Manning Family Children’s NICU

Client: Manning Family Children’s

Location: New Orleans, LA

Size: 33,353 sf

This project creates a new 60-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to support the program’s growth at Manning Family Children’s. The new unit not only expands the program in size, but improves equipment and support facilities to better allow for the collaborative, highly-specialized care teams to meet the needs of babies as young as 22 weeks.

The design takes the overall “music” theme of the hospital and adapts it to a “lullaby” for the unit’s fragile patients. Adjustable, indirect lighting minimizes glare, acoustic materials dampen noise, and largely neutral colors create a calm, grounded aesthetic. The curves of the floor pattern mimic soothing soundwaves while also aiding in wayfinding for families. Small touches of color keep the atmosphere youthful and hopeful.

The program includes single and double patient rooms, parent/infant rooms, multi-patient bays, a “milk lab” for breast milk collection and storage, and a family respite lounge providing kitchen, laundry, and shower facilities. Support functions are situated off a central corridor, further minimizing noise and disruptions for patients.