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Clarian Pathology Laboratory
Project of the Year: Research
Indianapolis-based Clarian Health Systems Inc. is Indiana's
largest health system with 16 hospitals and health centers
across the Hoosier State.
The number of tests that the organization conducts each year
has gone up-momentum that will continue as baby boomers seek
health care.
The primary reason for the new Clarian Pathology Laboratory
was to expand and modernize laboratories in existing hospitals
while freeing space for bedded care programs. Another goal was
to decrease turnaround time for results and expand outreach
services, serving as a reference for other health care providers.
The most cost-effective solution was to build the facility with
a pneumatic tube connected to the three downtown Clarian hospitals.
The People Mover,
Clarian's elevated monorail, houses the pneumatic tube that
delivers blood and specimen samples from the downtown hospitals
to the lab.
The 164,000-sq.-ft. lab consolidates millions of annual tests
and is a collaborative workplace for more than 450 physicians,
faculty, technicians and staff.
The laboratory, which stands at the end of the Central Canal
area in the emerging BioCrossroads life sciences district, is
reportedly one of the largest hospital-owned labs in the Midwest.
The centrally located, 2.5-acre site is surrounded by an interstate
embankment to the north, interchange to the west and the People
Mover to the south.
More than 10 million tests are expected to be performed annually
in the three-story facility with 320-car parking facility.
Three Key Issues
A number of obstacles were overcome on the project.
A parking garage below the lab spaces makes use of the building's
tight site, while providing lab users with convenience and
great views of downtown.
The post-tensioned concrete parking garage, conventionally
reinforced concrete laboratory and steel-framed penthouse
created three different construction types. The structural
engineering team overcame issues of integration and interfacing
among these construction types.
Construction teams carefully navigated among the People
Mover's columns, and utilities had to be able to withstand
the lateral loads produced by the monorail's columns.
Some laboratory areas include sensitive and complex equipment,
and these environments required structural considerations
so that vibrations-from mechanical systems, the building's
users, the People Mover-would not affect lab functions.
As a result, systems were designed to serve the lab's current
needs while allowing for the flexibility to serve future program
growth and changing testing methods.
Material Issues
The building skin includes a variety of materials: three types
of precast, spandrel glass, vision glass, aluminum panels,
brick and concrete. Each facade was designed to respond to
its context.
The south facade, which acts as the headpiece to the canal
axis, is organized in three parts in response to the canal,
the historic Buggs Temple and the roof flourish of the People
Mover station.
An arc of blue/green glass on the north facade counterpoints
the flow of the interstate and responds to the curve of the
site, serving as a gateway marker for those entering the city
from the north.
The body of the building is a window to the city. Testing
is brought out of basements to environments with ample windows.
The lower three stories of the parking garage elevate the
building, bringing the working floors above the interstate,
enhancing the view.
Windows at the ends of corridors provide natural light and
assist with wayfinding. Neutral finishes and seating choices
in the cafeteria and conference room create subtle foreground,
making the skyline view the focal point.
Geometrical shapes in the interior relate to the exterior
curtain wall system. Vibrant colors and warm wood tones in
the connector provide a positive first reaction from the People
Mover entrance.
Simple building materials used well create visual interest
in the rotunda-the heart of the building that breaks up the
corridors on each floor. Colorfully articulated alcoves create
permanent artwork, provide visual interest and enhance wayfinding.
The building allowed the testing space to be designed around
the robotics systems, rather than configuring the 100-ft.-long
systems to fit the spaces. The architecture allows for straight
lines to increase efficiency.
The design includes minimal walls and large, open spaces that
can be reconfigured as lab testing methods change and programs
grow and evolve. Modular systems foster collaboration and
provide flexibility. Key adjacencies also contribute to enhanced
efficiency.
For example, the anatomic pathology lab is the closet to the
People Mover to make it easier for doctors from the other
facilities to review biopsy specimens with the pathologist
making the diagnosis.
Jury Comments: "The aesthetic design knocks you off your socks,
and it's well thought out, too. For example, they put the
pneumatic tube on the People Mover. From a logistics point
of view, it was a difficult project because of everything
that is surrounding them."
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