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Architects: SmithGroup
- Area: 166000 ft²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Liam Frederick
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Manufacturers: Glen-Gery, Lithonia Lighting, Mannington, Mecho Systems, Steelcase, Viracon
Text description provided by the architects. The Center for Advanced Care is a $108 million, 166,000 sf, three-story, state-of-the-art outpatient facility at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center (AIMMC) housing ambulatory surgery, digestive health and cancer care. The Center improves patient access, continuity among care offerings, and enhances operational efficiencies by adjoining the new building with the existing hospital.
The design of the Center for Advanced Care aspires to demystify the healthcare experience by creating a physical space that is open, inviting and embraces the principles of Place-Making, Light and Community. A three-story glass atrium accentuates the facility’s main entrance. The sweeping, curved glass façade on the south elevation features an integral passive sunshade system that filters natural light and reduces solar heat gain. Public corridors are outfitted with open seating and waiting areas located along the softly undulating circulation spine, creating an easy-to-navigate wayfinding system connecting the new building to the main hospital. The Day Surgery Patient Care areas provide access to indirect light through clerestory glazing, and the Cancer Infusion Bays overlook the community garden on the north side of the building.
When designing such a complex building type, coordination is essential to delivering a high-performance building on-time and on-budget. The Center for Advanced Care was created utilizing a customized version of an integrated project delivery (IPD) approach, merging the design and construction teams prior to award of the project, thus enhancing the team’s communication and collaboration over the project’s duration.
The Center for Advanced Care also creates a destination point for local residents as a Community Health Resource, enhancing AIMMC’s leadership role within the community while simultaneously filling a physical void within the community fabric with a new world-class medical facility. The process of designing and constructing this new building seized the opportunity to create a signature moment for AIMMC with a vibrant contribution to both the campus and neighborhood fabric.
As the first hospital in Chicago to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star designation, AIMMC has always been a leader in environmental sustainability. The Center for Advanced Care has achieved LEED© Silver certification under the 2009 LEED for Healthcare: New Construction and Major Renovations rating system, promoting environmental and human health in a patient care environment.
