◆ Architecture
■ Master Planning
● Interior Design
■ Master Planning
● Interior Design
St. Francis Hospital NICU Renovation & Expansion Interiors
Colorado Springs,
Colorado
The expanded Level III NICU at St. Francis Medical Center was the first phase of construction for the four-story expansion to serve the growing population on the city’s north side, increasing capacity from 30 to 46 beds. St. Francis Medical Center was previously operating under the Family Centered Care model, but after the research done with the design team, the Family Integrated Care model was adopted. The Family Integrated Care model promotes full family participation in the NICU and the design team supported this new model of care for the hospital in the design of the renovation and expansion.
Healthcare
Project Details
- Square footage:
- Expansion: 30,668 sf
- Renovation: 12,000 sf
- Project cost: $102M (for entire expansion, including ORs and the ED)
Design Details
- Daylighting
- Biomimicry and local artwork
- Couplet Care rooms
- Outdoor patio space
- Wellness Garden
- Family Lounge
- Family pre-discharge room to aid in the transition to home
- A breast milk lab room with a dedicated nutritionist on staff
Recognition
- 2019 Bronze ACE Award, Best Building Project (Over $70M), presented by Association of General Contractors (AGC) Colorado
- 2019 Engineering Excellence Award of Merit, presented by the American Coucil of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Colorado
To encourage and facilitate parental involvement, the single-family room became the focus for the new NICU. The rooms feature advanced room lighting and tunable light to support infants’ circadian rhythm, refrigerator drawers for breast milk, a family sleeping zone with privacy curtain, and a full private restroom. The NICU also features two state-of-the-art couplet care rooms where mothers and babies are kept together in the same room and cared for by the same healthcare team. The SFMC NICU is the only one in Colorado, and one of the few in the nation, with couplet care rooms. Increased space was also designed to care for multiples (twins, triplets, etc.) to be cared for in the same room.
Having a premature infant is extremely stressful for a family, and the design team took care to incorporate several special areas for families to decompress and to connect with others including a redesigned reception area, a Wellness Garden, a NICU Family Lounge, and an outdoor patio and Sky Lobby.
The parti for the NICU is the canopy of the forest, reflective of hospital’s Rocky Mountain setting. Large sweeps on the ceiling and floor plane mimic the light and shadow of a parting sky. Patterning on the NICU doors expresses the tangle of branches and helps diminish the expansive corridor. Natural light is carried through the unit but diffused similar to the light carried through the tree tops. Sparkle lights mimic the night sky and create interest similar to mobiles in an infant’s room.
The four-year endeavor to expand and renovate the St. Francis Medical Center Level III NICU involved feedback and participation from all user groups of the department as well as NICU “graduate” families.