Healthcare Design - May 2020 - 34

ABOVE: Daylight is

a precious commodity during winters
in Michigan's
Upper Peninsula,
so the concourse is
oriented to allow in
as much daylight
as possible. BELOW:
Waiting areas
feature natural tones
and fireplaces to
warm up patients
coming in from
the cold.

decisions we made in the planning process was to
locate the birthing center immediately adjacent
to surgery," says Hughes. "To further enhance efficiencies, the C-section rooms are located in the
surgical suite, eliminating the need for the anesthesiologist to leave the department."
Another concern was the independent prep and
recovery areas for the surgery, endoscopy, and cath
lab departments. "That was duplicative," says Gore.
"To eliminate that, we created a patient care hub
that consolidates prep and recovery areas, thus reducing the number of full-time employees and the
square footage of space needed there."
INTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS

Turning to the patient experience, Gresham Smith
started by addressing the interior entry by creating

PROJECT DETAILS

Project name: UP Health
System-Marquette
Project completion date:
June 2019
Owner: LifePoint Health
Total building area (sq.
ft.): 525,000 (hospital),
90,000 (medical office
building)
Total construction cost:
$330 million
Cost/sq. ft.: $356
Architecture: Gresham Smith
Interior design: Gresham
Smith
General contractor:
Skanska Closner
Engineering: Gresham Smith
(structural), Envision
Advantage (MEP),
Littlejohn Engineering
(civil)
Builder: Skanska Closner
AV equipment/
electronics/software:
Convergent Technologies
(designer), Van Ert
Electrical (contractor)
Carpet/flooring: Music City
Flooring
Ceiling/wall systems: HJ
Martin and Sons
Doors/locks/hardware:
La Force
For an expanded list, visit
HCDmagazine.com. Project
details are provided by the
design team and not vetted by
Healthcare Design.

MAY 2020

a high-ceilinged concourse that runs along the
front façade of the building and is bookended by
two entrances, with a canopied exterior driveup at one end and an interior entrance from the
parking garage at the other. "The concourse
connects visitors to all major hospital functions along a visually cohesive space," Gore says.
"That's especially helpful in reducing confusion
and undue anxiety on the part of first-time visitors, who may drop off a family member at the
front canopy and then park in the garage and use
that entry into the concourse. And once inside,
visitors are treated to an environment of natural
tones and fireplaces to warm themselves during
the colder times of the year."
The building's interior includes several other
touches designed to connect it with its surroundings. For example, windows in the public
elevator lobbies are configured to offer views of
a nearby 1,200-foot-long rusted steel ore dock
on the shore of Lake Superior. "That 75-foothigh structure is a source of considerable local
pride, as it is a vestige of the city's history as an
important mining town," says Hughes.
While addressing interior elements to make
the facility patient and staff friendly, LifePoint
wanted the building's exterior to make a strong
statement. "We felt it was important for the
new hospital to have a sleek, modern design to
reflect the high-quality care and technological advancements found within its walls," says
Carter. "We also wanted to maximize opportunities for natural light, with plenty of windows
that maximized the amount of sunlight coming into the building in the wintertime." Additionally, the company wanted to incorporate
design elements that were meaningful to the
local community, including precast exterior
panels at the base of the building that are engraved with markings that look like birch tree
groves, which are native to the area. (For more
on how designers addressed local concerns in
the design, see the "Striking Solution" sidebar
on page 33.)
Overall, Carter says, the new hospital is an
important link in LifePoint's mission of "making communities healthier" through its 88 hospital campuses. "We are committed to creating
places where people choose to come for healthcare, physicians want to practice, and employees want to work," he says. "The UP Health System-Marquette campus hits all those goals." 
Matthew Hall is a freelance writer/editor based in
Cincinnati. He can be reached at M A T T. H A L L 5 6 @
ICLOUD.COM.

http://www.HCDmagazine.com http://www.HCDmagazine.com

Healthcare Design - May 2020

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