On October 15, a joint venture comprised of the general contractors Clark Construction and JR Abbott Construction ceremonially broke ground for the new Behavioral Health Teaching Facility at the University of Washington’s Medical Center-Northwest campus in Seattle.
The six-story 184,000-sf facility, designed by SRG Partnership, is scheduled to open to residents in December 2023, according to the Seattle Times. Funded through $234 million in state appropriation, the facility is being built adjacent to the campus’s main hospital wing.
According to the University, the new building will have a 150-bed capacity, with 75 long-term civil commitment beds, 25 geropsychiatric beds, and 50 licensed med-surgery beds with the capacity to treat patients with psychiatric diagnoses and/or substance use disorders. Its top three floors will feature highly flexible inpatient units designed to respond to client needs from highly structured programs to programs that promote independent functioning and a transition to the community.
TELEPSYCHIATRY SERVICES A KEY COMPONENT
The project team and the University are calling this building one of a kind, in that it will provide a fully integrated and welcoming healing environment for patients struggling with physical and behavioral health problems. The building will include a procedural area for electroconvulsive therapy, and neuromodulation where patients can be treated with brain simulation therapy.
Also see: California University of Science and Medicine’s new School of Medicine
Brett Earnest, Clark’s Senior Vice President, says his firm has been working with the university for nearly two years to develop the facility, which when completed will serve as the home for the statewide 24/7 telepsychiatry consultation program and an interdisciplinary training and workforce development program focused on preparing and supporting the next generation of behavioral health providers for Washington State.
The Building Team is working under an Integrated Project Delivery contract. Its members include KPFF Consulting Engineers, Thornton Tomasetti, Ricca Design Studios, OJB Landscape Architecture, Mazzetti, PAE Engineers, McKinstry, VECA Electric, Schuff Steel, Performance Contracting Inc., and Queen City.
RECONNECTING MIND AND BODY
The Seattle Times reports that patients will have access to terraces and decks, sleep in secured private bedrooms, and meet with physicians and other staff in spacious treatment areas. Terracotta tiles will flank the building’s outer structure. Common spaces will feature calming muted colors. Outdoor benches will be crafted from reclaimed trees. The first floor of the building will house a public dining hall for staff and visitors.
Carl Hampson, SRG’s Design Principal, told the newspaper that choices for materials and fixtures were prioritized based on patient safety criteria. The building’s design, created in collaboration with our clinical stakeholders, will promote healing and well-being, “reinforcing the connection between mind and body,” Hampson said.
Related Stories
| Jan 10, 2011
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group: ‘There’s a significant pent-up demand for projects’
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group, a national corporate real estate development firm headquartered in Skokie, Ill., on the growth of urban centers, project financing, and what clients are saying about sustainability.
| Dec 17, 2010
ARRA-funded Navy hospital aims for LEED Gold
The team of Clark/McCarthy, HKS Architects, and Wingler & Sharp are collaborating on the design of a new naval hospital at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. The $451 million project is the largest so far awarded by the U.S. Navy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The 500,000-sf, 67-bed hospital, to be located on a 70-acre site, will include facilities for emergency and primary care, specialty care clinics, surgery, and intensive care. The Building Team is targeting LEED Gold.
| Dec 17, 2010
Arizona outpatient cancer center to light a ‘lantern of hope’
Construction of the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Ariz., is under way. Located on the Banner Gateway Medical Center campus near Phoenix, the three-story, 131,000-sf outpatient facility will house radiation oncology, outpatient imaging, multi-specialty clinics, infusion therapy, and various support services. Cannon Design incorporated a signature architectural feature called the “lantern of hope” for the $90 million facility.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital tower gets modern makeover
The Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn., expanded its D unit, a project that includes a 243,443-sf addition with a 12-room operating suite, a 36-bed intensive care unit, and an enlarged emergency department.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital and clinic join for better patient care
Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, the two-story Owatonna (Minn.) Hospital, owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, connects to a newly expanded clinic owned by Mayo Health System to create a single facility for inpatient and outpatient care.
| Oct 13, 2010
Maryland replacement hospital expands care, changes name
The new $120 million Meritus Regional Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., has 267 beds, 17 operating rooms with high-resolution video screens, a special care level II nursery, and an emergency room with 53 treatment rooms, two trauma rooms, and two cardiac rooms.
| Oct 13, 2010
Cancer hospital plans fifth treatment center
Construction is set to start in December on the new Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s $55 million hospital in Newnan, Ga. The 225,000-sf facility will have 25 universal inpatient beds, two linear accelerator vaults, an HDR/Brachy therapy vault, and a radiology and imaging unit.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
