fall design project 2012: delaware valley hospital renovation

By the Fall 2010 Third-Year Architecture Students at The State University of New York College of Technology at Delhi

Schematic Design Proposals forUHS Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care Center

The content featured in this publication is the work of third-year architecture students at SUNY Delhi. The analysis of the current Primary Care Center at Delaware Valley Hospital in Walton, NY and the re-sulting design recommendations featured in this publication were the focus of an architectural course which placed an emphasis on appropriate design solutions for specific client needs while maintain-ing an efficient and aesthetic architectural balance.

The course work was aimed at providing the Primary Care Center at Delaware Valley Hospital with a use-ful set of schematic designs as they look to remodel and/or renovate their existing facilities to function efficiently while improving the quality of provided services. The students worked closely with repre-sentatives from Delaware Valley Hospital in order to address all the critical issues and needs of the client.

The students were divided into eight groups with each group project addressing the client needs and making specific design recommendations. The overall goal of each design project was to enhance the patient experi-ence, consolidate and separate the public and private functions of the facility, and improve the efficiency and architectural aesthetics of the existing building.

Nana Andoh

United Health ServicesDelaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care Center

SCHEMATIC DESIGN PROJECT BY STUDENTS OFTHE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK - COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AT DELHI

ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM

CONTENTS

Project Information and Site Location 2

Existing Conditions and Client Objectives 3

Existing Condition Images 4

Student Proposals - Option 1 5BY KEMUEL PENA & STEPHEN WARREN

Student Proposals - Option 2 9BY ALBERT CLARK & MARIA STATHOUDAKIS Student Proposals - Option 3 13BY NICHOLAS NACCARATO & MICHAEL MAGAZU

Student Proposals - Option 4 16BY RICHARD DELUCA, IVAN LANOVYY, & RICHARD ROCK

Student Proposals - Option 5 21BY DANIEL DAHLSTROM & COREY ELY

Student Proposals - Option 6 24BY SEAN DONNELLY & SEAN WHEELER

Student Proposals - Option 7 27BY STEVEN McCORMACK & REBECCA PARESE

Student Proposals - Option 8 31BY NAOAKI KAMITANI & NATHAN SCHMIDT

The school’s address is2 Main StreetDelhi, NY 13753(607)746-4070www.delhi.edu

COPYRIGHT 2011 by the State University of New York College of Technology at Delhi Architecture Program. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

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STUDIO PROFESSOR AND EDITORNana Andoh

STUDENTSAlbert ClarkDaniel DahlstromRichard DeLucaSean DonnellyCorey ElyNaoaki KamitaniIvan LanovyyMichael MagazuSteven McCormackNicholas NaccaratoRebecca PareseKemuel PenaRichard RockNathan SchmidtMaria StathoudakisStephen WarrenSean Wheeler

Special thanks to our faculty advisorsZ.I. Sanchez, Assistant Professor of ArchitectureJared Yando, Instructor - Construction Tech. & Management

Our thanks to these individuals who directed us toward the Primary Care Center at Delaware Valley Hospital as a place of interest and an ideal academic project to provide our architecture students with a valuable learning experience, and for their guidance throughout the project.Dotti Kruppo, Vice President - Community Health Services at Delaware Valley HospitalMarc Arnold, Facilities Engineer at Delaware Valley Hospital

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Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care CenterProject Information and Site Location

United Health Services (UHS) is a com-prehensive regional health system in upstate New York whose mission is to improve the health of those served through a commit-ment to excellence in all services provided.

The Primary Care Center compliments the 25-bed UHS Delaware Valley Hospital loca-tion in Walton, NY. The Primary Care Cen-ter provides first rate primary and preven-tative care with a group of highly qualified physicians and other health professionals.

The location of the Primary Care Center al-lows for providing services to the residents of Walton and the neighboring towns and villages in Delaware County. The location is accessible from major county roads and nestled in a central residential neighborhood.

Map rendering of NY State showing the location of Walton, NY by Maria Stathou-dakis and Albert Clark

Map of Delaware County showing the location of Walton, NY by Maria Stathou-dakis and Albert Clark

Location plan of Delaware Valley Hospi-tal in Walton, NY by Maria Stathoudakis and Albert Clark

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Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care CenterExisting Conditions and Client Objectives

The original Primary Care Center building has undergone multiple additions and physi-cal alterations as needed to efficiently ac-commodate how the building is utilized.

However these additions and alterations created more problems than they resolved. There are now multiple areas spread throughout the facility, multiple nursing stations creating an inefficient working model, offices that are either oversized or undersized for the in-tended occupants, patient rest rooms which are not handicap accessible, and an entry sequence that cre-ates a lack of privacy during the check-in process.

In addition, most of the hallways are too nar-row and the interior wall construction has little or no sound barrier allowing for con-fidential conversations to no longer remain confidential. Essentially the entire facility ad-justed to required changes by “making do” with what they had and the result is a nar-row, dark, maze-like feeling for a facility that provides extremely high-quality services.

With all these issues, these student projects are very timely and influential for the Primary Care Cen-ter as they look to improve the architectural aes-

thetics and working efficiency of their facilities.

Based on the analysis of the existing fa-cilities, the clients’ needs were as follows:* A well designed front desk area for pa-

tient registration and check-in procedures.* Large meeting/con-ference room for staff meetings and group presentations.* About three exam rooms per each of the three at-tending physicians.* Central access to the lab which holds es-sential materials and medical supplies.* Ideal room for cop-ies and fax related tasks.

As a bigger picture, the cli-ents goals for the project are:* Effective use of all designed spaces.* Upgraded finishes and bright spac-es for the facility to feel “less-clinical.”* Achieve optimum sound control for enhanced privacy and confiden-tiality between offices and hallways.

The academic challenge for the students had to deal with the separation of public and private access within a defined space, and how such issues can be resolved through design while being conscientious of the existing structure.

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Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care CenterExisting Condition Images

Check-in area

Typical waiting area

Example of narrow hallway

Visible secure area

Undersized office space

Lack of privacy at check-in

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Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care CenterStudent Proposals - Option 1(Projects appear in the order presented on December 8, 2010)

Our design process was based on our experience of hospitals. We knew the basic layout and went from there. We knew that too much hallway space was not good and was a waste of space. This gave us more room to play with the exam and office rooms. We wanted the lab and nurses’ station to be across from each other due to the fact that these rooms were the busiest and had correlation with each other. We wanted most offices and some exams to have windows. We figured this would make the work environment more enjoyable and less stressful. With the foyer we wanted an open floor plan to be stress free and have a great feeling about it. This was also for a great visual of pas-sions for the nurses to call.

All the projects we did in the studio include the process of tweaking and fixing the design. The best kind of design is the one that can change with little effort.

Stephen Warren & Kemuel Pena

Existing floor plan showing walls intended for demolition

Phasing diagram for proposed floor plan

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Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care CenterStudent Proposals - Option 1

Proposed Floor Plan

Key design concepts:

*Maintain most of the exist-ing structural walls to mini-mize additional costs.

*An open entry sequence with more privacy during the check-in process.

*Centrally located nurses’ station with immediate ac-cess to lab.

*Formal separation of public and private spaces.

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View of proposed nurses’ station

View of proposed waiting area

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Exterior view of model Three-dimensional view of proposal

Main entry lobby and check-in area Centrally located nurses’ station and con-ference room

View of exam rooms with a private weigh-in station at the end of the hall

Close view of new entry sequence

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One of our primary goals was to consolidate the public and private spaces. We did this by section-ing off most of the offices and break room to the back of the building, away from the public areas and where the employees can have their own private entrance. The meeting room is also located near its own private entrance to maintain the privacy of the meeting from the patients. Located in the center of the building is the nurses’ station; we felt that this was the optimum location for the nurse’s to be placed because it would be centralized between all of the exam rooms. During the design process we took into consideration our clients’ needs and wants for the hospital design, and also what every modern hospital should have. For instance when the previous hospital was designed the code requirements were different than that of what they should be today. Another important factor that we were trying to achieve was keeping the load bearing walls from the previ-ous addition in their existing positions. If you look at our demolition plan, there is a large section of walls that will be remaining in our proposed plans because we believe that it is an important aspect for making this project as practical as possible. Overall we as a group learned a great deal from this project. We got practical experience as far as existing site conditions, client interactions, and design requirements put in place by the client as far as what they needed for everyday functionality.

Albert Clark and Maria Stathoudakis

Existing floor plan Demolition plan

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Proposed Floor Plan


*Maintain existing structural walls for a feasible project.

*A well defined entry that enhances privacy during check-in.

*Consolidated waiting area

*Formal separation of public and private spaces.

*Open central core in the building with a transparent conference room (that can be made private with blinds) making the interior feel bright and “less clinical.”

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Diagram of public and private spaces

Proposed waiting area

Proposed phasing diagram

Proposed conference room showing the bright and open core of the building

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Interior view of building coreThree-dimensional view of proposal

Entrance and new waiting area View of proposed expanded break room

Closer look at the proposed nurses’ sta-tion and conference room

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Our main goal was to minimize the amount of walls to be moved. Since the building has had several additions, many walls were once exterior walls and are load bearing. We tried to not dis-turb these walls as much as possible to avoid possible headaches during construction. The second objective of the project was to also reorganize the spaces according to public and private sections. Currently the spaces are intertwined and to someone who has never been inside the building the locations of the rooms become very confusing. Lastly, the entrance is incredibly confusing for one to enter and exit so having a clear line of sight and a reconstruction of the entrance was a must.

Nicholas Naccarato and Michael Magazu

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Proposed Floor Plan


*Maintain a majority of the existing bearing walls

*Open waiting area with a private check-in counter

*Prime location of confer-ence room for visitors and staff meetings

*Centrally located nurses’ station surrounded by the exam rooms

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Proposed phasing diagram of existing plan

Section drawings of proposed scheme showing typical vertical relationships between spaces

Phasing diagram of proposed plan

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Our group worked to provide a floor plan that resolved the issues outlined by the client as well as problems that we discovered during our analysis of the site.

The areas of concern were the waiting and reception area, congested hallway system, and over-all organization of areas. We improved these areas by provide a new centralized reception area that is more welcoming to visitors, a larger central hallway serving organized doctors suites, and centrally located nurses’ station and pediatrics to better help with the flow of foot traffic.

Richard DeLuca, Ivan Lanovyy and Richard Rock

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Proposed Floor Plan


*A clearly defined entrance and open waiting area

*An organized system of “suites” giving each provider an office and the required number of exam rooms

*A centrally located nursing sta-tion visible from all the providers’ “suites”

*A wide central hallway around which all the “suites are organized

Proposed section drawings showing the proportions of the visible spaces

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Proposed phasing sequence diagrams

Proposed circulation diagram

Proposed organization of the “suites” and the nurses’ station

Proposed organization of the offices and conference room

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Watercolor rendering of proposed nurses’ station

Rendering of proposed waiting area and private check-in counters

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View of proposed conference roomThree-dimensional view of proposal

Entrance and new waiting area Physicians’ suites organized around the nurses’ station

Closer look at the private check-in counter

Break room and rear entrance location in proximity to nurses’ station

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For our design we decided to take a look at how the public, private, and semi-private spatial configura-tions work in its current state. We came to the conclusion that the spaces were scrambled all over the building. The entire building, with the exception of the back addition, can be accessed by anyone in the hospital since the offices are placed all over. In addition to the public and private issue there was also the issue with sound traveling through walls. This was a big problem because of patient privacy. The last outstanding issue was the lack of space and privacy in the waiting rooms and reception areas.

The first issue we tackled was the separation of public and private spaces. By moving all the exam rooms to a central location, patient access becomes restricted to the waiting area and exam room areas only. Also with the nurses’ station moved to the center of the exam area, the nurses have visual access to almost every single exam room. This helps with patient control and nurses needing to cover for each other. The waiting/ reception area is an important aspect of a doctor’s visit so we chose to consolidate all the wait-ing rooms into one large waiting area. This helps the nurses get the patients from the waiting area to the exam area with ease. And the last problem we resolved was the sound issue. By adding sound resilient channeling and a sound board to the walls under the gypsum creates an efficient sound proof wall system.

Daniel Dahlstrom and Corey Ely

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Proposed Floor Plan


*Large and open consolidated waiting area with a private check-in counter

*Ideal central location for the nurses’ station with a visual connection to all exam rooms

*Efficient separation of public and private functions of the hospital

*An efficient layout of circulation spaces and access points for patients, visitors, and hospital staff

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Diagram of proposed public and private areas

Plan of proposed phasing sequence

Typical section drawings of proposed design

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Our main goal for the project was to try and address all the issues that the client had requested, while at the same time trying to keep the majority of the interior structure the same. The reason for this is because over the years since the original construction, there have been a few additions to the origi-nal structure. This caused some of the original exterior load bearing walls to become inter walls, and to keep the structural integrity of the building we tried to keep these walls in the same location.

Sean Donnelly and Sean Wheeler

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Proposed Floor Plan


*Properly defined entry sequence with a private check-in area and a separate waiting room

*All exam rooms are centrally located and clustered around the nurses’ station

*Distinct separation of public and private functions of the hospital

*An efficient layout of circulation spaces and access points for pa-tients, visitors, and hospital staff

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Diagram of intended uses for the proposed spaces


Section drawings of proposed design

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For the Primary Care Center project at Delaware Valley Hospital, we wanted to centrally organized the floor plan through the nurse’s station, which we thought would be the busiest location. We also wanted to organize the physician’s offices and exam rooms to provide patients with the most privacy possible.

To address these issues we designed four physician suites around the central circular nurses’ sta-tion with each suite containing three exams rooms, a bathroom, and a physician’s office. For the remaining organization of the floor plan, we wanted to put all of the administrative offices in the front part of the building along with the waiting area and check-in area. We re-designed the cur-rent suboxone area into a more functional space with its own waiting area, nurses’ station, exam room, bathroom, and physician’s office. We located the conference and break rooms in the back of the hospital in order to give the staff separation and privacy from patients during the work day.

Steven McCormack and Rebecca Parese

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Proposed Floor Plan


*An organized plan around a circular and centrally located nurse’s station

*A cluster of four physicians suites lo-cated around the central nurses’ station

*Open waiting area at the front of the building with the other public functions of the facility

*The private functions of the facility (break room, conference room, lab, etc.) are located towards the rear of the building

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Diagram of intended public and private spaces for the proposed plan


Section drawings of proposed design

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Plan organized around the circular nurses’ station

Three-dimensional view of proposal

Closer look at the circular and centrally located nurses’ station

Physicians’ suites organized around the circular nurses’ station

Private functions (conference room and break room) located to the rear of the proposed design

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The main objective of our project was to re-design the facility keeping most of the load bearing walls while re-sizing the rooms in order to add a higher level of comfort to those rooms. We expanded the exam rooms for a larger area for physicians to work in. The nurses’ station was re-designed to give them more access to the exam rooms while keeping a private area for the nurses to make phone calls. We separated private areas, the offices, and the exam rooms for each area to function efficiently.

We decided to choose quiet wall materials which consisted of two sheets of Boral Sound stop Plas-terboard with insulation solutions noise control batting to reduce the amount of sound echoing. We designed all of the rest rooms to be up to ADA standards and all the exam rooms have curtains for privacy for the patients. The reception area contains three defined spaces where people can be checked-in and have a one-on-one meeting with the receptionist while respecting their privacy. The conference room sits 22 people comfortably and the break room has all requirements met, (sink, fridge, two microwaves, toaster oven, a large coffee pot, and water cooler) with chairs for 8 people.

Naoaki Kamitani and Nathan Schmidt

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Proposed Floor Plan


*Very clear separation of the public and private functions of the Primary Care Center

*Distinct areas for checking-in and the waiting area allow for maximum privacy

*Exam rooms designed around the centrally located nurses’ station

*The private functions of the facility (break room, conference room, lab, etc.) are located towards the rear of the building

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Perspective view of waiting area and private check-in windows

Rendering of proposed centrally located nurses’ station

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Section drawings of the proposed design

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Exam rooms designed around the nurses’ station

Three-dimensional view of proposal

Closer look at break room in the rear of the facility

Clear separation of public and private areas

Detail of defined check-in area with private windows for confidential conver-sations

Re-designed efficient suboxone wing of the proposed design

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Delaware Valley Hospital - Primary Care CenterProposed General Details

Detail of typical interior existing walls. The existing wall con-struction has a very low Sound Transmission Class (STC), mean-ing sound is easily transmitted between spaces (as tested at sixteen standard frequencies from 125 HZ to 4000 HZ). Thus a confiden-tial conversation between a patient and a physician can be heard in adjacent offices and the hallways.

The typical STC in a residential home is about a 33 (based on a 1 to 100 scale) while the standard for most hospitals is about 45 - 60 depending on the facility type. A higher STC number means the wall construction is an excellent sound mitigator.

The ideal proposed design will feature an improved interior wall construction that will increase the current STC of the exist-ing structure.

Through the use of additional gypsum and sound deadening boards, the proposed wall promises an STC of about 60 - 65 which is in the neighborhood of high-end multi-family apartments and private home theaters.

Additional sound proof acoustil ceiling panels will ensure that sound does not escape through the ceiling structure. When taken together the proposed construction will ensure the total privacy and confiden-tiality of all conversations taking place within the Primary Care Center.

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Existing entrance lobby, waiting area and check-in window showing the lack of privacy and confidentiality as outlined by the client

Example of student resolution for the entrance de-signed by DeLuca, Lanovyy, and Rock

Alternate solution of the entrance proposed by Kem-uel Pena and Stephen Warren

The Primary Care Center facility at the Dela-ware Valley Hospital location in Walton, NY represents a place of wellness and is a sym-bol of highly-qualified physicians providing much needed care to the immediate community.

Above is an image of the entrance into the facility that epitomizes much of the issues the students had to resolve. The services that the Primary Care Center provides are essential and the facility needs to func-tion as efficiently as possible to make this feasible.

The project by the architecture students at SUNY Delhi is therefore very appropriate and our many thanks to all the people involved. It is our wish that the proposals by our students serve as inspi-ration to the administration at the Primary Care Center, and ultimately serve in some small way as a catalyst for changes to the current facility.

- Nana Andoh

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AT DELHIARCHITECTURE PROGRAM

fall design project 2012: delaware valley hospital renovation

Documents

year architecture students

current primary care

specific client

appropriate design solutions

existing conditions

client objectives

existing building

existing facilities