We live in a time of constraint and experimentation, when both the state and the nation are seeking ways to enhance our economic well-being. No single institution is more on the front lines of these changes than the community college and nowhere is that more apparent than when examining the physical fabric of the school.

Over the past year I’ve worked with a Massachusetts community college, developing a campus master plan to guide the future physical development of the campus. When we raised the idea of arranging future buildings to create a traditional ...[more]

Carle Foundation Hospital has begun construction on its nine-story, 375,350 square-foot patient care tower, which will house the Carle Heart and Vascular Institute.

The $220 million facility will include space for advanced technology, improved facilities for direct patient care, and most importantly, a modern, comfortable environment for patients and their families. The tower will replace beds currently located in buildings constructed in the 1960s and 1970s.

“With advancing technology and changing patient needs, we must be committed to improvements for patients today and for those we will serve in the future,” ...[more]

MILWAUKEE, WI – The signs are up, the art is hung, and the ribbon has been cut to mark the opening today of the 12-story, 425,000 sf patient tower tower expansion for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Children’s CFO Tim Birkenstock calls the new tower “an essential step needed to keep pace with our patient service demands” for one of the country’s busiest pediatric medical centers, with more than 25,000 inpatient admissions each year.

The new facility, which began construction in 2005, features a larger pediatric intensive care unit and an expanded Herma Heart Center, as well as patient rooms integrated with the latest medical technologies. Responding to the important role ...[more]

A March 17 community benefit marked the opening of Postino East, a neighborhood dining spot in the heart of downtown Gilbert, Arizona. The 2,700 square foot renovation in the southern end of the former Grainbelt Building is the third locale for Postino WineCafe and the second collaboration between Shepley Bulfinch and Upward Projects.

The design juxtaposes the building’s original yellow painted structural steel beams and exposed CMU walls and concrete floors with wood trusses, warm colors, and carefully selected vintage furniture, décor, and tile. Mixing industrial features with warm colors and ...[more]

Shepley Bulfinch welcomed healthcare planning and design leader Mario Vieira AIA, who has joined the firm as a principal.

In announcing the appointment, president Carole Wedge said, “This is a great match for Shepley. Mario is a trusted architect and advisor for community hospital leaders – something he’s forged with his passion, his personal commitment, and his ability to listen and to guide them through the complex planning, design, and approval process.”

With 25 years as a healthcare architect, Mario has worked with community hospital clients up and down the ...[more]

Why do buildings last? How do we design flexible spaces that can change and adapt? 

A team from Shepley took on this question as part of the Open Building conference at Build Boston last month. The conference tasked three firms – Shepley, Payette, and Cannon – to propose a building that would evolve over time to house multiple uses on a large scale site in Somerville. We took the long historical view and, after a week of exhaustive debate, found that architectural systems which are designed to change rarely work or ...[more]

In his article in the August issue of Health Facilities Management, Bill Mead discusses the financial, physical, and operational factors to be considered when making decisions regarding the renovation/expansion or replacement of a hospital facility.

By way of example Bill presents the cases of the replacement campus for Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois, and the bed tower expansion for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

Health Facilities Management article

One of Northern Ireland’s newest landmark buildings – the McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland – was officially opened today by one of the University’s most famous alumni, Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney.

Speaking at the event, Dr Heaney lauded the new library, saying, calling it “a lightship for scholarship…” He went on to comment on how the library represents the role of technology in transforming how students learn.

Illuminated by a multi-story open atrium, the 196,000 square foot building accommodates 2,000 reader places and 1.2 million volumes. ...[more]