Serennu, Connection & Stills

Serennu featured in MiX magazine

Our award winning interiors project Serennu was featured in the MiX magazine - read on to find out more! 

Helping special children shine

Stills, our friends in Cardiff, have recently designed the interior and signage of an innovative disabled children’s centre in South Wales. The scheme won best interior in the Welsh Design Awards 2011.

Serennu Children’s Centre, Newport is an NHS outpatient day centre for disabled children between the ages of 0 and 18. The centre is purpose built to allow children with complex disabilities to receive treatment, care, information and consultation all under one roof, eliminating the need to travel. In addition to helping children the centre will act as a support network for the whole family unit, enabling them to socialise together thanks to the range of leisure facilities available including a wheelchair sports area, a swimming pool and a cinema.

This project is totally unique in the UK and the first of its kind. The Aneurin Bevan NHS Trust put up £4.5m to fit out the Children’s treatment centre to a normal NHS standard and The Sparkle Appeal (a South Wales charity) has raised £1.5m to bring that level to ‘purpose built’ for disabled children and their families.

We set up a ‘steering group’ of experts; physiotherapists, occupational therapists, main contractor and architect but the really exciting bit was that we also had disabled children and their parents as part of the group as well. The group first worked on the naming and the concept for the building and how to integrate the various user groups. This then progressed onto colour schemes, furniture finishes and signage. In addition to managing the interior design, colour schemes and furniture of the public areas, Stills undertook the branding of the entire project, from naming the centre and all its treatment rooms and support areas, to devising a tactile wayfinding and signage system for the centre. We also worked closely with the Aneurin Bevan NHS Trust infection control, fabric company Aqua and Connection to create furniture that was suitable for the needs of the parents and disabled children using the centre long-term.

The centre was christened ‘Serennu’, which means ‘to sparkle’ in Welsh and which ties in with the Sparkle charity’s motto ‘Helping special children shine’. The theme for the centre is based on stars and space, with treatment rooms being named after constellations. The graphic style was developed to appeal across the age range and to give different levels of cognitive experience across time. Hence you can respond at a childlike level to the simple graphical representation of each constellation and at the same time understand how the stars make up that constellation, whilst navigating users around the centre.

The new working practice facilitated by the centre has enabled departments and staff to work together in new ways focusing on the patient and driving operating economies.

The Team
Client: Anuerin Bevan Health Board
Client: South Gwent Children’s Centre - the Sparkle Appeal
Project Manager: Davis Langdon
Architect: Scott Brownrigg
Main Contractor: Leadbitter
Branding, interiors and signage: Stills