Small UCHealth hospital in Longmont, Colo., designed with ability to grow over time

UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital, designed by EYP Health, is a new 210,000-sf hospital that provides more than 50 inpatient beds. The facility was designed with the ability to expand quickly, and has room to increase its inpatient bed count up to 100.

The hospital features an intensive care unit, operating rooms, a Level III trauma center and emergency department, advanced cardiac services, a birth center with a Level II special care nursery, a surgery center, and 24-hour retail pharmacy, laboratory, and imaging services.

The new hospital was envisioned with two main goals in mind: to design an expandable inpatient chassis that UCHealth could use at other sites, and to deliver the project faster than the typical industry standards. Both goals were met.

An interior staircase in the new UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital Photo: Jim Roof.

“Thanks to a collaborative partnership with EYP Health and our general contractor, Haselden Construction, the Longs Peak Hospital design is now being replicated in whole or in part at new UCHealth locations across the Front Range of Colorado,” says Sean Menogan, UCHealth’s Vice President of Facilities Design and Construction, in a release. “Additionally, through the use of BIM technology and advanced prefabrication techniques, it took a mere 14 months to construct the facility from the start of foundations to receipt of the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy.”

The exterior of the Longs Peak Hospital uses Colorado Buff stone, brick, and wood to achieve a look that reflects the Mountain West location. Metal was used to help bring modernity to the building. Regional stone and natural woods carry into the interior of the building to maintain consistency and the strategic application of accent colors eases wayfinding.

The facility, which opened on August 31, is seeking a Silver LEED for Healthcare rating.

For most of human history, design has mostly considered “typical users” who are fully able-bodied without clinical or emotional disabilities. The problem with this approach is that it offers a limited perspective on how space can positively or negatively influence someone based on their physical, mental, and sensory abilities.

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