RTKL-Designed Community Hospital North Expansion Reaches the Top
$200 million, one million SF expansion slated for 2007 completion.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN; DALLAS, TX (PRWEB) January 7, 2006
Topping out ceremonies for the 1,000,000 SF expansion of Community Hospital North, owned by Community Health Network in Indiana, were held recently, marking a key milestone in achieving the project’s on-time completion. The $200 million construction project, which was designed by the Dallas office of RTKL, a leading architectural firm, is expected to be completed in early 2007.
The project will effectively double the size of the facility and will include three new structures: a six-story tower, which will be added to the front of the existing hospital, a five-story professional office building, which will connect to the hospital on every level, and a six-level parking structure. The project also includes expanding and renovating 140,000 SF of the existing hospital.
“Community Hospital North is located in one of the fastest growing counties in the country. This is a significant expansion that will truly transform a community hospital into a full service urban medical complex,” said John Castorina, AIA, vice president in charge of the project in RTKL’s Dallas office. “As such, we have incorporated a people-friendly environment specifically designed to reduce the stress and confusion traditionally associated with hospital stays.”
The new 400,000 SF tower will house a specialty women’s and children’s hospital with 60 private labor-delivery-recovery-post partum (LDRP) rooms, making it the largest in the country. All private rooms have been designed to accommodate not only the patient, but visiting family members as well. Large family spaces in the LDRP rooms will include a second TV with DVD player, a “daddy workspace”, microwave, and refrigerator. The tower also includes a 22-bed pediatric wing, 36 private neonatal intensive care rooms, 48 private medical / surgical rooms, and a shell space for 48 additional medical/surgical patient rooms.
The expansion has been designed as a paper-light digital environment with all private patient rooms. Large windows in the rooms and open spaces throughout the facility will maximize the availability of natural light. Colors, artwork and furniture will further enhance the healing environment. A two-story curved glass gallery entry and five-story interior atriums along with solariums in maternity suites and an outdoor plaza on the fifth floor will provide a comfortable and hospitable setting.
When complete, the expansion will increase Community North’s bed capacity from the current 176 to 334 beds.
The project team includes RTKL, responsible for the architectural and interior design; BSA Life-Structures of Indianapolis is responsible for the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, site, and structural engineering; and Dallas-based EQ International is providing medical equipment planning.
Summit Construction is the construction manager and the general contractor all four firms previously teamed to create the nation’s first all-digital hospital, The Indiana Heart Hospital, also owned by Community Health Network, which opened in 2003.
The RTKL team includes John L. Castorina, AIA, vice president in charge of the project and lead designer. Jim Johnson, AIA, is project director; Jorge Rodriguez and Christy Murphy are project architects, and Aimee Platt and Dori Mommers, also with RTKL, are the interior designers.
RTKL is one of the world’s largest international architectural and planning firms. Founded in 1946, the firm entered the healthcare and health science sector in 1962. Over the last 40 years, the RTKL has successfully guided the development of over $8 billion of new and renovated healthcare projects. Today, RTKL ranks among the top ten design firms serving the health industry nationally and abroad. This award winning healthcare design team complements a firm-wide team of 900 professionals serving urban planning and mixed use, retail and entertainment, hospitality, multi-family residential, and corporate clients in 50 countries from 11 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information please visit www. RTKL. com
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