Ronald McDonald House Dayton, New House

Building Architecture- Large Scale (>10,000 sf)

Project Narrative

The new Ronald McDonald House Charities of Dayton creates a haven for families during life’s most challenging moments. A familiar form, with unexpected, scale-shifting moves, elevates the most basic building archetype—the house, as a child might draw it—into a landmark of care.

Positioned between a residential neighborhood and Dayton Children’s Hospital, the new all-electric, solar-ready home doubles the organization’s capacity to serve families as it bridges scales between two contexts: Its massing and sculpted metal frames relate to the hospital, while its rooflines and durable, locally-produced terracotta tiles echo the textures of small homes nearby.

Inside, the design evokes “home” through a child’s eyes: small kitchens, playrooms, lounges, and a soaring meditation space filled with dappled light. Material choices, natural patterns, and domestic details create places of dignity, memory, and connection where families can celebrate good days and birthdays or find respite after challenging days at the hospital.

A connecting stair provides circulation and is surrounded by opportunities for respite and views as people move between floors. Once again, a familiar form is elevated at this scale through komorebi, the Japanese concept of light filtering through leaves.

By evoking familiar representations of a “house” as a child might draw it, and nestling smartly between two different contexts of scale, this project demonstrates how architecture can transform an institutional expansion into a place of belonging, contextual responsiveness, and restorative care for families around the world.