Landmark $68 million facility focuses on patient-centered design.
Dayton, Ohio (Sept. 7, 2021) – On Sept. 7, HEAPY announced that the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute was awarded the Gold Touchstone Award for Evidence Based Design and Research, the latest in a slew of awards received by the leading-edge facility, which opened in 2019. The outpatient clinical care building features a geometric, textured white mesh scrim exterior, which allows for an abundance of natural light, while also providing better energy efficiency.
“The team wanted a clean interior design with open spaces and a lot of natural light, because that type of environment promotes healing and is easier to navigate, particularly for people struggling with neurological disorders or injuries,” said Daric Hess, Healthcare Practice Director at HEAPY. “The problem with glass exteriors is that too much direct sunlight can be harmful to patients and erode the building’s energy efficiency, so we designed the faceted exterior sheath to help temper the direct sunlight and reduce heat gain.”
The UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute brings together 125 faculty specialists and subspecialists and 15 care specializations under one roof, providing a single location for patients to receive services for treatment of epilepsy, brain tumors, mood disorders, stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. The building offers convenient amenities, including underground parking, a café, patient lounge, auditorium, and outdoor rehabilitation spaces.
The $68 million, 114,000 square-foot building exemplifies patient-centered design, with everything from the size of the rooms to the furniture selection promoting a healing indoor environment.
“At every step of the design, we put patient experience front and center,” said Jerry Johnson, Design Principal at Perkins&Will. “We worked directly with patients and caregivers to understand what navigating the current campus was like, so that we could create a building that provided better amenities, more welcoming spaces, and soothing design to help people who are experiencing balance, sensory, or motor issues.”
Sitting at the edge of the UC Health’s Clifton campus, the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute’s wavy, white exterior is a strong departure from the surrounding architecture and a landmark facility. The four-story building is the first new facility built by UC Health in more than three decades, part of the academic health system’s long-term campus master plan.
“We designed the facility to be a home for patients with neurologic disease and we accomplished this by listening to what patients wanted and needed,” said Joseph Broderick, MD, professor in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the UC College of Medicine and director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. “The interior of the building also tells the story of Greater Cincinnati, the broader home for many of our patients, in its interior artwork and design.”
In addition to this most recent award, the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute has been recognized for exceptional design with the following:
1. Honorable Mention, Conceptual Design, Category Contract Magazine, 2018
2. Citation of Merit, Distinguished Building, AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards, 2019
3. Healthcare Winner, Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards, 2019
4. Editor’s Pick, Facades, Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards, 2019
5. Award of Merit, ENR Midwest, 2019
6. Build Ohio, New Construction, 2019
7. WAN, Healthcare Bronze Award Winner, 2019
8. Best of the Best Design Awards, Best of Healthcare 35,000 sf Platinum, 2020
9. Construction Risk Partners Build America Award, 2020
10. IES, Award of Merit, Chicago Illumination Awards, 2020
11. Healthcare Design Award, Under 25,000 sqm, European Healthcare Design, 2020
12. Highly Commended, Health and Life Sciences Research Award, European Healthcare Design, 2020
13. High Commendations, International Health Project under 40,000 sqm., International Academy for Design and Health, 2020
14. Iconic Innovation Award, Winner, Architecture, 2020
15. Iconic Innovation Award, Selection, Innovative Material, 2020
16. Interior Design, Best of Year Awards, Finalist, 2020
17. AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards, 2021
18. Shortlist, Higher Education and Research, World Architecture Festival Awards, 2021
19. Gold Touchstone Award for Evidence Based Design and Research, 2021
About HEAPY
HEAPY is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability, providing innovative and creative MEP engineering solutions, as well as engineer-led, design/build construction services for the healthcare, education, corporate, government, science and technology, cultural and mission critical markets. HEAPY boasts more than 200 colleagues and maintains five offices throughout the United States in Indianapolis, Indiana, Raleigh, North Carolina, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. The corporation, founded in 1945, plans, designs and commissions more than $1 billion annually in total construction costs and is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio.
About Perkins&Will
Perkins&Will, an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm, was founded in 1935 on the belief that design has the power to transform lives. Guided by its core values—design excellence, diversity and inclusion, living design, research, resilience, social purpose, sustainability, and well-being—the firm is committed to designing a better, more beautiful world. Fast Company named Perkins&Will one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Architecture, and industry rankings consistently place Perkins&Will among the world’s top design practices. With an international team of more than 2,000 professionals, the firm has over 20 studios worldwide, providing integrated services in architecture, interior design, branded environments, urban design, and landscape architecture. Partners include Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen; retail strategy and design consultancy Portland; sustainable transportation planning consultancy NelsonNygaard; and luxury hospitality design firm Pierre-Yves Rochon (PYR). For more information, visit www.perkinswill.com.
