Seattle’s newest Veterans Affairs facility is green, clean, and patient-focused. Which is, of course, the idea behind this Stantec-designed facility.
The new research building for Seattle Veterans Affairs, a $121.6 million structure with 220,000 sf of space, is meant to help with physical and mental needs of some of the 110,000 veterans availing themselves of the one of the VA’s nine area facilities.
Called the Seattle Veterans Affairs Mental Health and Research Building, the structure is meant to enhance patient care. It provides outpatient mental health care, including dialectical behavior therapy, family and group psychotherapy, medication management, and other services. Dialectical behavioral therapy helps identify and change negative thinking patterns and engenders positive changes in behavior.
Collecting research programs at one location also was the point of the new facility. The move brings together programs in a space designed for each research unit. Members of each unit had input on the design. Now, the fully modern equipment and facilities will enable researchers to expand the limits of medicine in areas such as PTSD, Alzheimer’s Disease, lower limb prosthetic design and engineering, oncology, and suicide prevention.
See Also: New Biomedical Research Center Facility at Northwestern University
Seattle is the VA’s 5th largest program, and its recent facility construction is a structural affirmation of the VA’s promise “to advance change and positively disrupt the way America delivers healthcare.”
Home to a prosthetic lab that includes motion analysis, custom fabrication and fitting capabilities, the new facility means, practically speaking, that patients can be fitted for and receive their prosthetic at the same site. With an eye for energy efficiency, the building was designed to LEED standards.
For those aware of it, the environmentally friendly design could have its own calming effect. The building has natural ventilation, passive systems, solar shading, green roofs, rainwater harvesting, access to public and staff outdoor spaces, and also interior gardens.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA
After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction employment declined in 333 of 352 metro areas in June
Construction employment declined in all but 19 communities nationwide this June as compared to June-2008, according to a new analysis of metropolitan-area employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis shows that few places in America have been spared the widespread downturn in construction employment over the past year.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Hensel Phelps among the nation's 50 largest design-build contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 Design-Build Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
VA San Diego Healthcare System Building 1 Seismic Correction
San Diego, Calif.
Three decades after its original construction in the early 1970s, the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System Building 1 fell far short of current seismic codes. This not only put the building and its occupants—patients, doctors, nurses, visitors, and administrative staff—at risk in the event of a major earthquake, it violated a California state mandate requiring all hospitals to either retrofit or rebuild.
| Aug 11, 2010
HDR, Perkins+Will top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest healthcare design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 Healthcare Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Diffenbaugh completes construction of Loma Linda University Highland Springs Medical Plaza
J.D. Diffenbaugh, Inc. has completed construction of the new Highland Springs Medical Center for California's Loma Linda University Medical Center that will significantly enhance the access to medical services for families in the Inland Empire. The project was developed by Lillibridge Healthcare Services, Inc., one of the nation’s largest private healthcare real estate firms.
| Aug 11, 2010
Arup, SOM top BD+C's ranking of the country's largest mixed-use design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Mixed-Use Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
