Chicago – Rush University Medical Center has broken ground on a sustainable, academic hospital of the future. The 14-floor, $575-million, 806,000-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Ashland Avenue and Harrison Street will house Rush's acute and critical care patients as well as surgical, diagnos
| Rush University Medical Center's new 14-story building in Chicago. (Rendering courtesy Perkins+Will) |
tic and therapeutic services utilizing the most advanced technology available. It will incorporate a concept called “the interventional platform,” with three floors devoted to surgery, imaging and specialty procedures.
Upper floors will contain 304 acute and intensive care beds, 72 neonatal intensive care unit beds, and 10 labor and delivery suites. The ground floor will house the McCormick Foundation Center for Advanced EmergencyResponse.
The new facility will be the first full-service, “green” hospital in Chicago. Rush is seeking Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. GreenBuilding Council. Among the hundreds of energy-efficient and sustainable strategies the building will employ are multiple green rooms for slow release of rainwater into storm sewers, extensive use of recycled materials from structural concrete to interior finishes and furniture, and use of energy-efficient systems for lighting, heating and cooling.
The new hospital is the centerpiece of a $900-million, eight-year campus redevelopment plan called the Rush Transformation, which also includes a new orthopedic ambulatory building, parking garage and central power plant, renovations of selected older buildings, and demolition of obsolete buildings.
Perkins+Will is designing the new hospital and other structures that are part of the Rush Transformation. Powers/Jacobs is serving as construction manager.
