CREATING A FEELING OF HOME

Pella® Designer Series® awning windows stacked three-high render a distinctive look and provide venting flexibility for Shriners Children's Hospital in Spokane.

The 82,500-square-foot Spokane Shriners Children's Hospital was designed as an architectural transition between a historic residential neighborhood and surrounding medical centers. And the owner wanted a building that created a warm, unhospitallike atmosphere for its young patients. In addition to the array of geometric shapes used to soften the exterior and make it less imposing, "we liked the residential feel of wood windows," says Principal-in-charge J.Ronald (Ron) Sims. "And I like windows that open!"

      So, Sims specified aluminum clad Pella^® Designer Series^® awning windows - all 750 of them stacked in a vent/fixed/vent configuration. Ventability provides a little more "naturalness" for the patients-many of them hospitalized long-term - instead of the institutional atmosphere often present in such a setting. To prevent young patients from getting into trouble opening the vent panels, the windows require an adult--with a special wrench - to open them. What the patients can operate are the between-the glass Slimshade^® blinds, which give them control over their environment.