Photographer: Ty ColeOrgan
transplantation is one of medicine’s true life-saving miracles. Still, for many
patients and their families, receiving the good news of a life-saving organ
match also prompts anxiety. Transplant candidates are often disabled for years,
and can become totally dependent on family members who serve as their sole
means of financial support and become their round-the-clock caregivers. The
Barker Transplant House will help ease these emotional and economic burdens by
providing affordable, convenient, and comfortable accommodations for the
families of transplant patients as they heal through the post-operative
recovery process.

Named after the
physician who performed the first kidney transplant at the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania in 1966, the Barker Transplant House is conceived as
a supportive community setting. This “home away from home” is organized in two
stories around a central courtyard, intended to create a prominent sense of
place for patients and families. The
lower level consists of amenities such as a family meeting room, dining area,
communal kitchen, laundry room and distributed computer workstations. Furnished guest bedrooms are concentrated at
the upper level in order to contribute to a sense of connection among all the
guests and to ensure each room receives abundant southern light through sloped
skylight roof dormers above.

An innovative
rethinking of the neighborhood’s residential typologies, the building massing
remains low yet incorporates institutional functions generously on the
interior. Wood paneling, front-yard landscaping and an entry trellis add to the
project’s soothing residential scale.

In addition to
easing the logistical and financial burdens facing transplant families, the
Barker House acts as a community center through its programming which brings
the wider transplant community together in its social spaces. The building was largely
funded through donations; the design and construction teams also worked on a
pro-bono basis.