A whimsical mobile floats in a soaring lobby bathed in sunlight. Giant blowups of butterflies and frogs share elevator lobbies with interactive-video aquariums. Vivid colors enliven rooms and corridors.

No, this warm, inviting place is not a family resort. It's Scottish Rite. And like Egleston — both owned by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and designed by Atlanta architects Stanley Beaman & Sears — it represents the leading, and award-winning, edge in health care design.

Jim Roof Creative Photography (ENLARGE)

Dhruti Jakes and her son, Kavi, examine the Discovery Wall at the elevator lobby at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, which has a mango-fuchsia palette.

Jim Roof Creative Photography (ENLARGE)

Chris Bowles and Tara Hill are seated in the chapel of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. The interior of the hospital — also honored by the American Society of Interior Designers and Contract Design magazine — was among 10 projects that received design awards from the Georgia chapter of the American Institute of Architects last month.

Cited as "spirited and innovative," the interiors — also honored by the American Society of Interior Designers and Contract Design magazine — are among 10 projects that received design awards from the Georgia chapter of the American Institute of Architects last month at its annual convention in Savannah.

Making hospitals hospitable, an industrywide philosophy, is especially important in pediatric facilities. If hospitals are fraught environments for adults, imagine how scary they are for children. The team went to great lengths to design public spaces — lobbies, waiting areas, rooms — that would be functional but also comforting, and even distracting. (HKS Inc. designed the actual hospital expansion.)

Color plays a critical role, and not just to liven up the place. The palette created for each department is keyed to its function. Soothing blues and greens for the sleep center, for example, and vibrant mango and fuchsia on the cardiac floor, to get the heart pumping. It is also a directional device.

"With the color palette, you always know where you are," said project manager and senior interior designer Robin Kirkman. "And consistency is reassuring."

Banishing institutional green is only the beginning. The architects aimed to create a kid-centered environment. Animals and nature feature prominently in the design. But none of the Disneyesque theming in pediatric hospitals that Betsey Beaman bemoaned when her firm started out in 1991.

"[Interiors concepts] were toddler-oriented," Beaman said. "They didn't appeal to the spectrum of children in the hospital. And we thought that children of today are more sophisticated and technologically savvy."

The alternative they devised is evident in the stunning photo-murals of frogs, flowers, peacock feathers and the video aquarium. The explanatory graphics that accompany both make them educational as well as entertaining.

The designers left no detail unconsidered. Grasses embedded in translucent resin doors carry out the nature theme, for example. Lighted ceiling coves paired with circles on the floor below guide visitors to help desks within each department. A variety of finishes — from textured walls to shiny automobile paint — adds to the sensory richness.

Whether architects can create "healing environments," to use an industry buzzword, is open to debate. These projects prove, however, that thoughtful design can make the hospital experience less stressful and, at times, a bit of fun.

— This article was reprinted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.