Essentia Health’s new 1,000,000 SF St. Mary’s Medical Center streamlines services, redefines the continuum of care, and invigorates downtown Duluth with public amenities.
THE BUILDING BRICK AND STONE BASE CASCADES down while the building podium above bridges over first street and the alleyway. The masonry base echoes the terracing effect of the sloped city. The base of the building is designed with articulated and striated brick panels and recessed glass recalling the urban scale and texture of Duluth’s masonry tradition.
ABOVE THE PODIUM RISES THE INPATIENT TOWER, clad with glass panels, maximizing views. Its narrow aerodynamic form was designed to eliminate wind turbulence at entrances. The glass is patterned with a ceramic frit screen recalling the iconic fog that emerges out of Lake Superior. The frit screen plays a key environmental role in the design, providing protection from solar heat gain and protects birds from colliding into the glass tower.
A welcoming plaza featuring extensive canopies and a glazed winter garden provides a hotel-like entry experience. The use of natural planting as well as warm and comforting building material such as wood soffits and textured brick reduce visitors and patient’s anxiety and provide a welcoming entry for the community.
THE AMENITY FLOOR includes a main street that begins at the ground level of the inpatient entrance and connects a chapel, a café, a staff lounge, a public conference center, a pharmacy, and a gift store, ending in the large cafeteria overlooking Lake Superior.
THE CAFETERIA, designed in collaboration with the Native American community provides a tribute to the natural environment that lies at the heart of the Ojibwe tradition. Large mural photographs of Native American life mark individual seating areas throughout the space. Large sculptural ceiling elements echo the individual shapes of the canoes. Collectively, these ceiling “canoes” form a subtle surface that recalls the gentle waves of Lake Superior.
THE PATIENT ZONES utilize outdoor views and references to nature in creating an uplifting and healing environment. The design provides patient-centric inpatient rooms, appropriate amenities to respond to different care needs, and enhances the patient experience while improving outcomes.
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