The new facility designed by Perkins+Will for the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland approaches the design as a total experience of healing that includes architecture and urban design. The project proposes to redefine the hospital experience with The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center and the Sheikh Zayed Tower, whose goal is to emphasize transformative patient-centric care.
More after the break.
The new facility is a complex that includes 1.6 million square feet within two 12-story towers that provide healthcare for children and adults. The towers rise from an eight-story base and are defined by curved and articulated forms, color, and outdoor garden spaces. The towers have 560 private patient rooms, 33 state-of-the-art operating rooms, and expansive new adult and pediatric emergency departments. The architects and designers worked closely with the client in order to provide a design that accounted for the accommodation of the most advanced medical technology with the psychological and environmental design for patient-oriented care.
Perkins+Will worked closely with landscape designers OLIN, groups of engineers and artist Spencer Finch to design a set of buildings that gave a new face to the campus as a whole and addressed the experience of the space rather than focusing exclusively on function, as most hospitals are designed. The design takes into account the psychological benefits of providing visual stimulation, such as color, open spaces, green spaces and an abundance of natural light in an environment.
The entrance to the building leads into a two-story sky-lit lobby with meditation garden. The first impression of the space is serenity, calm and the inclusion of nature into the design. In addition, Perkins+Will worked closely with art curator Bloomberg Philanthropies and the John Hopkins state to collect 500 works of art by more than 70 artists, that are now incorporated into the design of the building. The addition of healing gardens creates a nurturing and uplifting environment.
The glass curtain that covers most of the building was designed by Brooklyn-based artist Spencer Finch. The final design is multi-colored two-layered fritted glass façade whose effect moderates the Baltimore light by day and transforms the building into a glowing composition of color and light by night. The materials chosen for the interior is just as important as the presence of natural light in creating a humanizing architectural experience of medical care. Marble, limestone, terrazo and wood were chosen for their timelessness and elegance, set against the rich bold colors and light of other areas.
Perkins+Will also focused on the planning stages of the design to incorporate new and developing medical technologies to challenge conventional solutions of hospital design. This comes from the hospital’s patient-centric care, the interaction between patients and staff, and the accommodations required for medical equipment and procedures for a steady flow of operations.
