PRECEDENTS & GUIDELINES

The major design concepts began with five major assumptions or guidelines.  These included unique entrance conditions, section conditions, structural and mechanical conditions, access to nature and anchor to master plan.  Each guideline is expanded upon with precedent examples from successful healthcare facilities.  Unique entrance conditions are addressed at each entrance of the facility, especially the elevated emergency department ramp to protect from potential flooding or natural disasters.  Sectional conditions are addressed in regards to ART’s existing floor to floor heights as well as connections from structure to structure.  Structural and mechanical conditions are addressed beginning with the structural grid at the parking level all the way up to the interstitial mechanical space on the fifth level.  Access to nature is addressed in the public spaces provided for district visitors as well as from private patient rooms on the upper levels.  Finally, by anchoring to the master plan the new hospital can facilitate and inspire growth on campus at MUSC.

SITE, FORM & FUNCTION

MUSC Front Porch is placed where the current master plan for MUSC has designated its location.  The proposed master plan accounts for the site assumption as well as the future growth and expansion of the medical university.  Our proposed site plan moves the wellness center directly across from the new hospital as well as provides covered, bridge connections to the Bee Street parking garage, ART and the suggested wellness center.  The master plan also suggests the additions of public focal points, gathering spaces and mixed-use developments.

The project began with initial design assumptions.  Entrance points were decided as well as access routes in and out of the facility.  ART was examined sectionally a means of inspiration for formal placement of the program.  While the form attempted to utilize the maximum areas while also taking into consideration zoning and setback requirements.  Formally, the most public areas are on the lower levels and face towards Courtenay Drive and the Ravenel bridge.  The large atrium, which can be seen in images below, serves as MUSC’s new “Front Porch” which takes into consideration the historical single houses of Charleston.

FLOOR PLANS & VIEWS

Each floor plan of the facility was diagrammatically programmed and illustrated to convey the big idea and basic concepts.  Views accompany many of the plans as well in order to demonstrate the dimensionality of MUSC Front Porch.

The ground floor is slightly submerged and provides parking for patients and patient’s visitors only.  This as encouraged and influenced by the rising flood plain on the Charleston peninsula.  Level one contains many of the public functions of the facility as well as the emergency department and central sterile processing and storage.  Most vehicular access points occur on this level as well as a walk-in pedestrian ramp.  Levels two through four maintain most diagnostic and treatment departments.  The diagnostic and treatment floors are also home to the large atrium which also serves as waiting space for families and visitors.  The fifth floor is home to a large mechanical space as well as an open roof garden.  Floors six and seven contain the intensive care units (ICU).  Lastly, floors nine through eleven house the inpatient rooms.

THE SURGICAL DEPARTMENT

During the fall of 2015 semester a sister course was taught in conjunction with studio.  The supplemental course focused on the components in modern day hospitals.  At the end of the studio assignment the task was for each individual to fully design and lay out a particular departmental floor.  The department was assigned by the instructor while new teams also compiled a document on research regarding the said department.  I was assigned the surgical department along with three different classmates who did not work on the Front Porch project.  Our work and documentation as a team assisted me greatly in planning the level three surgical department in the MUSC Front Porch project.

This exercise was an amazing learning experience in regards to considering what detail, process and flow is required in a surgical suite.  Items addressed include: access to the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) through clean and dirty elevators, access from private pre-op bays, access to the post-anesthesia-care-unit (PACU), staff access to restrooms and on-call spaces, operating room (OR) size, clean core suite layout and family space in the suite.  By taking our departmental massing from the MUSC Front Porch proposal, I was able to test out our basic ideas and apply them with a more accurate knowledge.  Departmental square footages (DGSF) were calculated and then compared to the overall net square footage (NSF) in order to obtain the DGSF/NSF ratio as outlined in Kirk Hamilton and David Allison’s report “Analysis of Departmental Area in Contemporary Hospitals: Calculation Methodologies & Design Factors in Major Patient Care Departments”.  While our project does not demonstrate the best net to gross ratio it was a valuable learning device to test our conceptual designs with the confinements of a real surgical suite situation.