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Can a cloverleaf bring more than good luck? RTKL Associates thought so. When the architectural firm was retained by Adventist Health System to design Florida Hospital Waterman in Lake County, Florida, it faced a number of unusual design challenges that included honoring and conserving the natural environment while supporting high quality healthcare for the people of the community. The answer? A clover-shaped patient tower.

Lakes, wetlands, county restrictions and a resident bald eagle on the site meant that only about half of the 120 acres Adventist Health System purchased for Florida Hospital Waterman were available for building. To add to the design challenge, an existing medical office building on the site was to be incorporated into the new facility design. And a predominantly elderly population required enhanced orientation and way-finding cues.

From the inception of the project, Adventist Health System wanted to rethink healthcare delivery processes in order to improve patient care. The new clover-shaped patient tower is one result, combining the best attributes of T-unit and triangular unit designs, which include efficient unit control and visualization plus segregation of the supply system and public circulation. A peer review process involving participants throughout Adventist Health System found that the new cloverleaf design allows for the most efficient patient care.

Blending the Old with the New
The existing three-story medical office building also needed to be incorporated into the new facility so that it appears and functions as an integral entity. In order to accomplish this, the design included a tensioned membrane roof over the hospital atrium. The roof physically and visually unites the existing building with the new hospital and acts as a unifying statement connecting the structure to the surrounding landscape. The roof ‘pulls’ down over the patient drop off area, creating a tent-like entryway to the hospital and providing protection from rain, wind and the hot Florida sun.

At night, interior lighting gives the unique tensioned membrane roof a luminescence that makes the hospital highly identifiable as well as beautiful. During the day, soft diffused light passes through the roof to brighten the atrium. Natural light has been shown to enhance healing and to increase worker productivity. Caregivers and patients alike find the light-filled atrium a pleasant and comforting space. And, according to the hospital’s CEO, when it is raining, people go to the atrium so they can hear the rain on the roof. It is like being outside, and yet they are in an air-conditioned, controlled environment. Being closer to nature is part of the hospital’s healing environment.

Inside the patient tower, each floor has two wings with three suites per wing. Each suite contains ten patient rooms encircling a work area, thus requiring nurses to walk only a few steps to access patient charts, supplies and medications. Work areas are quiet and pro-vide clear sightlines to patients in the surrounding rooms as well as to other suites. Anecdotal evidence from the hospital indicates that this proximity comforts patients and results in fewer call lights because each patient can see his caregiver.

The patient care unit can accommodate multiple patient profiles simultaneously during peak census times. Thus, the design provides flexibility so that adjoining suites can function in conjunction with each other or independently without compromising the unit as a whole.

Research indicates that patients heal faster when loved ones are nearby. Consequently, family-based amenities are important at the hospital, and sleeping facilities for guests are included in all 204 private patient rooms. The central station in each wing serves as an information center for families and helps provide secure access to the patient rooms; a lounge on each floor provides a comfortable area for relaxation, and a small chapel offers an easily accessible space for quiet contemplation.

The section of the medical office building that is now attached to the esplanade was renovated on the first floor to house diagnostic and treatment areas that are directly accessible and merge seamlessly with new areas. Thus, what was once used as office space is now fully assimilated into hospital functions. The third floor of this section of the building was renovated to house hospital administration and accounting, while the second section that stretches beyond the Esplanade remains office space.

The facility is positioned to provide unobstructed views of the hospital from U.S. Highway 441. Clearly marked entrances are particularly important for the surrounding community’s population, whose average age is over 70. Additionally, large iconic identifiers at the three primary entrances to the hospital as well as a yellow wedge wall at the main entry provide immediate wayfinding assistance; a large red cone marks the emergency department entrance; a green oval structure designates the cancer institute entrance; and all other structures are white.

Each are unified via the tensile structured esplanade, which serves as a wayfinding district and continues to employ the colors of the exterior identifiers. The entrances to all treatment/diagnostic departments are clearly identified along the esplanade so that there is no need for visitors to negotiate a maze of hallways. Other destination landmarks within the hospital are also identified by signature colors. For example, a vivid blue entry portal identifies the dining room.

Probably the most difficult design challenge was building a patient tower that would not only incorporate respect for the patients and their families, but also the protected wildlife as well. This includes the bald eagle, little blue heron and snowy egret. The presence of the eagle affected the design of the patient tower, especially with regard to road placement and determining future development. In addition, reflective glass was not allowed as a primary feature of the building, as it would confuse and disorient the eagle.

While consolidating all services at one campus, Adventist Health System wanted to use the opportunity to create a new, contemporary image for the hospital. The result is a unique and highly identifiable design that complements the serene Florida landscape via dramatic white forms punctuated with color. The lakeside setting is enhanced and brought directly onto the hospital site by way of expansive views, outdoor seating, gardens and fountains.

The building design capitalizes on the natural beauty of the site to enhance the patient experience. Large windows in patient rooms afford unobstructed views to the nearby lake or to the landscape while also providing abundant natural light to the room. The hospital surroundings enhance therapeutic goals by way of a tranquil, healing environment.

Aimee Platt, AAHID, IIDA, is an associate and interior designer, and Michael Hoffmeyer, AIA, ACHA, NCARB, is a principal in the healthcare sector of RTKL, a leading international architectural firm. Over the last 40 years, the firm has successfully guided the development of more than $8 billion of new and renovated healthcare and health science projects. Please visit www.RTKL.com.

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