Amphia Hospital

With the construction of four new buildings to complement the existing hospital, Amphia Ziekenhuis is one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands. It is part of a network of hospitals, each with its own medical specialties. The Molengracht site specialises in emergency and complex medical care, as well as some elective care. Designed by the Dutch architecture firm Wiegerinck, the architectural design concept is described as 'hoekige statigheid' (angular majesty).

We designed a wayfinding system from the briefing that ‘It should be fun to find your way in the new Amphia'. The design uses a numbering code for the different destinations, taking its design cues from the soft shapes of the building itself.

An important part of the project was the stakeholder engagement; during the development of the strategy we had a number of workshops with staff members, nurses and clinicians to understand their requirements and experiences in the existing part of the hospital. Giving people a voice in the development of the new wayfinding system ensures that the system interacts with the processes of the hospital and as a side effect creates much higher buy-in, and better acceptance of the system when implemented.

The wayfinding system was extensively tested by visitors before implementation and once the hospital opened, including people with cognitive, vision and mobility limitations. The clear design and the logical numbering was found to be helpful and easy to follow. 

The wayfinding design for Amphia is a departure for hospitals in The Netherlands, where wayfinding has tended to be an afterthought: not much more than a sign panel planning exercise. The Amphia system has been designed to be part of the architecture. It fits the environment perfectly, whilst being 100% functional. This helps patients feel more at ease, giving a better overall user experience.