For Immediate Release: July 9, 2007
HGA Designs Expansion to St. Luke's Community Medical Center The Woodlands
Minneapolis, MN - Minneapolis, MN - HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA) has been selected to design an 83,000 square-foot medical facility expansion to St. Luke's Community Medical Center The Woodlands outside Houston, TX. The four-story Bed Tower Expansion with 88 beds will allow St. Luke's Episcopal Health System to continue to provide high-quality healthcare services in this planned community.
HGA was selected because of its extensive patient-focused healthcare planning and design expertise, as well as its prior experience working with St. Luke's and the Texas Department of State Health Services. HGA developed the 24-acre campus master plan for St. Luke's Community Medical Center The Woodlands, and designed the first-phase medical buildings, completed in April 2003.
"St. Luke's is dedicated to meeting the community's healthcare needs by providing the best services available," said HGA Principal Barry Graham, AIA. "This expansion is an opportunity to build upon the success of the first phase by bringing back the same design team members. Our deep understanding of client's long-term goals and the community's evolving needs will allow us to deliver an efficient state-of-the-art facility that will enable St. Luke's to achieve its objectives."
The Bed Tower Expansion improves work flow, staff efficiency, and patient outcome. The nurses' station, in particular, is designed to reduce travel distance in responding to patients.
Interior functions are organized according to floors, with administrative functions, support areas, meeting rooms, and Board Room on the first floor. A 30-bed critical-care unit is located on the second floor, with a 29-bed medical-surgical unit on the third floor. An additional 29-bed medical-surgical unit is planned for the fourth floor, currently left as a shell for future expansion. The facility is designed to accommodate a two-story vertical expansion.
The expansion is oriented toward a lake to maximize views of the site's extensive natural amenities. A loggia wraps the exterior to capture views of the lush landscaping. Exterior materials include cast stone, and limestone cornices and window sills.
"This design will harmonize with the detailing and character that we developed in Phase One," said Frank Nemeth, AIA, lead project designer with HGA. "Warm materials, colors and regional forms will reflect the architectural style that was so successful in creating a familiar and comforting environment for patients and staff."
With its headquarters at the Texas Medical Center Campus in Houston, St. Luke's bought a wooded site north of downtown Houston in 1999 to expand its healthcare services in the fast-growing planned community, The Woodlands. HGA's master plan for St. Luke's included a village-like campus for 485,000 square feet of medical facilities centered on an existing lake, richly developed landscaping, and simple wayfinding. The 305,000 square-foot first phase included a central hospital flanked by an 84-bed patient-care unit, and a six-story medical-office building. The complex has won several design awards since opening in 2003.
Construction on the Bed Tower Expansion is expected to begin this summer, with opening scheduled for late summer 2008.
:: View Saint Luke's Community Medical Center at The Woodlands, Bed Tower Expansion
HGA Contact: Julie Luers (612) 758-4000 e-mail JLuers@hga.com
Media Contact: Susan Evans, Evans Larson (612) 338-6999 e-mail susan@evanslarson.com