Size11,600 square metres
OwnerNorthern Health Authority
Structural EngineerRJC Engineers
Engineered Wood FabricatorMercer Mass Timber LLC
Wood SupplierArtsy Contracting Co. Ltd.
Structural systemsPost-and-beam
Project materialsParallel strand lumber (PSL)
This project, located in the heart of Prince George, northern British Columbia’s largest city, involved the upgrading of an ageing and outdated central hospital facility to meet contemporary healthcare delivery and building code requirements using wood. The redevelopment expanded and renovated a number of key areas of the hospital, including cancer care, paediatrics and maternity. A new four-storey addition provides 108 replacement in-patient beds, a 10-bed geriatric assessment unit and a 10-bed intensive care unit. Together with the addition of new accommodation for an expanding population and the enhancement of a range of community health services, it serves the needs of this burgeoning centre.
Extending through the full height of the new building is the day-lit circulation atrium, with a vertical structure consisting of eight PSL tree columns arranged along one side of the space, which supports faceted PSL ribs and a series of translucent polycarbonate skylights.
The atrium is overlooked by continuous balconies at each floor level; these and other circulation areas in the building also feature Douglas-fir veneer acoustic panels, chosen for their warm appearance and durability compared to more traditional fabric-covered panels. These features give the public spaces of the hospital a non-institutional atmosphere that contrasts with the more clinical appearance of the other areas.
Externally, wood is used to clad the stair tower of the building and on the soffit of the projecting entrance canopy. Though limited in area, these applications of wood serve to soften the appearance of the building and offer a gesture of welcome to visitors.
The use of heavy timber construction in an institutional building of this size was made possible through the negotiation of equivalencies, such as additional sprinklers being used to provide the required level of fire safety for the wood roof structure. Demonstrating the viability of wood as an alternate structural system in large scale applications like this has become more straightforward with the introduction of fire behaviour simulation software and the move to more objective-based building codes.
It is now generally accepted that the objectives of sustainable design are broader than just environmental effects and have come to embrace human health issues as well. As sedentary and service-related work becomes more prevalent in our society, so too the amount of time the average person spends indoors increases—a fact that makes the design of the interior environment ever more important.
Using an approach known as ‘evidence-based design’ (in which detailed analyses of occupant responses to a building’s physical characteristics are used to inform the design of future projects), healthcare architects have begun to explore the physiological benefits of biophilia in the design of indoor environments. This has led to the greater use of natural daylight, access to views of nature, as well as the introduction of wood and other natural materials.
Wood in particular is visually warm and contributes to a socially positive experience for building occupants. People respond emotionally to wood and are attracted to its visual variety and natural expressiveness.
