STORY

STORY02_

Design Team

Architects | Bennet Wagner Grody Architects & Cannon Design (Merged in 2017) Construction Firm | Adolfson & Peterson Construction Glass Staircase | TREX Commercial Products Engineers | Not Available

Stats

Location | Fort Collins, Colorado Size | 113,300 SF & 47,700 SF for future development Year Started & Completed | February 2015 & August 2017

Initial Reflection

With the beginings of our research, The Colorado State University Health and Medical Center is a Wellness Center that not only serves and sufficiently meets the needs of the CSU Students, but supports the greater Northern Colorado Community. The building employs new “high-tech” techniques to integrate changeable audio and visual simulation in the first floor reflection space. The designer’s utilized systems thinking by leaving the fourth floor unfinished and therefore available for the center to grow into the space as needed in the future. The project was able to respond to the two recieved large donors and create a space that is open for the communities use.

Colorado State University Health and Medical Center. Cannon Design. https://www.cannondesign.com/our-work/ work/colorado-state-university-health-medical-center/ https://www.trexcommercial.com/projects/colorado-state-university-health-medical-center/ https://source.colostate.edu/new-medical-center-planned-gateway-campus/ https://www.a-p.com/projects/colorado-state-university-health-and-medical-center Firm Profile

In 2017, Cannon Design merged with Bennet Wagner Grody Architects to expand their firm expertise. The group focuses on their design approach, ”Living Center Design”, to create a user forward design. Cannon Design mostly focuses on hospitals and medical centers and occasionally crosses over with university based projects. Previous projects include the UC San Diego Health Center, Uber Advanced Technology Group Center, and Children’s Hospital of Colorado & Colorado Springs Memorial Hospital.

Project Background

The Health and Medical Center was not only built for the Colorado State University campus, but also the Northern Colorado Community. The school was aiming to congregate their scattered and aged 1964 mid-century buildings under one roof through the new four-story medical center. With the support of Cololumbine Health Systems and University of Colorado Health, a new facility with medical, counseling, and public healthcare services became possible with a design emphasis on collaboration and teambased care with high-tech reflection spaces. The Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center has expanded into the building since the completion date.

UC San Diego Health Center Children’s Hospital of Colorado

STORY: Findings

Over the course of the quarter, our research on the Colorado State University Health and Medical Center has mainly led us to learn about the integration of mechanical systems, that daylighting was not a design factor that drove the project, and that utilizing a common and practical building form can successfully achieve the programmatic needs of a building, but not necessarily the goals of a building. Prior to diving into the project, we had no assumptions on what the mechanical systems consisted of or how they interacted with the building form. In our research of the mechanical systems, we learned how the CSU center utilizes a central plant, a central air shaft that runs through all 4 floors, and AHU’s that distribute air from there. The system recycles air through plenum spaces above the ceiling to reduce the buildings energy impact, cooling or heating the recycled air as needed. We learned about supply and return ducting and the space needed between floor and ceiling for these distributors. As we continued on with our research, it became apparent that daylighting was not a driving design factor. When studying the sDA and ASE, both of these percentages were well out of range of ideal values, with ASE well above 40% and sDA at 60%. We figure these values are the result of a lack of attention to each facade and their direction and instead a simple pattern placed on all facades. We would suggest designing each facade’s glazing appropriate for the direction it is facing and to also consider reducing heating in the buildings EUI by lowering the percentage of glazing on the northern facade to trap more internal heat. These suggestions will help better respond to the cold winter climate where the project is located. While the glazing was unsuccessfully simple and repetitive, the overall practical building form was ideal for programmatic aspects. The stacked floor plates allowed for mechanical systems like the air shaft to align. The exterior features prominent glass stair towers that are recognizable and ideal for exit discharge from the large building. The designers also left the unfinished fourth floor available for future development as necessary, which we have noticed in our satellite views of the building has been expanded on. Overall, the simple approach seems to work well for the programmatic functions, but leaves much to be desired in energy efficiency, spatial experience, and daylighting opportunities.