Prior to implementing Novant’s prototypical hospital design guidelines, our team assisted with the programming, planning, and the Certificate of Need process for the new hospital, which includes a 20-bed emergency department, a 10-bed observation unit, four operating rooms, an eight-bed intensive care unit, and women’s services. Connections from the hospital to the existing medical office building provide convenient staff and patient access to advanced imaging services and physician offices. The building was designed with shell space on the fourth floor to allow for additional patient rooms in the future.
Adopting Novant’s prototypical design concepts, the medical/surgical inpatient units consist of standardized, private patient rooms which have access to supplies and medications at each room. Decentralized staff work areas, or “huddle stations,” provide space on the unit for caregiver collaboration, enabling nurses to maximize their time at a patient’s bedside, increasing the quality of care and the overall patient experience.
The exterior building design—a combination of cost-effective masonry materials and glazing with a limited curtain wall—is sympathetic to the existing community architecture and ties in seamlessly to the existing medical office building to create a cohesive campus. A large outdoor plaza provides a welcoming space for staff and visitors to relax. The overall design is committed to functionality and improved efficiency. Gresham Smith worked diligently with the general contractor and the Novant design and construction team to achieve a cost-effective and aesthetic design solution for the building, resulting in savings to the owner of nearly $750,000 for the exterior design alone.
Our engineering team also worked closely with Novant to design the mechanical and electrical systems for optimum energy efficiency. The building achieved an ENERGY STAR rating of 80 by utilizing energy saving strategies and building controls, such as occupancy sensors, energy recovery systems, heat pump chillers, critical valve resets on air and hydronic systems, variable speed pumping systems, and lighting control systems.