PROJECT REPORT: HEALTHCARE BUILDINGS 37
wellbeing inclusions are ample waiting areas, a cafe, a centralised registration system, decentralised check-out points on each floor, and education and consultation rooms for patient and family training. Natural light was important to the faculty and students using the education and research facilities, so elements such as lab, conference, and office spaces were located around the perimeter of the research floor. “At every floor the planning was optimised to allow for maximum visual access to views and natural daylight,” explains Campbell. As well as waiting areas being located adjacent to large glazed areas, corridors end with windows as opposed to enclosed spaces, providing users views out, even from the core of the building. “Research has shown views outside help maintain proper circadian rhythms and positively impact sleep cycles, which in turn contributes to healthier people.” As well as lab and office spaces, the research floor also includes histology, biomechanics, molecular imaging, and administrative space. The building has also been set up to allow for cross-clinician collaboration where necessary. “This is most evident in the design of the clinical floors where a continuous row of clinician work areas criss-crosses the five patient examination corridors, allowing caregivers to exchange information,” says Campbell.
Building systems & LEED HKS collaborated with various companies to include technological aspects to aid optimisation of patient flow. The institute is a test site for an app by Carrier that clinicians can use to interact with the building, such as opening doors, calling lifts, and setting preferences such as lighting and temperature. The system also monitors carbon dioxide levels, coming on automatically to provide additional oxygen supply when sensors show low levels. A ThyssenKrupp system monitors and moves lifts, and directs users to the one with the shortest travel time. With LEED certification in mind from the outset, every detail relating to energy performance was carefully planned. “The LEED process challenged the team to evaluate the material selections for the building to meet environmental, ingredient and content requirements,” explains Campbell. “The design uses over 85 products with Environmental Product Declarations and Health Product
ADF DECEMBER 2022
Declarations, as well as satisfying seven of the eight material emissions categories for LEED and potentially earning exemplary performance.” A detailed lifecycle cost analysis was undertaken to ensure the HVAC system offered future flexibility, while not oversized. This showed an 18% improvement in building energy performance was possible by adding heat pump chillers, with a 50% cut in whole-life running costs, so paying back in seven years.
Solar glare was minimised by the building’s east-west orientation, while still allowing clear views out to the trees. The north east corner of the building, housing the rehabilitation and physical therapy gym, sits in a “lush garden of trees and plants,” bringing biophilic benefits.
The layout located the noisier areas on lower levels, while each floor home houses rooms requiring more privacy, before ending at the top with the research floor. The building’s connections to the wider campus and the Peach Creek Greenway – a path connecting Atlanta and its many suburbs – encourage staff to do physical activity.
Beginning in January, photovoltaics will be installed on the car park roof, intended to offset 12% of the building’s operational energy. Energy and water consumption has also been reduced throughout via smart technology including touchless systems in communal areas.
Construction of the institute began
in April 2020, though with strict testing protocols, limited site visits, and appropriate PPE, the team were able to keep to their scheduled construction timeline, with work completing in September 2021. Due to its use of technology throughout, the building has been hailed as a “first-of its-kind intelligent building.” Since opening the institute has been well received by both Emory and the public alike, and has been given recognition in the World Architecture Festival, and received a Special Mention in the Architecture + Health Category of the Architizer A+ Awards, as well as receiving numerous US honours. “We’re incredibly proud of this building,” Campbell concludes. “It meets and exceeds the project’s initial goals of being visionary, embodying the restoration of health and movement, and being a good steward of the client and earth’s resources.” g
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