Ronald McDonald House Stanford – Designing a Home for Hope

The Ronald McDonald House at Stanford provides a home-away-from-home for families of children with life-threatening illnesses receiving treatment at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The House is a cost-effective lifeline that allows families to stay together – eat, rest, sleep, and regroup – in a comforting, inclusive, and supportive environment. Today, the home is forced to turn away 40–50 families each day due to a lack of room availability. Our current project, Where Hope Has a Home, will allow all those in need to be served.

BAMO’s portfolio spans the globe, but this wonderful project has our creative and philanthropic juices flowing. Joining forces with the San Francisco Design Center and Bay Area colleagues, BAMO is designing the Lobby, Great Room, and Kid’s Great Room for RMH-S’s expansion. The project will increase family rooms from 47 to 123, making this the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world.

With the funds we raise, we can help give the House a warm and personal feel—a departure from the institutional atmosphere these facilities can often have. We are hoping to raise at least $100,000 for the cost of furniture and finishes, which will allow our ambitious design of the Lobby and Great Rooms to come to life. These wonderful changes will not be possible without the generosity of our community.

A Home Away from Home

At the new Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, the Lobby is the first opportunity to welcome families from all walks of life. Here, we wish to create an atmosphere that is “home away from home”—one of comfort, inclusiveness, and support.

The Inspiring Live Oak Tree

In our visit to the existing House, we fell in love with the majestic California Live Oak, where a few residents were enjoying sitting on benches outside. Our design proposal seeks to capture that feeling of shelter—the feeling of being in a garden setting, relaxed, casual, and reflective of California’s indoor–outdoor living style. This entry “Courtyard” would serve as a gathering place, as well as a place to celebrate the seasons or the individuality of the residents, with a central sculptural “House Tree” that could be decorated by all.

Beyond the Courtyard are the “Great Rooms” for adults and kids. As the main unprogrammed lounging spaces of RMH-S, these are conceived as relatively quiet, comfortable living rooms with ample natural daylight and open views of the greenery beyond.

We think these spaces could be a fantastic “front door” for the entire Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. It is a chance to show the best of what RMH-S is and what it has to offer its families and the entire community.

Interactive and Playful

California casual

Family Focused

View our design for the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford.