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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2015
/ The New Saint Joseph Hospital /
in the decision. “Prefabrication offers us an opportunity to level our
trade needs. We’re able to level those trades out.”
That’s especially important considering the scale of the project: The
crew peaked at about 1,250 workers.
Another “defining challenge,” added Gregor, was “the size and com-
plexity of this project on a dense urban health care campus.”
“What I hear so far is that this doesn’t feel like a hospital,” said
Al Davis, SCL’s vice president of facilities development, planning and
construction. That means outdoor areas on every floor, plenty of nat-
ural light and a design that’s more conducive to health care than that
of the previous building.
Bringing gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and other operating
rooms together on the second floor makes for “economies of scale
and efficiencies,” Davis explained. “Everything you could possibly
need, it’s all on the same floor.”
Larger patient rooms and more windows “add up to a better heal-
ing environment,” said Dr. Lauren Fraser, president of the hospital’s
medical staff. “When you walk in, it’s nice, but it’s not palatial. It’s an
appropriate use of health care dollars.”
Gregor described the end result as “a building for the next 100 years.”
“That became a guiding principle for us – building for the future,”
he said. “Not just the short-term future, but the long-term future.”
This means creating a flexible floor plan that can accommodate
technological change. “There aren’t any structural walls in it,” noted
Gregor. The floor-to-floor distances are notable, ranging from 15 feet
on the upper floors to 21 feet on the mechanical-bearing floors.
“The IT backbone is very robust, as robust as it can be,” said Gregor.
“The building is completely interfaced” – HVAC and a host of other
systems can be controlled remotely.
Next up: the renovation of Russell Pavilion later in 2015 and the
demolition of the old hospital structure by the end of 2016. Humboldt
Street will be reconnected to 18th Avenue, and the land vacated by
demolished buildings will be utilized for parking and green space,
with an eye on future expansions. Gregor said it all “absolutely” plays
into the 100-year plan. “The positioning of this new building is very
strategic in that regard.”
A
s part of the new Saint Joseph
Hospital campus redevelopment,
Gensler partnered with Arapahoe
Sign Arts to create and construct an ex-
terior wayfinding program to identify
and distinguish the new hospital and
campus. Working closely with the Saint
Joseph Hospital team, Gensler developed
a strategy that emphasized the activation
of signage and wayfinding at a human
scale, unifying the campus in its urban
context. Our approach recognized that an
effective wayfinding system needs to go
beyond signage by creating an integrat-
ed system that incorporates the hospital
brand, campus planning, digital/social
media and the building architecture.
Some key elements of the new way-
finding system include building signage
and entries, vehicular directional signs,
pedestrian kiosks complete with maps
for better orientation, and large light tow-
ers that act as both gateways and brand
identifiers.
Labor and delivery room on the fourth floor