Baptist Health Care’s new $650 million healthcare complex opened recently in Pensacola, Fla. Featuring a 10-story, 268-bed hospital, the project “represents the single-largest investment in the healthcare history of northwest Florida,” said Gresham Smith project executive Robert “Skip” Yauger, AIA, LEED AP.
The 602,000-sf Baptist Hospital is equipped with a Level II trauma center that provides 61 exam rooms and three triage areas. Other services include critical care areas, a mother-baby unit, surgery department with 25 procedure and operating rooms, specialty cardiac care treatment and procedure rooms. The building was designed with extra space for future expansion.
The project includes a six-story, 178-000 sf medical services building, the Bear Family Foundation Health Center. This facility houses multi-specialty services including oncology, women’s health, outpatient imaging, bariatrics, and cardiology. It also includes a conference center that will be used for public events, health education, and community outreach. A separate facility, a 72-bed behavioral health unit brings much needed behavioral health services to the community.
“This project to replace our 73-year-old legacy campus with a more modern, technologically advanced and accessible location was a generational opportunity for us,” says Baptist Health Care president and CEO Mark Faulkner. “This campus will raise the bar for health care experiences, safety, quality, and efficiency for generations to come.”
The 57-acre campus is organized around a park-like town square featuring groves of heritage oak trees. Amenities include walking paths, respite areas, and outdoor event spaces. The exterior of each building pays homage to the historical character of Pensacola’s local buildings and celebrates the natural surroundings of the beach community. Warm terracotta and shades of sandy white contrast to mark building entrances. Large spans of glass flood the interior with natural light.
The buildings were designed to be resilient to hurricanes. Durable materials, including precast concrete panels and impact glazing that surpass code minimum, and a hardened building structure and envelope, will withstand hurricane force winds and rain. Redundant electrical supplies and potable water systems will enable the hospital to operate off-grid during an emergency.
The interior of each building takes cues from the exterior design, using handcrafted materials, such as wood, bronze, and terrazzo, to create a warm, welcoming environment. Drawing inspiration from the oaks in the town square, large scale light fixtures reference sunlight streaming through Spanish moss. Planters and full-height windows bring the outdoors inside.
To aid with wayfinding, every patient destination on the first floor is accessible from the primary public concourse, while staff and materials circulation is separated in a secondary circulation system. Reminiscent of light reflecting over the ocean at sunrise or sunset, the color palette shifts colors at each level of the building. Transparent and translucent glass reduce patient anxiety at clinical entries, which are denoted by accent lighting, wood ceiling treatments and large-scale graphics. Lightwells bring daylight deep into the building’s core.
Owner: Baptist Health Care
Architect, MEP engineer, structural engineer: Gresham Smith
General contractor/construction manager: Brasfield & Gorrie
![New $650 million Baptist Health Care complex opens in Pensacola](/sites/default/files/inline-images/BaptistHealthPensacola_004%206%20%281%29.jpg)
![New $650 million Baptist Health Care complex opens in Pensacola](/sites/default/files/inline-images/BaptistHealthPensacola_003%206.jpg)
![New $650 million Baptist Health Care complex opens in Pensacola](/sites/default/files/inline-images/BaptistHealthPensacola_001%206.jpg)
![New $650 million Baptist Health Care complex opens in Pensacola](/sites/default/files/inline-images/BaptistHealthPensacola_006%206.jpg)
![New $650 million Baptist Health Care complex opens in Pensacola](/sites/default/files/inline-images/BaptistHealthPensacola_005%206.jpg)
![New $650 million Baptist Health Care complex opens in Pensacola](/sites/default/files/inline-images/BaptistHealthPensacola_004%206.jpg)
Related Stories
| Dec 1, 2014
How public-private partnerships can help with public building projects
Minimizing lifecycle costs and transferring risk to the private sector are among the benefits to applying the P3 project delivery model on public building projects, according to experts from Skanska USA.
| Nov 25, 2014
Emerging design and operation strategies for the ambulatory team in transition
As healthcare systems shift their care models to be more responsive to patient-centered care, ambulatory care teams need to be positioned to operate efficiently in their everyday work environments, write CannonDesign Health Practice leaders Tonia Burnette and Mike Pukszta.
| Nov 20, 2014
Lean Led Design: How Building Teams can cut costs, reduce waste in healthcare construction projects
Healthcare organizations are under extreme pressure to reduce costs, writes CBRE Healthcare's Lora Schwartz. Tools like Lean Led Design are helping them cope.
| Nov 18, 2014
5 big trends changing the world of academic medicine
Things are changing in healthcare. Within academic medicine alone, there is a global shortage of healthcare professionals, a changing policy landscape within the U..S., and new view and techniques in both pedagogy and practice, writes Perkins+Will’s Pat Bosch.
| Nov 14, 2014
Haskell acquires FreemanWhite, strengthens healthcare design-build business
The combination expands Haskell’s geographic presence by adding FreemanWhite’s offices in Chicago, Charlotte, Nashville, and San Diego. FreemanWhite will retain its name and brand.
| Oct 30, 2014
CannonDesign releases guide for specifying flooring in healthcare settings
The new report, "Flooring Applications in Healthcare Settings," compares and contrasts different flooring types in the context of parameters such as health and safety impact, design and operational issues, environmental considerations, economics, and product options.
| Oct 30, 2014
Perkins Eastman and Lee, Burkhart, Liu to merge practices
The merger will significantly build upon the established practices—particularly healthcare—of both firms and diversify their combined expertise, particularly on the West Coast.
| Oct 21, 2014
Passive House concept gains momentum in apartment design
Passive House, an ultra-efficient building standard that originated in Germany, has been used for single-family homes since its inception in 1990. Only recently has the concept made its way into the U.S. commercial buildings market.
| Oct 21, 2014
Hartford Hospital plans $150 million expansion for Bone and Joint Institute
The bright-white structures will feature a curvilinear form, mimicking bones and ligament.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.