SUMMARY

• ProjectONE, a 1$ billion LEED Silver healthcare and research facility, includes a 19-story 276-bed tower and a 144-bed critical care complex.  Construction comprises steel framing, poured composite decks, brick precast panels at podium base, and a unitized glass curtain wall system.

ProjectONE, a $1 billion healthcare and research center at the Ohio State University Medical Center campus, unites personalized medical care treatment with academic medical research.  The 1 million-square-foot complex located on the school’s south campus includes a central 19-story tower housing the new 276-bed Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital; a 144-bed critical care building; integrated spaces for research, education and patient care; and upgrades to the existing facilities. 

Designed to achieve LEED Silver certification, the complexes primary design function was centered on optimizing the healing environment.  The tower features private rooms with abundant natural light, and visual and physical access to green space to promote healing.  The main entry to the facility features a multi-story pedestrian concourse accessing the cancer center, critical care, and diagnostic and treatment facilities.  Major patient entries for signature programs/services are organized along the east/west concourse, articulated and defined architecturally as “portals of care.”  Easily identifiable, these entries support patient and family way-finding and deliver patients directly to treatment and diagnostic areas by separate elevators.

This project was unusual in the fact that it did not follow your typical SD-DD-CD progression.  In fact, HOK remained the lead designer/architect for four (4) straight rounds of Schematic Design in the early phases.  This repeated process was due to internal conflicts of agreement between the client and University board, not because the client was unsatisfied with the design by HOK.  I was fortunate enough to join the design team during the middle of SD-3, and continued on with SD-4 through CD’s for the duration of this fast-track project.  While personally I am partial to the graceful scheme of SD-3, I can also appreciate the new direction our team took in SD-4 with synthesizing the brick module of the large podium base with the fractal patchwork of the glass curtain wall above.  To date this is the largest facility I have completed, both in terms of size and budget.