose a seat that suits them best. A Havee coach seat, a chair at the reading table or one of the bucket seats (Casala Onyx Traverse), for example. Moreover, various rooms are provided with children's furniture, such as Gispen Bronto chairs in different colours and plastic puppies from Magis. Gispen also supplied various medical-ergonomic products, of course, such as saddle stools from Medisit.
Clever logistics, moving in efficiently
The logistics were all thought out well in advance. Project Manager Ed: “We split the delivery into thirty partial deliveries. This made each delivery easy to monitor. As far as I'm concerned, this is a good example of an sustainable delivery method; only well-planned and targeted deliveries per building section. Every time desks were installed, an ICT team came in directly after to make everything operational. The detailed plans for furniture allocation and the floor plan that Nelleke had made were a great help to us. What also helped was that I was involved in the project early on. When you get to know a building well and you do so quickly, you can furnish the place more effectively and efficiently.”
Are you satisfied with the result?
Mariska: 'It only took two days to move into the new building: all the clinical wards on Friday, and the outpatient clinics on Saturday. On Thursday, the last baby was born in the old building and on Friday the first one was already born in the new building! A very special experience. I have also noticed that the new patient chairs are a success.” Tini: “Now that the building is truly alive, it has become the institution we had in mind. It is my experience that the facility management department usually calls the shots, and that the healthcare departments follow suit; now we were able to use everyone’s input and implement it right away. This definitely worked out as we had hoped. Proof that we have made the right choices together.”
Photography: Chris van Koeverden
