How Lumico and Lava Lamp Lab built a high-impact website for the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Hospital

The project began through a personal connection between the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Hospital (THCT) and a Lumico executive, a relationship that led Lumico to offer its support in designing a website capable of turning awareness into action. Lumico then brought in its long-time development partner, Lava Lamp Lab, to build it.

THCT supports children at one of South Africa's most vital public hospitals, and their mission is as urgent as it is human. Their platform needed to reflect that — to convert website visits into donations.

Lumico partnered with development studio Lava Lamp Lab, a trusted collaborator of several years, to bring the vision to life. The two studios have built a fruitful working relationship across multiple projects, combining Lumico's strategic design thinking with Lava Lamp Lab's technical expertise to deliver a platform built for purpose.

A website built for impact

THCT finds itself in a unique position: without the safety net of an operational fund, it relies entirely on public generosity to sustain its mission. Every donation goes towards things like advanced medical equipment, keeping wards up to date, or keeping education alive during treatment. But for donors to give, they need to believe their contribution matters. That means being open and honest about how funds are used, while creating a journey that gently guides those good intentions into real, tangible change.

Lumico led the design of the THCT WordPress site, while Lava Lamp Lab handled the development and build - together delivering an intuitive, mobile-responsive UX/UI experience that helps visitors quickly understand the difference their donation can make.

Good UX/UI design is about guiding people effortlessly towards the moment they decide to act. Each layout decision, content hierarchy, and call to action was shaped by Lumico with the donor journey in mind, then built and refined through multiple iterations by Lava Lamp Lab. The result is a site that performs seamlessly across all devices and is easy for THCT staff to update themselves, ensuring the content stays fresh, relevant, and reflective of their ongoing work.

Video that brings the mission to life

As part of the project, Lumico produced a short-form video featuring Dr Pierre Goussard, Chairperson of the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Hospital, bringing the mission to life in his own words.

In it, Dr Goussard reflects on the heart of THCT's work: the futures that children represent. Each child treated at Tygerberg Children's Hospital carries within them the potential to grow into someone who shapes the world, a future doctor, teacher, scientist, or even a president. To support their care today is to invest, quietly and profoundly, in the possibilities of tomorrow.

It's a message that lands at exactly the right moment. Placed directly on the donate page, the video sits alongside a clear giving pathway, pairing human truth with gentle purpose and turning feeling into action.

THCT’s work is ongoing, and so is the need. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps keep that future within reach. To learn more or make a donation, visit www.tygerbergchildren.org.za.

And if you’d like to create work that carries this kind of purpose, we'd love to hear from you. Visit www.lumico.co.za or www.lavalamp.biz to get in touch.