The 10-story Sky Tower includes 84 emergency center treatment positions, of which 10 are trauma rooms, 35 operating rooms and 420 new private rooms. Perkins + Will, with offices in Dallas, designed the building to fit the needs of the growing community with an art-filled, patient-centered design.

Emphasis on Art

The design of the Sky Tower emphasized the integration of local and international art. In a community with a longstanding appreciation for the arts, the incorporation of art was a dual effort between the surrounding community and health system officials. The art installations in the Sky Tower is an important and visible part of the patient, visitor and staff experience, according to Steve Milner, LEED AP, senior medical planner with Perkins + Will.

“The spirit of the art program with this project and this client was to create a familiar and reassuring cultural response, creating a sense of place uniquely San Antonio by employing color, pattern, form and known cues, integrated with the architecture and the site,” Milner said.

Eight countries and 21 states are represented in the art program. However, the art program placed a large emphasis on local artists with the majority of artists being from the San Antonio area. All framers and installers were also local. Coupled with the inclusion of design enhancement, which Milner defines as development of narrative or lyrical ideas into the building and site, the art in the building is integrated into the construction process as a collaborative engagement between the architect, interior designer, artist and contractor, not simply an after fact measure, Milner said.

“When art and architecture meet, there are opportunities to go beyond the common expectations,” Milner said.

A Healing Atmosphere for Patients and Staff

The interior of the Sky Tower promotes a healing atmosphere with abundant daylight, gardens, lounges and extensive views.

“Several studies have linked healthy, sustainable environments as having positive effects on people in those spaces,” Milner said. “Patients have had very positive results in hospital rooms with access to views and daylight, and now research is being used to support improvements to staff environments for positive effects on staff.”

The design focuses on reducing as many stressors as possible not only for patients, but for staff as well, which is equally important to consider, as patient safety is dependent upon health care staff, Milner said. With the amount of intensity and concentration required of health care staff, the built environment must reflect a calming atmosphere.

“The project team is focused on creating a healing environment where anxiety and stress are reduced. Positive distraction will provide psychological relief for patients, visitors, and staff,” Milner said. “Employing active and passive design strategies —such as a quality sense of arrival, dedicated staff spaces, both indoor and outdoor, and additional support programs — help encourage staff well-being.”

Sustainable Focus

The building is currently pursuing LEED Gold certification, and with Perkins + Will’s sustainable health care design, the energy-efficient goals aligned with the sustainable integrity of Perkins + Will.

“We saw early on that the health system’s deep level of stewardship to create an environmentally responsible project was very much in alignment with long time missions of Perkins + Will,” Milner said. “UHS was extremely supportive of the sustainable design strategies, systems and technologies that addressed our common goals for the project.”

The building uses one-third less energy than required by code. Sustainable practices include recycled water for landscaping irrigation and rooftop gardens. The gardens contain vegetation and art program sculptures that, in addition to adding to aesthetics, help reduce the radiant heat of the site and reduce demand on the building’s cooling systems, Milner said. The project also maximized the use of local and regional materials.

“The 1 million-square-foot-plus project is a study in how innovative design can maximize resources to minimize environmental impact,” Milner said.

The construction management team for the project was a joint venture between locally based Zachry Construction Corporation, J.T. Vaughn Construction, with offices in San Antonio, and Salt Lake City-headquartered Layton Construction Co.

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The eight-story tower, located on the northeast side of the existing hospital, is designed to support patient- and family-centered care and is seeking LEED Silver Certification.

“As Missouri’s premier public higher education institution, part of our mission is to deliver health care services to the people of the state,” said University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe in a statement. “With this project, we help ensure world-class care to Missourians well into the future.”

HOK, with offices in St. Louis, was the architect on the project, and JE Dunn Construction Co., located in Kansas City, Mo., served as the construction manager.

The expansion allows for advanced translational research and education, and provides flexibility for growth of the university’s health science campus. It includes 90 private rooms with ‘smart room’ technology that wirelessly integrates medical devices into electronic medical record keeping. There is also a 7,000-square-foot inpatient pharmacy with robotics that automatically dispense medication; six operating rooms, with enough space to add six additional rooms; 25 pre-procedure rooms and 19 post-procedure ones; and a nearly 1,800-square-foot lounge for patients’ families.

The tower also integrates the new Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, which allows for inpatient and outpatient care from a single location and a more efficient use of valuable resources. The 100,000-square-foot center covers two floors and features two linear accelerators, space for two magnetic resonance imaging rooms, a PET-CT scanner, a CT scanner and 66 clinic examination rooms.

HOK designed the addition to provide patients with healing elements, such as the 3,150-square-foot healing garden. HOK created the space to optimize sunlight by using research from the company’s light study that measured seasonal sunlight in the garden for all times of the day and determined where to place seasonal plants and sitting areas. Three roof gardens, including one that covers linear accelerators used for chemotherapy, also provide a positive distraction for patients.

“The design team delivered a creative approach to enhancing wellness and healing,
said Dr. Paul Dale, interim medical director of the cancer center, in a statement. “The green features are outstanding in bringing the outside to the inside through the openness of the design that maximizes the use of natural light. The healing garden is a central focus of wellness and enhances one of the most beautiful patient care environments.”

The patient tower incorporates a lot of glass, which adds a lighter, more contemporary design element to the campus, while still integrating brick into the new facility. Native Missouri stone was used in the cancer center, paying tribute to its history.

While these green elements enhance daylighting and give patients access to the outside, the project team also incorporated sustainable design by using stonework from a demolished building on campus. Other green elements include efficient water fixtures, low VOC-emitting finish materials, high-efficiency glass and a rain screen exterior wall system.
 

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