A new heart hospital patient wing addition to an existing hospital designed to function as an iconic front door to the entire campus.
The impetus for this project was to expand the patient capacity for a regional hospital and provide CVICU care housed within a new “Heart Hospital”. In identifying the most logical available real estate on campus for expansion, we were able to convince the client that while patient bed expansion might be the primary goal, the selected location, visibility, and proximity to a major interstate and campus entry provided the perfect opportunity to create a new architectural front door to the campus. This campus, expanded and renovated multiple times over 50 years, suffered from a lack of discernible “entry”. Visitor approach and direction relied entirely on signage for orientation. Our design creates an immediately recognizable, iconic entry, lobby, and waiting area to a campus that otherwise has none. This embracing front door becomes the new “first impression” series of spaces for patients and visitors.
The key patient elements at the entry and second floor levels include increased endoscopy lab capacity and cardiovascular care beds. The third and fourth floors are constructed as shell space for 64 additional cardiac care beds. Future vertical growth is planned for up to five additional levels.
The forms and materials of the patient tower blend with the campus vernacular but are composed in a way to contrast with the existing. This was essential for the tower to make its own architectural statement. Through the use of glass, lighting, and composition, the tower is juxtaposed against the older hospital architecture of the 1950’s and 1980’s, while still respecting those periods.
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