The Surrey Memorial Hospital Critical Care Tower is a $512M project that has increased the emergency department by five times the size, provides specialized mental health and pediatric health, has improved areas for acute trauma patients, and provides additional program areas for the University of British Columbia’s School of Medicine’s clinical teaching. This beautifully modern building has not only given a new meaning to healthy design within British Columbia, but boasts a unique interior design that better supports staff to care for patients. An interior organization technique, called pod zoning, also enables isolation of areas in the event of a communicable disease outbreak or act of violence. Though this technique sounds austere, CEI Architecture’s interior design is fun and playful and boasts colorful tiled floors and plenty of natural light.
Related: Stunning Green-Roofed Hospital Heals Through Green Design
Typically hospitals are energy giants capable of consuming massive amounts of energy. The LEED Gold-designed Surrey Memorial Hospital Critical Care Tower reduced energy consumption by 47 percent from standard design practices. The design team carefully considered the hospital’s layout and incorporate passive techniques such as natural daylighting for energy efficiency and to promote welcoming environments. These healthy indoor environments were also improved by the use of materials with low VOC content in order to prevent off-gassing and toxic fumes that could harm occupants. Also, at least 20 percent of the materials were sourced locally, including the wood used both on the interior and exterior. British Columbia’s government has an initiative to showcase the local wood industry, something that CEI Architecture’s design team showcases with incredible flair.
CEI Architecture and Parkin Architects have created a building that will not only be an example of sustainable design for Canadian healthcare, but also future designs for efficient healthcare buildings. The Surrey Memorial Hospital Critical Care Tower has already been awarded the 2013 Judges’ Choice Overall Award and the 2013 Excellence Award in Community Institutional Building at the Fraser Valley Commercial Building Awards.
+CEI Architecture
+Parkin Architects
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