Hospital Adjacent Public Library

This is a plan for the redesign of Boston's West End Branch Library which is just steps away from Massachusetts General Hospital campus. This new model takes ideas from both the Ronald McDonald House program and the Maggie's Centre model to create a new space for the public, as well as a sanctuary for people with chronic diseases who are receiving repeated treatments at the hospital next door and their loved ones who are waiting around. When we arrive in these liminal spaces of indefinite waiting times, we are searching for comfort and we’re hunting for a little corner to call our “home for the day”. The aim is to relieve the trauma that one goes through from spending days in a cold and clinical space, and offer some support and respite during a difficult time.