Seattle’s newest Veterans Affairs facility is green, clean, and patient-focused. Which is, of course, the idea behind this Stantec-designed facility.
The new research building for Seattle Veterans Affairs, a $121.6 million structure with 220,000 sf of space, is meant to help with physical and mental needs of some of the 110,000 veterans availing themselves of the one of the VA’s nine area facilities.
Called the Seattle Veterans Affairs Mental Health and Research Building, the structure is meant to enhance patient care. It provides outpatient mental health care, including dialectical behavior therapy, family and group psychotherapy, medication management, and other services. Dialectical behavioral therapy helps identify and change negative thinking patterns and engenders positive changes in behavior.
Collecting research programs at one location also was the point of the new facility. The move brings together programs in a space designed for each research unit. Members of each unit had input on the design. Now, the fully modern equipment and facilities will enable researchers to expand the limits of medicine in areas such as PTSD, Alzheimer’s Disease, lower limb prosthetic design and engineering, oncology, and suicide prevention.
See Also: New Biomedical Research Center Facility at Northwestern University
Seattle is the VA’s 5th largest program, and its recent facility construction is a structural affirmation of the VA’s promise “to advance change and positively disrupt the way America delivers healthcare.”
Home to a prosthetic lab that includes motion analysis, custom fabrication and fitting capabilities, the new facility means, practically speaking, that patients can be fitted for and receive their prosthetic at the same site. With an eye for energy efficiency, the building was designed to LEED standards.
For those aware of it, the environmentally friendly design could have its own calming effect. The building has natural ventilation, passive systems, solar shading, green roofs, rainwater harvesting, access to public and staff outdoor spaces, and also interior gardens.
Related Stories
| Aug 22, 2014
Before & After: Hospital upgrade shows shifting needs in healthcare construction
Community Hospice of Northeast Florida took an outdated 10-bed inpatient hospice unit and created a space that would meet the needs of patients receiving end of life care by creating a place that felt like home.
| Aug 6, 2014
25 projects win awards for design-build excellence
The 2014 Design-Build Project/Team Awards showcase design-build best practices and celebrate the achievements of owners and design-build teams in nine categories across the spectrum of horizontal and vertical construction.
| Aug 5, 2014
Risk scanning: A new tool for managing healthcare facilities
Using well-known risk analytics applied to pre-existing facility data, risk scanning can provide a much richer view of facility condition more consistent with actual management decision making.
| Aug 1, 2014
Best in healthcare design: AIA selects eight projects for National Healthcare Design Awards
Projects showcase the best of healthcare building design and health design-oriented research.
| Jul 29, 2014
Blood center uses architecture to encourage blood donation [slideshow]
Designed by FAAB Architektura, the project's aesthetic was guided by its function. The color scheme, facade panel glossiness, and the irregularly elevated leitmotif were intentionally designed to evoke the "richness" of blood, according to the architects.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
