Commercial Architecture June 2019 - 24

FLO O R I N G
SUPPLEMENT
C A S E S T U DY

Flooring Plays Starring Role For VA Renovation

he U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Northern Indiana Health Care System (NIHCS)

DESIGN DETAILS

Fort Wayne Campus offers primary, secondary, surgical, and specialty medical care for

The main lobby and welcome center are high-traffic areas with a variety of clinical and

thousands of patients each year. With more than 400 beds, the facility serves a long laundry
list of veteran needs. This means a daily influx of patients with unique and specific care
requirements.

administrative functions.
"As the busiest area of the entire hospital, it was important to get this renovation done right,"
explained Pamela Gamble, EDAC, NCIDQ, an interior designer with the Department of Veterans

Originally constructed in 1950, the NIHCS hospital went through a series of renovations

Affairs (VA). "Not only were the VCT tiles looking dated, there were serious maintenance issues

and updates through seven decades and was starting to show its age. The hodgepodge

going on as well." The existing floor was extremely hard to strip, wax, and maintain during

design that resulted from all of those renovations and upgrades was confusing, frustrating,

Indiana's harsh winter and rainy summer. While it was never a safety issue, it often looked

and unattractive. With few wayfinding elements, limited storage, poor acoustics, and a dark,

dirtier than it actually was, adding to an already somber atmosphere with cinder-block walls,

dated design, the lobby and welcome-center spaces were anything but welcoming for patients,

dated furniture, and aging finishes.

families, and staff.

While the design team originally wanted terrazzo flooring, the budget said otherwise. The

To provide a more positive experience for all occupants and address lingering accessibility,
maintenance, and infection-control concerns, the facility management arranged to overhaul

goal then was to select a timeless, classic look that wouldn't go out of style and provide longlasting value with easy cleanability for infection control.

these areas to ensure that the result would be a state-of-the-art healthcare environment. A

The design team also had existing conditions to address. The facility had a mixture of areas

key component of the renovation was the flooring, which now serves multiple purposes in the

with maple accents and doors, along with cherry accents and doors in more updated adjacent

revitalized facility.

spaces. While the facility is slowly moving toward the use of cherry accents, there are still other

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colors and patterns in the space. To tie everything together, Gamble pulled in different tones of
gray and beige and added texture. This not only helped match the existing space, but the lighter
flooring at the entrances helped hide salt in the winter.
"Our ultimate plan was to create a beautiful new space and provide wayfinding and
transition points to other areas in the hospital," said Gamble. The design used blue and gray
strips of flooring that extend to desks, offices, and nurses' stations. The circles, meanwhile, call
out focal points and major intersections. "When patients come to an arc or a circle it means
they need to pay attention," added Gamble.

INSTALLATION PROCESS
While the new flooring design would help transform the patient and staff experience at the
Fort Wayne campus, the installation process came with significant challenges. Not only is the
facility open 24-hours a day, the main lobby and welcome area are also the busiest spaces in
the facility.

Santarossa Mosaic and Tile, Indianapolis, an INSTALL Warranty Contractor, handled the

flooring installation. The company has completed several VA projects in the past and employs

INSTALL apprentices and certifed journeymen who are trained to work in healthcare facilities.
Mike Drippé, project manager with Santarossa, headed the process. His team worked in

overnight shifts, completing individual stages while the hospital remained fully operational.

"One of the major installation tasks came in the form of the circular designs, radiuses,

CMY

and stripes," explained Drippé. "If these elements are installed correctly, they pop right out

at you. However, if they are done incorrectly, the mistakes are noticeable and distracting."
To create the intricate circles and arcs, installers used a rope and radius to draw the
design. They then under-scribed the flooring and cut it by hand. "It takes a number of years to
gain these skills," explained Drippé. "That's one of the values of hiring an INSTALL contractor
that has a trained and certified team."
After each individual flooring design element was cut, the installers v-wedged out the
space between each piece of vinyl and heat welded the products together, skiving the extra
product off of the top to create a near seamless appearance. This was all done while other
trades were on site installing short walls, skylights, and other design features.

CIRCLE 209

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Commercial Architecture June 2019

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