Healthcare Design - November 2020 - 41

CHRISTIAN COLUMBRES

while reflecting the AHSC's three-tiered service
offerings. "We put the largest community spaces, including a multipurpose space and community kitchen, on the top floor so that we could
take advantage of the higher ceilings, which enhanced the idea of the building as a beacon or a
lantern," Otte explains. AHSC's administrative/
office/meeting spaces for employees and volunteers are housed on the second floor, while the
first floor is home to reception and clinic spaces,
with AHSC operating seven exam rooms and its
partner tenant, Yakima Valley Farmworkers'
Clinic, occupying six exam rooms.
One of the biggest challenges on the project
was figuring out how to stack those three disparate space uses on top of one another, Otte says.
"The three different program elements all had
different room sizes and needs, so the structural
spans and layout had to be designed for flexibility," he says.
Addressing the interior design, the project
team sought to help patients feel at ease in the
space with elements of the familiar. For example, the AHSC exam rooms feature splashes of
blue with images of fish and other wildlife that
represent good health in Asian cultures. Additionally, a series of Asian-inspired custom
laser-cut wooden screens are used to delineate
spaces throughout the facility, while a medita-

PROJECT DETAILS:

An operational change
for the organization,
a new universal clinic
model utilizes exam
rooms and office spaces
that are shared by care
providers.

ABOVE: Exam rooms at the
Asian Health & Service
Center include a colorful
wall graphic, created
by Holst Architecture's
Sarah Vaz, featuring
fish or other animals that
represent wishes for good
health in Asian culture.
LEFT: The reception desk
for the center's first-floor
tenant, Yakima Valley
Farmworkers' Clinic,
features wood millwork
overlaid on a vinyl wall
graphic that mimics its
logo and colors. OPPOSITE:
An unused space under
the building's main staircase became the home of
a meditative rock garden.
PREVIOUS PAGES: A glassencased stairwell, floorto-ceiling windows on the
front façade, and interior
lighting turn the center
into a beacon at night for
the Lents neighborhood in
Portland, Ore.

tive rock garden occupies the space under the
main staircase.
Sustainability was also important to the
project, Otte says. "The client wanted us to
provide a healthy indoor environment for its
staff and visitors and to also help lower their
ongoing operational costs," he says. To that
end, the building was built to LEED-NC Gold
standards with features such as an advanced
stormwater treatment system, access to natural sunlight throughout, and the use of motionactivated sensors for lighting and heating/
cooling settings.
In addition to lowering the building's ongoing operational costs, Otte says another major
financial-related challenge associated with the
project included "managing soaring regional
construction costs to stay within budget for a
nonprofit agency relying on a capital campaign,
which meant being very smart and judicious
with material choices and space allocations."
For example, he says the multipurpose spaces
on the top floor had to be designed to work for a
variety of events.
This spring, AHSC had to suspend virtually
all its operations due to pandemic-related restrictions. CEO Leung says he understands that
necessity and is confident once the building
reopens it will continue fulfilling its mission to
provide a welcoming care center and hub for the
community. "Many people have told me they are
homesick for the center," he says. 
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.

Project name: Asian
Health & Service Center
Project completion
date: August 2018
Owner: Asian Health &
Service Center
Developer: Housing
Development Center
Ground floor tenant:
Yakima Valley Farm
Workers Clinic
Total building area:
40,600 square feet
Total construction cost:
$10.8 million
Cost/sq. ft.: $266
Architecture: Holst
Architecture
Interior design: Holst
Architecture
General contractor:
O'Neill/Walsh
Community Builders
Engineering: MFIA Inc.
(MEP), ABHT Structural
Engineers (structural),
KPFF (civil)
Landscape: NNA Landscape
Architects
Carpet/flooring:
Interface, Daltile,
Tandus, Centiva
Ceiling/wall systems:
USG, Promat, Knotwood,
Equitone
Doors/locks/
hardware: Raco
Aluminum Doors
Fabric/textiles: MBI
(office ceiling)
Furniture-seating/
casegoods:
Forms+Surfaces (garden
bench)
Lighting: Eaton,
Sonneman, SPI
Lighting
Wallcoverings: Artistic
Tile, Levolux
Other: Modernfold
(retractable walls),
Iceberg (whiteboards)
Project details are provided
by the design team and
not vetted by Healthcare
Design.

NOVEMBER 2020

Healthcare Design - November 2020

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