Harley Ellis Devereau

• Responding to service growth, the addition provides 432 inpatient beds, 16 high-tech operating rooms, 10 procedure rooms, infusion center, digital radiology, retail concourse, and two centerpiece, skylit healing gardens.
• Original plans for an outdoor atrium would have required special insulation, waterproofing, flashing and drainage for use only six months out of the year in Michigan. The cost of enclosing the atrium with a skylight proved to be only negligibly higher for an amenity that would be enjoyed by patients, families and staff year-round!
• Semi-private rooms feature an unusual toe-to-toe bed arrangement providing private space and a window view for both patients.
• Decentralized nursing “pods,” located right outside patient rooms, keep caregivers closer to patients. On general patient floors, two private and two semi-private patient rooms are clustered around each patient care station.
• A new model for operating room design provides larger than conventional spaces to easily house state-of-the-art equipment and to accommodate multiple booms, power columns, and larger equipment. The 16 high-performance operating rooms are a spacious 650 square feet to accommodate modern surgical technology – almost twice the national average size.
• Surgery is organized in an efficient U-shaped plan to provide privacy, allowing patients to enter discrete preoperative suites, where they stay with family members until surgery begins. Patients then move directly across the hall to surgery, and then back to recovery in an efficient flow.
• Mock-ups and extensive testing with user groups were used for the design of special air diffusers in the NICU to avoid disturbance to babies by air movement and to ensure a quiet environment.
• The design team placed special attention on creating state-of-the-art private NICU rooms, with special acoustic panels to minimize noise, adjustable lighting, and air flow controls.
• A retail concourse on the first floor adds convenient amenities and revenues through a Starbucks coffee shop, mother-baby gift store, expanded gift shop, flower shop, deli and café.
• Replacing facilities in the original 1955 hospital, the South Tower Addition is organized for patient access to services in one attractive, light-filled, and convenient location.

people involved in this project:

C. Richard Hall

FAIA, FACHA, LEED Green Associate, EDAC
Principal, Healthcare Studio Leader