Healthcare Design - December 2013 - 25

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building is set back 100 feet and the scale of the
378,367-square-foot hospital was reduced by dividing the structure into two connected sections, with
an eight-story patient tower that's farther away from
the shore and a three-story therapeutic gymnasium
and pool that's nearest to the water.
A glass curtain wall on the façade creates a sense
of transparency and helps bring in daylight, with various sun-shading devices used to control heat gain.
The lower massing of the three-story building
allows for a series of therapeutic rooftop terraces on
floors three and four, which include outdoor exercise
spaces and vegetable and flower gardens. Johnson says the horizontal lines of the steel and glass
exterior also suggest movement, which ties into the
facility's rehabilitative nature.
Outside, trails are outfitted with different types
of ramps, steps, and cobblestones to help patients
practice different experiences they'll face once they
leave the hospital. An inlet called Little Mystic is also
the setting for the facility's adaptive water sports.
"Hospital architecture is more than just functional
and dimensional planning," Johnson says. "You have
to think about experiential things as well-daylighting, outdoor space, the views-it's all part of the
healing environment."
Active member of the community
The design and architecture also allow Spaulding
Rehabilitation Hospital to become a gathering place

for the community-in good times and bad.
The facility is located along the Boston Harborwalk, and the BRA requires developers to provide
public access on their ground floors. Therefore, 75
percent of the hospital's first floor is dedicated to
public use, including meeting spaces, public restrooms, and a cafeteria.
Guenther says this also provided Spaulding with
the chance to rethink how its programs could help
patients re-engage in public by providing them opportunities to immerse themselves in the facility's
community spaces, too. "It's a reverse inclusion
idea," she says. "If you can go down to the ground
floor and eat as you're getting better, you're becoming more normalized and engaging as a citizen in
society rather than like an invalid in an institution."
The accessible design and open public spaces
can also become a place of refuge for the community
in an emergency. The ground floor café and meeting
rooms will provide safe haven services if the community is affected by a severe weather event or blackout.
"The idea of privatizing resources like waterfronts is
an old idea that's being replaced with notions of these
shared elements or common resources," Guenther
says. "We'll all care more about it, protect it better, and
be willing to invest in these sorts of resiliency measures
if we're all sharing the benefits of them." HCD

Above, left: There's an
abundance of outdoor space
for patients and visitors at
Spaulding, including a large
balcony on the eighth floor and
a fourth-floor terrace (shown
here). Above, top right:
Even the pool facility takes
advantage of the building's
setting with large windows that
provide daylighting and scenic
views during aquatherapy
programming. Above: Lower
counters and cut-outs at the
main reception desk and
welcome centers on patient
floors reflect some of the
inclusive design elements.

Anne DiNardo is senior editor of Healthcare Design.
She can be reached at adinardo@vendomegrp.com.

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Healthcare Design - December 2013

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