Project Description
Building Characteristics The project site is located on the east side of South Maryland Street on the corner of South Maryland and East 58th Street. It is a seven story, 242,000 square foot building which houses the following functions: patient and family services, including radiology and the child life department, are located on the first floor, along with administrative and support areas. The second floor contains the acute care/neonatal intensive care unit. The pediatric surgical intensive care unit, operating rooms and cardiac cath lab are located on the third floor. The fourth floor includes the pediatric medical intensive care unit and the transitional care unit, while inpatient medical/surgical units are on the fifth and sixth floors. Mechanical and equipment occupy the seventh floor penthouse. Architectural Characteristics and Design Ideas The design concept emphasized on the building’s exterior is based upon the idea of learning and knowledge and a respect for the history of knowledge on the UCCH campus. One manifestation of the design concept is a subtle patterning cast in the precast concrete panels that surround the base of the hospital. Recalling the large elaborate and beautiful typeface characters found in many children’s books, this patterning is designed to appeal to a child's sense of discovery. Additionally, it alludes to the ivy that is prevalent among many of the campus’s gothic buildings. Another manifestation of the design concept is the metal panel "book ends" of the building. These panels are located on the two main stair towers at the north and south ends of the building. The building incorporates a number of gothic characteristics as a means of integrating it within the campus setting as a whole. As in many gothic buildings, the base on the building is very solid and heavy and transitions to a more transparent glass and aluminum curtainwall framing system as it reaches the highest point. Many gothic buildings employed the use of buttresses in order to introduce more light into the interior spaces of the buildings. This idea has been represented with the use of precast columns at the base of the building that serve to support large vertical aluminum “buttresses” at each column bay and allow for large expanses of glass as the building grows in height. It is with these ideas in mind that we have attempted to connect the new Children’s Hospital with the intellectual environment of the University of Chicago, while at the same time appeal to the intellect and sense of wonder in children of all ages.