Healthcare Design - December 2016 - 40

REMODEL/RENOVATION

P EDIATR IC SPACE S

Seattle Children's,
South Clinic
Federal Way, Wash.

BEFORE

S UBMITTED BY Z G F A R C H I T E C T S L L P * S E A T T L E

BEFORE

JURY COMMENTS:

AS MODERN HEALTHCARE places a greater focus on

D ESIG N TEAM:

ZGF Architects
LLP (design team
and landscape
architect); Aldrich
& Associates
(contractor);
Coughlin Porter
Lundeen (structural
and civil engineer);
Affiliated Engineers
Inc. (MEP
engineer); Sparling
(acoustics);
Pacific Project
Management
(project manager)
CO ST PER
SQ UAR E FO OT:

$270
PHO T O S (AF T E R ):

Aaron Leitz

the delivery of whole-person care, healthcare facility development is changing in response. Many
hospital systems today adopt a decentralized facility planning strategy to bring outpatient care
into once-underserved suburban communities-
closer to patients-with the intention of easing
the demand for acute care. Clinics offer premier
care near patients' homes and workplaces, and
the additional convenience of being adjacent to
established retail destinations. From the healthcare provider's perspective, locating ambulatory
care and its accompanying parking to a location
with lower leasing rates benefits patients while
reducing operational costs.
When this provider sought to expand its service to new communities, the opportunity
to adapt a vacant former Circuit City store
emerged. The site's shopping center context
provides visibility, access, and ample parking,
signage, entrance, and egress. Although a full 30
miles away from the provider's acute care facility, the big box's sheer amount of usable, flexible
space would facilitate incorporating labs, general X-ray, ultrasound, pharmacy, and rehab ther-

D E C E M B E R 2 01 6 / S U P P L E M E N T T O H E A LT H C A R E D E S I G N

* Renovation of the
old Circuit City big
box utilized retail
and educational
design elements
well. I appreciate
the innovative use
of sports therapy
and play areas along
with Lean concepts
in the placement
of exam rooms in
pods.
* The entry design
and metal screens
with logo and
easily identifiable
branding is spot on
for differentiation
in the market
and a potential
to franchise this
model.
* Masterful
transformation of
the existing flat
façade. Clean lines
that rely on simple
visual layering and
transparency.
* The color palette
shows restraint yet
is playful without
being trite.
* The floor plan
clearly conveys
a flexible clinic
module with
on-stage/off-stage
corriors for families
to self room. Well
executed project!

apy that resolves the issue of distance between
this location and acute care resources.
Inherent elements of the 37,000-square-foot
former big box-one level, wide spans between
structural columns-would actually advance clinic goals around patient experience and efficient
delivery of care. The store's footprint facilitated
a clinic floor plan designed to centralize services
within an open, flexible system of workspaces
and modules that incorporate principles of Lean
design. Key Lean design decisions reduced patient and staff travel distances, decreased storage space, and decreased the total number of
specialty treatment rooms, from 20 to just 5. The
existing building's single-floor, monument-free
design supported those Lean initiatives.
Yet, despite these positive attributes, challenges did arise in adapting a retail space into a
healthcare facility. Significant infrastructure
upgrades were required. However, the building's
flexibility and accessible location led the provider to proceed to convert the empty big box.
As expected, upgrading infrastructure proved
to be among the project's biggest tasks. Electrical and mechanical systems necessary for exam
rooms or labs would need to be added or overhauled. Facilitating such upgrades in a space with
a 25-foot floor-to-ceiling height included the creation of an internal structural frame to support
improvements and provide for a lowered, 10-foot
ceiling plane for experiential comfort. This internal frame also works in concert with a seismic
upgrade, which facilitated the punching of much
greater fenestration into the building envelope.
This clinic opened in August 2015, on schedule
and under-budget by 2.5 percent of construction cost estimates. Staff members report that
duplicate medical record collections have been
eliminated and return-visit scheduling communication has improved, attributing both to the
clinic's design.
The success of the project allows the main provider campus to focus on acute care as planned,
and the brand has since designated this design
as the prototype for ensuing clinics. This project
sets a precedent for retail-to-healthcare conversion nationwide, and presents adaptive reuse as
a viable option for producing stellar decentralized facilities, all in support of advancing the direction toward greater preventive care.

Healthcare Design - December 2016

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