(This is a continuation of the Article featured in our April OFA Newsletter: FOUNDATIONS)
HuntonBrady Architects received an Award of Excellence from the AIA Orlando chapter at the 2019 Design Award Gala for this new Emergency Department and Medical Pavilion for Orlando Health. The new 3 story building has a visually engaging sculptural composition of stacked shapes at the entry, that helps it stand out on Osceola Parkway.
The first floor comprises the new Emergency Department. On the upper floors, the client required a flexible interior space that could be renovated from medical clinics to inpatient bedrooms. This diagram shows the current clinic layout at the top (which are the 2nd and 3rd floors), and the possible renovation of those floors to become hospital inpatient unit, below it. The the purple blocks indicate the bedrooms arranged along the exterior windows and the center orange block, would be the nurse stations and support rooms.
The families arrive and enter under two dramatic sheltering canopies. The lobby and waiting areas offer warm wood paneling, screens and soffits, with large glass expanses offering views to the nature outside. The exam rooms arranged along the exterior wall have art and windows located high on the walls where patients laying down can appreciate them.
The Emergency Department plan is below:
The ceiling in the center of the emergency department is a backlit photo of the sky, and photography of nature on the walls all help to soothe the staff and patients. These accents are visible to everyone circulating to and from all the exam rooms. Indirect cove lighting instead of down lights in this area avoid blinding patients on their backs on stretchers being pushed down the hall.
On the upper floors, the clinic waiting areas look out to the distance, widening and disguising the continuous circulation corridor.
Reviewed from around 50 submissions, the jury selected two for an Award of Excellence. Both were hospital projects by HuntonBrady. Of this entry they said:
Craft and composition of the exterior resonated with jury.
Organization is clearly reflected in the façade.
Organization is simple in plan but rich with the simple moves along the public space.
Drop off canopy makes a striking front door to the building.
As described by the Architects:
Freestanding Emergency Department and Medical Pavilion
The design intent of this project is to create a calming health campus environment where patients and their families can feel connected to nature while having access to state of the art healthcare services.
This 60,000 SF freestanding Emergency Room / Medical Office Building, will become the anchor for the future health campus.
It is located in Osceola County, FL on a 13.5 acres site. It has 317 visitor parking spaces and will contain a pedestrian walkway that ties in to the surrounding amenities. This campus is part of a Transit Oriented Development with a Sun Rail Commuter Train Station being built less than a quarter mile away.
The program includes an Emergency Department on Level 1 with 2 Medical Office floors above. The challenge with this project was to create a floor plate and a structural layout that would allow all programs to stack harmoniously while also providing the flexibility to convert the upper floors into Inpatient Bed Units as the future needs of the community and the health campus grow.
The exterior design features a landscaped Plaza with outdoor seating, to allow patients and families a quiet outdoors place to be while dealing with tough situations. The architecture brings nature directly into the building with the abundant use of natural lighting, materiality, and by framing views to the surrounding landscape. The interior design is sensitive to the patient experience and promotes this connection to nature through the use of artwork, lighting, textures and finishes. These accents are also used to aid in wayfinding and to orient patients throughout the entire health campus inside and out.
We hope you enjoyed these photos and drawings, and look forward to explaining more about last years award winning buildings next month.
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