Student design ideas included in new Ronald McDonald room

Families with children at [St. Joseph Regional Health Center] (http://www.st-joseph.org/sjrhc) in Bryan can stay close to their loved ones in a Ronald McDonald Family Room, a homelike setting in the hospital’s pediatric wing that contains elements from design proposals created by [environmental design] (http://dept.arch.tamu.edu/undergraduate/) students at Texas A&M.

Some of the student designers attended a March 4, 2016 ribbon cutting for the room, an approximately 700 square-foot space that includes a living room, kitchen/dining area, two bedrooms, a large bathroom and laundry facilities.

A wall with photos, text and graphics depicting the mission and history of [Ronald McDonald House Charities] (http://www.rmhc.org) is the most prominent example of a student concept reflected in the room’s final design, said project manager Jen Konrad, director of interiors at [Polkinghorn Group Architects, Inc] (http://www.polkinghorngrouparchitects.com) .

RMHC officials, she said, are hoping to include similar walls in future family rooms.

“The project architects also considered the students’ ideas about space planning, furnishings, materials, and color,” said Konrad. “I thought their ideas and designs were fresh, relevant and very thoughtful. They did a great job fitting all the elements of the program in such a small footprint.”

Students created the design concepts during the spring 2015 semester in a studio led by Julie Rogers, senior lecturer of [architecture] (http://dept.arch.tamu.edu) and Chengde Wu, a [Ph.D. architecture] (http://dept.arch.tamu.edu/graduate/phd/) student. The 35 first-year students, working in 9 groups, were advised by Valerian Miranda, associate professor of architecture.

The presented the designs April 3, 2015 in the Langford B Exhibit Hall to a crowd of guests, including representatives from RMHC and St. Joseph.