East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Expansion

Project Details

Project Description

As thought leaders in the area of pediatric design, Shepley Bulfinch leveraged its considerable expertise as the design architect on the project team to upgrade and right size a new facility at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Located in Knoxville, the new $75 million, 271,121 SF tower houses a 14-room surgery platform, multi-specialty outpatient clinics, and a 44-room all-private neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to meet the growing demand for pediatric health services in the region. This expansion and the accompanying renovation of vacated space in the old building fulfills the goals of Children’s Hospital’s strategic master plan, significantly upgrading its facilities and enhancing Children’s Hospital’s visibility as the region’s only comprehensive pediatric center.

One of the most successful aspects of the Children’s Hospital expansion is the 44-bed NICU located on the top floor of the building. Featuring all private rooms, amenities in the new space include a family suite with kitchen facilities, resource center, and a walk-out roof garden that became a defining space for the NICU and provides a much-appreciated outdoor respite area for families and staff. The large private rooms allow for unlimited bonding time with parents and other family members, especially siblings who had previously been prohibited from visiting due to space limitations and potential health concerns.

Symbolizing the hospital’s continued commitment to exceptional patient- and family-centered care, the roof garden with a view of the Smokey Mountains and the multi-level glass bridge featuring both family and public spaces become the central design features of the new expansion. The metal panel exterior frames the bridges and the roof garden, creating an urban signature for the new expansion, while the use of terracotta on the façade blends the addition with the existing brickwork of the older hospital buildings. The bridge spans the entryway below joining new and old, while the public spaces and roof garden animate the campus. The five-story tower, which seems to change color depending on vantage point, emphasizes the significance of natural light in this project. The entire expansion sits atop a 165-space, two-story parking garage.

The challenge of ensuring that every private NICU room had direct exterior/daylight access turned into a tremendous opportunity for BMa and Shepley Bulfinch, and led to the incorporation of light courts into the design and planning of the unit. The design team developed a NICU neighborhood concept to create intimate healing spaces for families and to provide clinical teams with the necessary support services to deliver efficient and effective care. The light courts provide daylight to every interior room and define the neighborhood organizational model for the unit, making the space feel more personal and private and contributing to intuitive wayfinding. As an added benefit, the light courts also feature three-dimensional artwork by local artists that are integrated into Children’s Hospital’s family healing art program. Cross-functional teams at Children’s Hospital worked closely with the design team to engage all NICU stakeholders in the development of this model.