Array Architects Knowledge Community

First of its Kind: An Inside Look at Cooper University Hospital’s Acute Stroke and Neuro Interventional Suite

Herman Agoyo — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 20:59:00 GMT

Cooper University Hospital is a leading academic health system and operates one of the busiest level-1 trauma centers in its region. When Cooper engaged Array to design its Acute Stroke and Neuro Interventional Suite located within their emergency department, the first suite of its kind in the US, our team eagerly seized the opportunity. The design of the suite features state-of-the-art technology, medical equipment, and infrastructure to reduce time to table for critical stroke patients. Let’s review the meticulous planning and design process that underpins the AHA/ASA-certified comprehensive stroke center.

Leveraging Prefabrication to Save Time and Cost

tnichols@array-architects.com (Tim Nichols) — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 14:04:54 GMT

Contributors to this article include Laura Jensen and David Artman, Principals at Array.

Many healthcare projects face extreme budget fatigue with the economic challenges created by rising inflation and unpredictability in material costs. The budget strain that many clients are experiencing is resulting in lengthy schedule delays due to capital shortages or value engineering considerations at design milestones that include deep program cuts, and in some cases, clients are forced to stop projects all together. The biggest concern noted of Architectural Firms moving into the second quarter of 2023 was the ability to cope with volatile construction/ building materials costs and availability as captured by the AIA in the Architectural Billing Index. That concern emanates from our clients.

Exterior Design Feature: Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters Mental Health Tower

KDoss@array-architects.com (Kent Doss) — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 15:18:38 GMT

Co-authored by Marc Mendoza, a Lead Designer at Array

When you exit the US-58 Midtown tunnel by car in Norfolk, VA, there it is: the gleaming, angular, striking exterior of Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters’ (CHKD) new 14-Story Pediatric Mental Health Tower. The Array-designed facility was purpose built to help CHKD counter unsettling trends affecting our country. One in five children has a diagnosable mental health condition, and early intervention can save lives. In response, CHKD created their Lighting the Way campaign to increase mental healthcare availability, and this pavilion serves as the centerpiece of it. As such, our design team worked in close collaboration with CHKD to create an aesthetic and movement of the exterior befitting its importance to the community and celebrating meeting the challenge of expanding care access and destigmatizing mental healthcare.

Design Feature: Doylestown Hospital Outpatient Pavilion

NWood@array-architects.com (Nicole Wood) — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 15:00:16 GMT

Doylestown Hospital’s Outpatient Pavilion, developed in partnership with Anchor Health Properties, creates a one-stop experience for outpatient care in the community. A finalist for HREI’s Best New Medical Office Building Award, the facility represents a continuation of Array’s work on the campus. The Array team previously designed their first outpatient pavilion housing radiation oncology and infusion, cardiology, GI and other physician practice space.

Rapid Adaptation: Redesigning a VA Community Living Center to Contend with COVID-19

designmatters@array-archtects.com (Guest Contributor) — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 18:43:06 GMT

Co-authored by Morgan Young.

In 2019, the Lebanon, PA Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center tapped Miller Remick and Array Architects to design and construct a Community Living Center (CLC) that follows the VA standard small house model for their campus. Little did the team know that the pandemic was about to fundamentally change how age-in-place environments are designed. In this article, we’ll review strategies to adapt existing designs to meet new guidelines by exploring how the design team addressed MEP and operational challenges posed by the pandemic.

3 Design Considerations for Hospitals Built in Hurricane Zones

KDoss@array-architects.com (Kent Doss) — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 12:30:00 GMT

Recent work at Array prompted our design team to compile crucial guidance for designing facilities in hurricane zones. For example, a health facility located on a tropical island requires considerations of building movement, sustainability, and resiliency. Keeping these factors at the forefront of the design process helps ensure safety, optimal use of capital dollars and long-term operation of the site. In this blog, we’ll offer an inside look at the results of our design meetings and offer guidelines you can apply to your next project with extreme weather of this type.

Designing Behavioral Health Environments to Avoid Seclusion

designmatters@array-archtects.com (Guest Contributor) — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 15:06:49 GMT

An emerging best practice for behavioral health environments is to design spaces that minimize or eliminate areas where patients are secluded or restrained. The aim is to develop an environment designed to de-escalate, avoiding situations where medical staff need to physically intervene and restrain patients, which can be a traumatic act. Behavioral health environments often include seclusion rooms – either by design or in keeping with FGI code – to prevent patients from harming themselves or others. These rooms, which are sometimes padded, provide space for patients to de-escalate and calm.

Landlocked Campus? Overbuild Solution!

CWoo@array-architects.com (Cheryl Woo) — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 13:00:00 GMT

As a healthcare architect, I get to see every day how powerful specialty care can be for the patients being treated in highly specialized hospitals. It is not every day that we are able to design space within a community hospital that allows patients to receive specialty care closer to home.

Enhancing the Check-In Process for Healthier, Happier and More Productive Staff

hvought@array-architects.com (Hannah Berman) — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:42:30 GMT

Welcome to our Clinician-Centered Design blog series, where we showcase guidance and design strategies to mitigate staff burnout, promote well-being and quantify the impact design solutions. Start from the beginning of this series here. | This blog was co-authored by Lisa Lipschutz and Madeline Hill, a former interior designer at Array.

The interactions at the start of a physician office visit set the stage for both patient and clinician experience. Front desk staff are the first encounter for a patient, yet they experience a higher turnover rate than any other position. This is a problematic trend as this position sets the tone for the remainder of the appointment. While there are a variety of factors contributing to staff turnover, thoughtful design can reduce staff stress levels and subsequently aid in avoiding burnout. Paired with operational improvements, we can explore methods to prevent stress before it even begins.

Respite: an Essential Need for Essential Workers

Elizabeth Schmitt — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 16:18:26 GMT

Authors Diana Louden and Lauren Michaels contributed to this piece.

Imagine yourself as a nurse, nine hours into your 12-hour ICU shift. After watching your favorite patient take an unexpected turn for the worse, you manage to break away for just a minute to sit. Utter exhaustion overtakes you. Your feet hurt from standing, your back aches from helping weak patients move in their beds. The thin layer of sweat that began seven hours ago has intensified, and you realize you are drenched. And you have three hours left. Suddenly, you notice someone is talking to you. “Excuse me! I said my mother needs help, and you’re just sitting there!” Your first chance to breathe, your one moment to process the anguish you’ve both witnessed and experienced firsthand, and it’s over. Back to work.