Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel
- Aug 13, 2014
- 2 min read
This project by the Orlando firm Hunton Brady Architects won a 2014 Award of Honor from the AIAOrlando chapter by an independent jury selection. Opened in the fall of 2012, the hospital is located in the fast-growing community of Wesley Chapel north of Tampa, and was conceived to anticipate growth in a series of planned phases. Phase 1 consists of a new hospital building, a detached Medical Office Building and a separate Central Energy Plant Building on a 50 acre site. The hospital includes a three-story Inpatient Tower with 80 beds and a diagnostic/ treatment block base arranged around a semi-circular Atrium/Lobby serving as public way-finding and orientation and separating public from staff/patient movement. The Medical Office Building consists of a three-story structure. The location of the hospital takes advantage of existing wetlands to the east and creates new retention ponds at 4 corners. As a result, the building provides water views from a majority of the hospital functions.
Phase 2 Expansion will allow diagnostic/treatment to expand laterally to 2 stories and the bed towers will have expansion capability to six-stories for nearly 300 beds and will bring a second Medical Office Building.
The architectural language for the project is based on clean lines, modern design with very precise detailing and durable and easy maintainable materials using a restrained design palette. The main façade reflects the most public space of the project, the Main Concourse. It is a sophisticated skin of glass and aluminum vertical fins that solve the west orientation while leaving a very open and transparent atmosphere for the space. This becomes the focal architectural element for the building. The design pays attention to the sense of arrival: The main canopy was conceived with the familiarity of arrival to an airport; with three different entrances along the drive, and a distinct entry feature for the Main Concourse. Exterior and interior Architecture, become one single holistic vision from outside in.
All patient rooms will overlook the wetland areas in the back of the property and the interior healing gardens.
Hunton Brady Architects are the Architect of Record. Additional consultants include BBM, Structural Engineers; SSR, Inc. MEP Consultant; King Engineering Associates, Consultant; Taylor Architectural Photography, Laurence Taylor.
You can view the architect’s website and view more about this project on HuntonBrady’s website: http://www.huntonbrady.com/florida-hospital-wesley-chapel