Client

UF Health Jacksonville

Location

Jacksonville, FL

Expertise

Healthcare

Services

Architecture, Interior Design, Experiential Design and Wayfinding

With a desire to bring much-needed healthcare services to a rapidly growing area in North Jacksonville, UF Health set out to develop a full-service healthcare campus. In 2012, Gresham Smith began developing a campus master plan, followed by the first phase facility: a six-story, 200,000-square-foot ambulatory care center and medical office complex that opened in 2015. In July 2017, Gresham Smith’s services extended into phase II, designing a five-story, 92-bed, 160,000-square-foot inpatient tower and new central energy plant.

The third phase of the master planned campus, the 124-bed, 174,000-square-foot tower expands acute care and adds two new service lines—rehabilitation and concierge medicine—for the North Jacksonville community. The design creates a hospitality-inspired experience driven by the latest technology, empowering staff to deliver the cutting-edge care that UF Health is known for, while also enabling patients to recover in a calm, comfortable environment.

174k
square-foot facility
124
beds
6
story inpatient tower
A person reading a book on a couch in a patient room
Patients and doctors in a two story rehabilitation gym

State-of-the-Art Spaces

The tower includes a 48-bed rehabilitation unit with a state-of-the-art two-story rehabilitation gym and 76 acuity-adaptable patient rooms that can flex based on demand. The sixth floor is home to a premier four-bed concierge medicine suite. Additionally, patients, loved ones and staff have access to shared amenity spaces, including conference rooms, dining areas, an outdoor rehab terrace and a healing garden.

Inspired by Natural Beauty

The design was inspired by the Intracoastal Waterway. The contemporary exterior is cohesive with the other buildings on the UF Health North campus, with a signature silver ribbon winding through the façade that serves as a geometric interpretation of the inland marshes.

The inspiration extends to the interior, where each of the six floors are designed to represent Florida’s diverse waterways: spring, river, marsh, shore, sky and rain. Neutral finishes shift focus to the expansive exterior views and abundant photography throughout the space, while midnight blue, gray, white, olive and chartreuse provide pops of color.

Creating further connections to nature, the all-private patient rooms offer an abundance of natural light with views of the campus’ green roofs, rehabilitation patients have access to an outdoor rehabilitation terrace, family waiting spaces include a balcony that overlooks the wetlands, and a healing garden offers respite.

A nurse in a hospital patient room
A nurse sitting behind a nurses station in a hospital talking to another person

Designed for Comfort

Each patient room is equipped with a multifaceted entertainment and education system that allows a patient to remain in bed while controlling the room’s lighting, temperature and solar-shade system, enhancing safety by reducing fall risks. Patients can also watch on-demand entertainment, order meals and access the internet from their bed via a bedside tablet. Additionally, staff can use the system for bed tracking, discharge instructions and telemedicine services, enhancing efficiencies and streamlining care delivery.

Exercising Independence

The two floors of inpatient rehabilitation are anchored by a two-story rehab gym that overlooks an outdoor roof terrace rehab garden. The gym features a multitude of therapies including a monumental stair equipped with an overhead gait and balance system. Views of the outdoors and abundant daylight inspire patients as they train and exercise, while the walkways are designed to challenge patients with varying surfaces, steps and ramps. On the terrace, shade trellises with built-in seating provide relief from the Florida sun and large tree planters, native landscaping and water features create a soothing escape in the fresh air.

Exterior of a six story hospital