Kijeong Jeon Designs the Interior of “The Cove”

Kijeong Jeon, coordinator of the Interior Design Program in the Department of Art and Art History, provided the interior design for California Vocations’ patient care facility for people with autism, the COVE. The facility opened in Paradise in December. The project grew out of the need to have a base site and treatment center for clients in the day program run by California Vocations.

Jeon was contacted by Bob Irvine, executive director of California Vocations. Irvine and Terry Kozloff, director of the COVE Day Program, had the seeds of the idea two years ago, when changes in the Paradise curbside recycling program, which had been at the heart of the day program, forced them to look at opportunities for more individualized programming. The change in programming also required a base where clients could go to relax and rest.

The design of the COVE, said Jeon, is based on research and observations and interviews with people involved or afflicted with autism, including instructors, care givers, and clients. “The finished interior environment incorporates spatial volumes, architectural details, colors, lighting, and sounds that respond to the particular sensory needs of the clients, while still functioning as an educational environment.”

To the best of Jeon’s knowledge, the COVE is one of the first spaces in the country to be designed based on behavioral studies of the autistic.

“I consider this space the most fulfilling design project in my professional career, not just for the aesthetic value of the design, but for the impact it could have on the lives of those who could be served by such adaptations in the environment,” said Jeon.

Jeon plans to remain involved with the COVE, participating in post occupancy evaluations. “I want to refine and possibly develop new and even more effective design solutions.