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
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 29, 2016
How improving emergency department design leads to greater hospital efficiency
Efficient ED operations result in shorter wait times, quicker diagnosis and care plans, maximum utilization of high-cost human and physical resources, and overall better patient experiences and patient satisfaction scores, writes CBRE Healthcare's Curtis Skolnick.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 24, 2016
A symposium in New Jersey examines how a consolidating healthcare industry can better manage its excess real estate
As service providers position themselves closer to their communities, they are looking for ways to redirect non-core buildings and land for other purposes.
Senior Living Design | Apr 14, 2016
Creating a home for eldercare using the ‘Green House’ design concept
VOA Associates’ Douglas King offers design considerations in implementing the Green House concept in eldercare for continuing care retirement communities.
Adaptive Reuse | Apr 7, 2016
Redevelopment plan announced for Chicago’s historic Cook County Hospital
The century-old, Beaux Arts architecture-inspired hospital will transform into a mixed-use development.
Industry Research | Apr 7, 2016
CBRE provides latest insight into healthcare real estate investors’ strategies
Survey respondents are targeting smaller acquisitions, at a time when market cap rates are narrowing for different product types.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 11, 2016
Report: Hospitals’ fossil fuel use trending downward, but electricity consumption hardly declining
A new survey from engineering firm Grumman/Butkus Associates examines electricity, fossil fuel, water/sewer, and carbon footprint of healthcare facilities.
Office Buildings | Mar 9, 2016
CBRE: Workplace wellness on the rise
As insurance premiums and deductibles continue to rise, both employees and employers are evaluating options to improve their wellbeing, writes CBRE Healthcare Managing Director Craig Beam.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 7, 2016
Can 'active' building designs make people healthier?
The new high-performance Kaiser Permanente facility in Anne Arundel County, Md., uses the built environment to improve the overall health of its occupants, writes GS&P's Terrance Perdue.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 4, 2016
Building a home where Alzheimer’s patients can thrive
Skanska recently completed Abe’s Garden in Nashville, Tenn., a memory care community designed to improve the lives of those affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Skanska's Senior Project Manager Jeff Elpers has more on the facility.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 1, 2016
Christ Hospital in Cincinnati brings its joint and spine care services under one roof
The opening coincides with agreements that make this center a preferred provider for several employers with self-funded healthcare plans.