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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