VALDESE, N.C.—The $38 million Cancer Center at UNC Health Blue Ridge Valdese held its grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting on August 8.

The cancer and infusion center will be housed in a new 34,272-square-foot addition that features new infusion therapy and treatment areas with private and open space, radiation and chemotherapy exam rooms, consultation areas, and treatment spaces. Equipment includes two new Linear Accelerators, CT Simulator, and Superficial X-ray.

“We’re grateful that we were part of the team that built this new cancer center,” said Brasfield & Gorrie Regional Vice President and Division Manager Michael Byrd. “The team at UNC Health Blue Ridge Valdese is actively working to serve their community, and it’s humbling to lend our construction expertise to make that possible.”

The design firm working on the project is DLR Group.

Founded in 1964, Brasfield & Gorrie is one of the nation’s largest privately held construction firms, providing general contracting, design-build, and construction management services for a wide variety of markets.

UNC Health Blue Ridge is a not-for-profit community healthcare system providing advanced healthcare and wellness services from more than 40 locations across a three-county region of Western North Carolina.

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VALDESE, N.C.—UNC Health Blue Ridge is embarking on a period of growth and expansion program called Project Forward: Your Hospital, Your Future. On the Valdese campus to the left of the hospital, Project Forward calls for a new $38.3 million cancer center as part of a 34,272-square-foot addition and renovation plan.

A groundbreaking ceremony recently took place on the campus.

The new cancer center will include an infusion therapy and treatment area; medical and radiation oncology exam, consultation, and treatment rooms; and two new linear accelerators. There will be dedicated space for education, support, and group therapy. Architecture was handled by DLR Group and WMBA.

Brasfield & Gorrie, one of the nation’s largest privately held construction firms, is the general contractor for the project. “Brasfield & Gorrie works every day to build strong communities, and it’s an honor to do so through our work with UNC Health Blue Ridge. Cancer has affected nearly everyone in some way, and the new cancer center will be a state-of-the-art tool in the fight against this terrible disease,” said Brasfield & Gorrie Regional Vice President and Division Manager Michael Byrd.

A second groundbreaking later this summer will take place on the Morganton campus where a six-story tower will be built on the right-hand side of the hospital. Brasfield & Gorrie will also be the general contractor for this project. Over the next two years, UNC Health Blue Ridge will invest $156 million into these construction projects. Construction in Valdese is expected to wrap up in August 2023.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C.—DLR Group | WMBA’s design for the new bed tower, known as Palmetto Tower, has expanded the patient capacity for the Atrium Health Pineville campus. Atrium officially opened the doors to new patients on Dec. 8, 2021, adding 45 new rooms to their operation.

“We’re proud to work with a client partner like Atrium Health who is recognized nationally by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best hospitals in this region,” said DLR Group | WMBA Principal John Beyer. “Our innovations in prefabricated design of patient rooms has not only become the standard for future design with Atrium, but it contributed directly to improving turnaround, opening two-months ahead of schedule while saving the client $10 Million dollars in construction costs.”

The new, eight-story, 236,000-square-foot patient tower increases capacity from 262 licensed beds to 307. Each room features flexible options to transition between a variety of care levels, from acute care rooms to an intensive care unit, to rehabilitative care. The top two floors of the Palmetto Tower remain open for future expansion

The prefabricated pods allowed multiple room units to be delivered and installed in one day. It eliminated punch lists on individual rooms, reduced weather delays, and risk of injuries due to single-sourcing up to 12 trades all within the production process at the factory. This method of design and construction also improves sustainability factors, reducing fuel and emissions through elimination of deliveries and local disturbances to the site, as well as minimizing on-site material waste.

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new construction, renovation, and adaptive reuse.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C.—DLR Group CEO Griff Davenport has announced the acquisition of Charlotte-based healthcare design firm Wright McGraw Beyer Architects (WMBA). DLR Group established its Charlotte office in 2016 and provides K-12 Education, Higher Education, Performing Arts, Sports, and Workplace design for public and private clients in the region. WMBA and DLR Group will merge operations to create a 45-person Charlotte office.

Founded in 1996, WMBA practices solely in healthcare, specializing in the planning, design, and interiors for acute care facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, behavioral health, bio-medical centers, and medical office buildings for health systems across the Southeast. In Charlotte, WMBA has delivered multiple projects for both Atrium Health and Novant Health.

“A fundamental part of DLR Group’s growth strategy is adding firms with a focused design expertise in markets where we have an established DLR Group office,” said Davenport. “Our Charlotte office is experiencing rapid growth in K-12, Higher Education, and Workplace. Adding WMBA and an established healthcare practice to the office enables us to develop a significant footprint in one of the nation’s fastest growing metropolitan areas.”

Founders Todd McGraw, NCARB, and John Beyer, AIA, will join DLR Group as Principals, along with Studio Director Damian Huneycutt, AIA, and Director of Interior Design Wendy Ferlisi, NCIDQ and continue to lead the office’s healthcare design practice, which will operate as DLR Group | WMBA.

The staff of WMBA will relocate to DLR Group’s office in the Refinery Building at 1213 West Morehead Street in the 3rd Ward’s Wesley Heights neighborhood before year end.

The Charlotte office will provide clients an array of integrated design services including planning; architecture; structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering; and interior design. WMBA clients will also have access to a depth of design expertise – laboratory planning, clean room design, acoustics, lighting, high performance design, and more, as part of DLR Group.

“We firmly believe the expertise of WMBA, coupled with DLR Group’s Healthcare studio and the depth of design services within DLR Group makes us more competitive for the large-scale projects we want to pursue,” said McGraw. “We are getting scale with the resources that DLR Group brings to the table. We are no longer a boutique, 28-person firm. We are DLR Group with a great depth of expertise and resources behind us to enhance services for our healthcare clients.”

DLR Group is a 100% employee-owned firm and all WMBA employees will have the opportunity to purchase stock in DLR Group during the firm’s annual stock exchange. This employee-ownership opportunity was a key factor in WMBA’s decision as it provides a proven method for ownership transition to ensure the firm’s legacy of healthcare design.

WMBA’s work in the Charlotte area includes the Atrium Health—Pineville Bedtower Addition, Atrium Health—Cabarrus Bedtower Addition, and Octapharma AG North American Headquarters. DLR Group work in Charlotte includes Jerry Richardson Stadium at UNC Charlotte, restoration of the 1927 Carolina Theater at Belk Place, the Charlotte office of Octagon, and the current renovation of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

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SEATTLE—DLR Group CEO Griff Davenport, FAIA, recently announced Seattle-based healthcare design firm Salus Architecture is joining DLR Group. Salus is exclusively dedicated to healthcare design, specializing in design of complex acute and ambulatory care facilities.

Salus was founded in 2014 by R David Frum, FAIA, FACHA; together with Dale Anderson, AIA, EDAC; and Douglas McNutt, AIA. Salus will operate its healthcare practice as DLR Group | Salus and continue to serve the needs of healthcare clients in the Pacific Northwest. It also will actively collaborate with DLR Group’s Healthcare studio to expand the array of specialty design services for the firm’s Healthcare clients. The Salus team will relocate to DLR Group’s office at 51 University Street this summer.

“DLR Group is committed to being a global design leader. The team at Salus is curious, collaborative, and focused on design and delivery of user-centered environments which aligns with our brand promise to elevate the human experience through design,” said Davenport. “The diversity of its staff will add to the design culture in our Seattle office and enhance the depth of expertise in our Healthcare sector across the nation.”

Salus provides a proven foundation for DLR Group to build a Healthcare practice in the Pacific Northwest. By joining DLR Group, Salus project teams have access to in-house design services including engineering, interiors, laboratory planning, lighting, and acoustics to expand the services available to existing clients.

DLR Group is a 100 percent employee-owned firm, and every Salus Architecture design professional will have the opportunity to purchase stock and invest in the future of DLR Group.

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new construction, renovation, and adaptive reuse.

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AVON, Ohio — Each year, Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Cleveland) recognizes exceptional designs by inviting local firms to submit their best work to be reviewed by nationally renowned juries from all over the country. This year, DLR Group|Westlake Reed Leskosky was recognized with five design awards including the Cleveland Clinic Avon Inpatient bed tower.

The newly awarded project includes a 250,000-square-foot inpatient bed tower addition to an existing family health and ambulatory surgical center.

The master plan called of the project called for the expansion of a second bed tower and related support spaces.

DLR Group|Westlake Reed Leskosky provided process mapping, medical programming and planning, architecture, structural engineering, and interior design.

The project created a total of 126 inpatient beds, 14 medical/surgical patient rooms, 12 intensive care beds, two new operating rooms, a pharmacy, a processing lab, dietary services, and an expansion of the emergency and imaging departments.

The balance of the building included patient support services, general support services, diagnostic and interventional programs.

The Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital, ultimately envisioned as the “Hospital of the Future,” leverages flexibility and technology while incorporating an interdisciplinary team approach to both medicine and services.

Simultaneous to design, medical staff developed a workflow process to coordinate with interdisciplinary teaming, e-hospital, and the technological advancements.

The collaborative design, which is informed by process mapping of patient, material, and support services, results in a 15 percent reduction of space compared to an average acute care hospital in the United States.

According to DLR group, visioning sessions involving enterprise leaders and a PhD researcher in the analysis of multiple mockups of patient rooms led to the final selection of a same-handed room configuration. Within the room, the patient conveniently controls lighting and temperature, as well as personal information systems through an interactive television.

The careful use of acoustic treatments and enclosure of the interdisciplinary work stations enables a quiet patient environment. An acuity adaptable room is configured within the same module to address intensive care requirements.

“These AIA Cleveland Design Awards are the result of our firm’s multidisciplinary model of integrated design, with people collaborating across disciplines and studios,” said DLR Group Senior Principal and Global Cultural+Performing Arts Leader Paul Westlake, FAIA. “We are thrilled to be recognized as a design leader in Cleveland, as well as across the country and the world.”

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Senior Principal and Global Healthcare Leader, Phil LiBassi, FAIA, FACHA for global integrated design firm DLR Group, believes in providing comprehensive, innovative solutions that respond to the client’s ethos and needs. While leveraging his significant healthcare design experience, he is committed to offering partnership and consultation, including visioning, process mapping, programming, planning, design, budgeting and technical expertise.

In a recent two-part article he wrote for DLR Group’s website, LiBassi explained designing for the patient experience as well as designing for hospitals into the future. Healthcare Construction + Operations News spoke with him to continue the conversation.

 Q: How does the idea of patient-centered design differ from hospital design from just 10 years ago?

 LiBassi: The idea of patient-centered design has been the focus of our practice for the past 27 years. Over the last decade, however, the advent of the smartphone and an added focus on value-based design has meant greater use of technology within healthcare facilities. As with any change, there are plusses and minuses, but one of the greatest advantages of this development is that it enables us to envision ways we can leverage new technologies to support and improve patient-centered design.

Q: Why has this become such an important focus in just the past 10 years?

 LiBassi: On the plus side, technology allows for greater access to healthcare in the realm of information, self-monitoring and treatment (e.g., e-clinics). Healthcare providers have greater access to data and information, which increases the support for diagnoses and treatments. Patients have convenient access to care and medical information, allowing them greater control over lifestyle management and the ability to engage in “well management” as opposed to “sick care.” Access to information, both inside and outside the hospital, can support shorter lengths of stay and improved outcomes. Acute care patients and caregivers — who often experience challenging health decisions — are armed with the important information necessary to make these health decisions.

Q: Can you provide examples of how you, as a designer, use empathy to influence design? How exactly do you “put yourself in the patient’s shoes”?

 LiBassi: On a personal level, nothing tops immersion. Whether we’re shadowing physicians, surgeons or nurses as they work, or spending time with family members or loved ones as part of a caregiver team, we can only understand from the hands-on experience. In my case, my passion for healthcare design began over 30 years ago following my role as a caregiver for my nephew. The experience left me with a desire to improve what I viewed as obstacles to a positive patient experience through enhanced design. I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience that —  it changed my life and how I approach my practice of architecture.

Q: What are some of the key factors when considering “simplicity” in a patient-focused hospital design?

 LiBassi: Less is more: Eliminate clutter and organize the necessities. Create simple, intuitive paths of travel, and create an excellent workplace for the medical and support staff.

 Q: Can you speak to some of the unique challenges in healthcare design and expand upon how you work to overcome those challenges?

 LiBassi: Healthcare design is technically complex at every level — design, regulatory, physical. The challenge is to not lose sight of design while still focusing on solutions to technical challenges. The balance of the answer would require a book.

Q: As patient-centered design becomes more common, what other trends do you see on the horizon for healthcare design?

 LiBassi: I would like to think patient-centered design is common, and as I look at the landscape of healthcare design, I see a great many firms doing excellent work. The industry has come a long way. I’m always cautious to suggest trends, but I can foresee an increased focus of balancing value and design as the cost of healthcare continues to climb. Perhaps the most important trend should have nothing to do with the hospital, but more a focus on wellness as an attitude and a lifestyle.

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Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, Ariz. — DLR Group’s Phoenix office announced the opening of its new dialysis center, with the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe cutting the ribbon to the clinic on March 1, 2018. The central location will allow members across Arizona, Nevada, and California to easily access the facility and specialized services.

Construction of the $1.9 million, 5,100-square-foot facility began February 2017 as DLR Group worked closely with the community — including the clinic’s future patients and providers — to gain a clear understanding of the tribe’s desires for the clinic. The tribe’s input aided the design process with the intention to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for the dialysis patients throughout their private treatment.

The clinic ultimately aims to improve patient care by personalizing the treatment each patient will receive. Originally conceived as true home therapy, it was determined that a centralized facility on the reservation would function much better at a lower cost to the Tribe. Given that the tribal administration has not only paid for the building but also for the treatment service — no tribal member will pay for their treatment — the residual effect is to hopefully reduce the need for the service over time.

“A primary challenge the team ran into during construction was managing the quality of available domestic water,” stated DLR Group Healthcare Leader Richard Beach, AIA.

According to Beach, the water available at the site is of poor quality and the nature of the dialysis treatment requires the water to be completely pure. Although the home therapy approach includes a portable reverse osmosis (RO) machine that accompanies each dialysis machine, due to the extreme hardness of the available water, it was necessary to install a large system of water conditioning and RO treatment at the water service entry point to the building.

“The installed system is equivalent to what would typically be found in larger dialysis treatment clinics, with a higher volume of patients. The resulting system has a large footprint, requires a significant amount of electricity and water, and needs constant monitoring during operations to maintain the required quality,” said Beach.

In its efforts to deliver a healing atmosphere, DLR Group integrated earth-toned masonry units with horizontal bands of gray stone, along with interior wood doors and frames, and wood-framed windows. There are windows in each patient room and a pop-up clerestory over the centrally located nurse station providing natural light to all patient and staff work areas. An interior palette of warm tones, modern patterns and easily maintained finishes also support a more soothing environment.

The clinic design includes eight private treatment rooms with accessibility from a central nursing work area. Prior to the clinic opening, patients endured 30- to 60-minute commutes, two to three times a week to the nearest community dialysis clinic where they shared an open treatment space with up to 20 other patients. Now, this clinic allows for capacity to treat up to 16 patients a day. The individual spaces provide the privacy and separation many desired without compromising the level of care required by the nursing staff.

“The clinic better serves its community by expanding the reach of healthcare into rural areas,” Beach said in a statement. “This new location will ultimately save patients over an hour on what would otherwise have been a round-trip commute to Bullhead City for treatment.”

The building’s structure plan also considered an east/west orientation to allow for the most strategic control of the occasionally disturbing desert sun exposure and advantageous positioning to achieve natural light.

“The internal plan is quite simple: public access functions on the east, private treatment spaces in the center and support/service functions on the west,” said Beach. “Access control is accomplished at the front door and lobby. Due to the perception that the clinic may store drugs attractive to others, the building’s security system helps to protect the safety of the staff and patients. The building’s material choices were made based on ease of maintenance, simplicity and long-term lifespan. Integral colored CMU exterior walls require little if any maintenance while the deep roof framing members provide volume for exceptional insulation value.”

Since dialysis treatment requires a certain amount of time, the tribal leadership sought the ability to offer as many comforts as possible, while ensuring patient safety, staff access and visibility, and individual control. One unique element of each treatment room is the large photograph displayed above the work counter. The tribe supplied all the photographs of natural areas in and around the reservation, and each room received a different image.

“We are most proud of the facility’s ability to positively impact the lives of the patients who will be treated,” said Beach. “The community has waited a long time for this service to be introduced to the reservation and it meets a promise made by the governing Council from years before.”

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