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Feature Story - March 2008

Building for Baby Boom

Children’s Medical Center Legacy Provides Pediatric Care in Natural Setting

By Sue Durio

In the five North Texas counties of Collin, Cooke, Denton, Fannin and Grayson – where the child population is growing at nine times the national average – a special delivery is due.

And the arrival comes none too soon for parents and their youngsters.

The $159 million project, an extension of the 94-year-old Children’s Dallas facility, will offer comprehensive care for children from birth to age 18.

Phase one of the Children’s Medical Center Legacy project opens this month, the first step in bringing a full-service children’s medical center to the Plano area. Opening first is the Children’s Ambulatory Care Pavilion at Legacy. At 127,000 sq ft, it will be the largest facility of its kind in the region housing 30 pediatric subspecialties under one roof. “We felt there was more need for outpatient care, so we are opening the Ambulatory Care Pavilion first,” says Lou Saksen, vice president of facilities for Children’s.

It will be joined in the third quarter – by a glass enclosed corridor connecting the pavilion – to a freestanding 302,000-sq-ft hospital complete with full-service emergency center, intensive care services and other inpatient care services. The hospital initially will open with 36 beds, with eventual plans for 72. As needs demand, expansion can accommodate two additional wings for a total of 240 patient beds.

Though construction began long before changes to the Texas Hospital Building Code were released last summer, architects at PageSoutherlandPage in Dallas and Los Angeles-based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca LLP designed universal rooms according to the anticipated 2007 code standards. “We wanted to provide the hospital with flexibility,” says Josh Theodore, PSP senior vice president. “In pediatric medicine, you don’t want to have to transport patients much so we wanted the hospital to be able to use rooms as they were needed.” Each 12-room wing shares common support areas.

Bringing natural beauty in Children’s Dallas purchased the 68.7-acre site on the master-planned Legacy campus in 2001 and has since expanded to 80 acres. “We looked at the demographics and were seeing a big increase in the children’s population in these counties,” Saksen says. In 2006 alone, more than 30,000 patients from the five-county region made commutes as long as 25 mi for treatment at Children’s Dallas – a long drive with a sick or injured child.

Saksen began working with the architect team in fall 2004, and construction began in fall 2005 under the direction of Dallas-based Austin Commercial LP. “We had done a lot of work on other hospitals but this was unique in that it was a pediatric hospital,” says Theodore, whose firm partnered with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca because of its pediatric hospital design experience.

“One of the key things that distinguishes this project is that it is an absolutely incredible site,” Saksen says. White Rock Creek, which flows diagonally across the property, offered a unique visual element. Though more challenging to construct, the team opted for a unique building shape to best leverage the site. >> “Structure of the patient wings consisted of a ’saw tooth’ or serrated perimeter to allow each patient room to have a view to the creek,” says Craig Williams, senior project manager with Austin Commercial.

Walking trails lead to and across the creek. Plans include a play area and seating around the historic Story Tree, a 100-year-old Red Oak considered the largest tree in Collin County. “When we first visited the site, the campus had horses and cattle on it and the tree was phenomenal,” Theodore says. “The importance of the Story Tree was a big part of our focus and one of the reasons we were short listed.”

The team pulled components from the surrounding landscape into the buildings’ interiors as well. In the lobby connecting the two buildings, terrazzo floors incorporate reed-like features to mimic the site’s native grasses. In addition, designers achieved a unique transition component by imbedding blades of grass into acrylic to create translucent walls between the child life and family zones and corridors.

Keeping it green Staying true to a natural theme, the project team chose local materials whenever possible. Exterior facades feature Texas limestone quarried within 30 mi of the site. Thin-cut recycled wood slat grids soften ceilings in the lobby areas. Although Williams said LEED certification was not a project requirement, the team incorporated many green building features. Natural lighting abounds through the use of ultra-clear glass that allows more daylight transmission into interior spaces. In addition to windows in every patient room, nursing stations and conference rooms are glass-sided to draw in light.

Austin Commercial established a recycling program for construction materials. “We recycled approximately 70% of all debris,” Williams says. “Getting early buy-in from subcontractors was key.”

Exterior materials included Trespa, a synthetic resin panel; Rymex, an oxidized/anodized stainless steel panel; and Rough Back Limestone. “Both Trespa and Rymex are relatively new building materials to the Dallas Metroplex and were unique building materials to coordinate and construct,” Williams says.

"It is a fairly complex building and uses a lot of materials that are less common in this marketplace," Theodore says. For instance, the two-story entry lobby features an etched stainless steel wall design that changes colors in various light. "It was a more challenging installation because it is curved, sloping and has windows punched into it," Theodore adds.

Designing for children Aside from incorporating natural components, the project’s goal was to create a patient-centric and family-centric facility. “We kept our brand colors, but reduced the values to lighten them,” Saksen says.