Amherst, NS
2002
163,000 sq. ft.
Client: Cumberland County Health Authority
Type: Institutional, New Construction
Beds: 78

We were responsible for Architectural Design Services, development of updated Master Program, Master Plan, new Functional Program, Equipment Consulting, Interior Design, and Site Selection for the new hospital. We were also Construction Managers for the project, responsible for the management of 35 trade contractors.

The new regional hospital has 78 acute care inpatient beds, a full range of diagnostic and treatment services and community health services.

With its clear internal organization, visual distinctiveness and easily recognizable landmarks, the two-story Main Entrance Lobby-and the prime circulation spine into which it flows-form the central hub of the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. This space is the major point of orientation for patients, their families and staff to access all areas of the facility. An information centre, security station, and public washrooms are easily visible upon entry. Elevators and stairs located at either end of the spine provide easily accessible vertical circulation.

The lobby design accommodates the many required functional adjacencies and maximises internal organisation by serving as a spine from which all other more minor circulation flows. Wayfinding opportunities are optimised, and patients and visitors are easily oriented at their point of entry into a pleasant, softly daylit, and memorable space that offers opportunities for a variety of interactions to occur. Nature ( light, water, plants, animals) is paramount to the creation of healing environments. Exterior views into the forest to the north provide a therapeutic connection to nature, offering a positive distraction and deviation from the sterility of long, typical hospital corridors.

In a typical hospital, surgical suites receive no daylight due to the requirement to control higher levels of humidity. In the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre, daylight flows into the surgical suites via second floor interior windows overlooking the spine. These windows also have views to the forest, providing relief to staff working long hours in the surgical suites.