Our first site visit was to go to Illinois Medical District. We went to Rush University Medical Center, Stroger Hospital and the UIC hospital.
Rush University Medical Center is a private teaching hospital. It is a typical Breit Fuss style hospital, which means it consists of a podium part and a tower above for patient rooms.
The entrance is an airport drop off entrance, which is also a common way to design an entrance.
Since it is a fairly new building, it has some really great space inside. The 4 floor high lobby is a beautiful and open space. It conveys a more comfortable and intimate atmosphere compared with other hospitals with busy and hustling lobbies I’ve seen before.
The materials used in Rush University Medical Center is another successful factor that we can use for our design. Wood and glass create a soft, comfortable and intimate environment for patients and staff to stay in.
We got the chance to visit upper floors as well. Rush has been renovated for several times. Now the building itself has several towers connected by different bridges to make them accessible for all the patients. But one thing that made us confused was the way finding in this building, which, according to Professor, is always a critical issue in hospital design.
Stroger hospital and UIC hospital are relatively smaller than Rush. One abnormal issue of Stroger is that people have to pass through ED entrance to get to the main entrance, that could possibly cause a lot of problems in terms of circulation.
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