In Duluth, Minn., the new St. Mary’s Medical Center, designed by EwingCole, is now the largest healthcare facility in the region. The hospital consolidates Essentia Health’s healthcare services under one roof.
At about 1 million sf spanning two city blocks, St. Mary’s overlooks Lake Superior, providing views on almost every floor of the world’s largest freshwater lake. All of the hospital’s inpatient rooms enjoy floor-to-ceiling views of the lake or the surrounding hillside. The dining commons and rooftop garden also offer views of Lake Superior.
While the exterior façade’s lower levels resemble the brownstone homes and businesses in downtown Duluth, the glass façade of the upper levels and patient tower evokes the neighboring lake. The building’s fritted glass also reduces solar heat gain inside.
The hospital’s interior aims to eschew traditional clinical design by embracing vibrant colors and nature to aid the healing process. Each floor’s interior design takes inspiration from a natural landscape in Duluth.
The design team constructed and tested a full-scale mockup of the building envelope to detect any air or moisture infiltration that could affect energy performance and indoor air quality. As a result, the team achieved a 24% reduction in energy consumption and a 26% reduction in energy costs.
As part of the project’s sustainability measures, almost 1 million sf of the building’s acoustic ceiling panels were manufactured about a half-hour away, reducing travel time and greenhouse gas emissions. EwingCole also selected a nearby single-source manufacturer of the custom glazing system, decreasing transportation emissions. And the team reduced the building’s embodied carbon by replacing Portland cement with cement substitutes.
The hospital’s narrow, aerodynamic form eliminates wind turbulence around the entrances and rest areas, minimizes its impact on views to and from the lake, and limits its impact on bird migration. In addition, the design team’s early wind modeling enabled it to refine the structural system so that it required less steel.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Essentia Health
Design architect: EwingCole
Architect of record: EwingCole and LHB
MEP and structural engineer: EwingCole
General contractor: McGough
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 80 Hospital Facility Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Gresham Smith head the ranking of the nation's largest hospital facility engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 130 Hospital Facility Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
HDR, HKS, CannonDesign, and Stantec top the ranking of the nation's largest hospital facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 115 Healthcare Sector Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
Turner Construction, Brasfield & Gorrie, DPR Construction, and JE Dunn Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest healthcare sector contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking factors all healthcare sector work, including hospitals, outpatient facilities, and medical office buildings.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 90 Healthcare Sector Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and IMEG Corp. head the ranking of the nation's largest healthcare sector engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking factors all healthcare sector work, including hospitals, outpatient facilities, and medical office buildings.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 170 Healthcare Sector Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
HDR, CannonDesign, HKS, and Stantec top the ranking of the nation's largest healthcare sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking factors all healthcare sector work, including hospitals, outpatient facilities, and medical office buildings.
Architects | Sep 12, 2022
FWA Group joins national architecture, interior design, and planning firm Hord Coplan Macht
Hord Coplan Macht acquires FWA Group.
| Sep 8, 2022
The Twin Cities’ LGBTQ health clinic moves into a new and improved facility
For more than 50 years, Family Tree Clinic has provided reproductive and sexual health services to underserved populations—from part of an old schoolhouse, until recently.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 200 Contractors for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 45 Engineering Architecture Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Burns & McDonnell top the rankings of the nation's largest engineering architecture (EA) firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
