Beauty and Resilience for Sensitive Environments

Designer:  UHealth + Gresham Smith, Coral Gables -- Elizabeth Delgado, Senior Interior Designer, UHealth; Alexis Moore, Interior Designer, Gresham Smith; Maria Sanchez, Interior Designer, Gresham Smith

Location: CTU Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center/U Health

Product & End Use: Xorel Artform Waveline 3D, Xorel Fragment Emboss, Xorel Dash | Acoustic Panels and Wallcovering

Market: Healthcare

“In healthcare design, everything must be easily cleanable and tough, yet not compromise its beauty. Xorel is just that.” - Alexis Moore, Gresham Smith

Materials and finishes for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center required strict criteria for cleanability and infection control as well as durability. In addition to performance, the materials needed to contribute to a welcoming, comfortable, and soothing environment for patients and staff.

Xorel Fragment Emboss and Xorel Dash were chosen as wallcovering solutions in key, first-impression areas where staff and patients interact. Xorel Artform—an acoustic panel system finished with Xorel textiles—was installed in the staff lounge for an unexpected visual statement within a space designed for nurses and staff to find respite between patients.

When UHealth partnered with Gresham Smith to design a new chemotherapy unit in Aventura, Florida, they went right to Xorel as a high-performance wallcovering solution when designing high-touch areas including check-in, coffee stands, and conference rooms. “The main reason we use [Xorel] blindly is because of its cleanability and infection control,” says Alexis Moore, an Interior Designer at Gresham Smith. Cleanable with up to a 40 percent bleach solution, as well as other harsh hospital grade-disinfectants, maintenance is made easy as “it can be wiped down with anything the cleaning/maintenance team chooses to use.” according to Elizabeth Delgado, Senior Interior Designer for UHealth.

“The main reason we use [Xorel] blindly is because of its cleanability and infection control.”

Longevity of the textile was also a concern for the team. “It was also important to consider durability, and we know that Xorel will not tear or fray over time.”

In addition to performance, the woven construction and subtle reflective quality of the wallcovering adds to the calming and soothing aesthetic of the space. Moore shared that “in healthcare design, everything must be easily cleanable and tough, yet not compromise its beauty. Xorel is just that."

Delgado shared that staff lounges for these units typically call for paint, due to longevity and cleanability concerns. However, it was important to add something special to this area where staff spends time while not with patients. “Our staff is critical to how the clinic functions, so we wanted to give them an enjoyable and empowering space as a respite—something they wouldn't have expected.”

To achieve this, the team chose Xorel Artform; a finished acoustical panel system that functions as artwork and improves sound levels within the space. Xorel Artform acoustic panels with a substrate of Quiet-Core have an NRC rating of .8 and are expertly wrapped with the Xorel textile. This solution not only provides material continuity, but more importantly, carries all of the same cleanability and durability features that factored into their selections for wallcovering. 

When it came to designing the Xorel Artform layout, Moore and Maria Sanchez, also an Interior Designer at Gresham Smith, used Carnegie’s Xorel Artform Idea Starters for inspiration, a library of pre-designed layouts. Each of these layouts is already priced out, which made it easy to get a sense of what their budget would allow for. Once settled on a layout, they were able to choose from over 350 Xorel colorways to curate a palette that was in line with the calming respite they were aiming to achieve. 

"I love working with the Design Services Team. They make our lives easier which makes our clients' lives easier!”

Moore and Sanchez also connected with Carnegie's Acoustic Solution Design Services to finalize a layout that worked best within the spatial dimensions they were working with. The Carnegie Design Services team made it easy for everyone to achieve their design goals. Sanchez shared, “I love working with the Design Services Team. They make our lives easier which makes our client’s lives easier!”