exteriors
PROJECT
An administrative wing added to the Sunshine Health Facilities nursing home is actually a combination of three distinct buildings, all of which are certified by Passive House Institute U.S.
Have It All: Quality, Comfort, Efficiency, Cost Savings An architect’s journey through high-performance design as told through two buildings.
W
hen it was time to build a new adminis-
Founded in 1949, Sunshine Health Facilities was
cropped up as the company has grown: chiefly, office
tration building at Sunshine Health Fa-
built on the site of one of Spokane’s first universities,
space, commercial kitchen space, and a commercial laundry facility.
cilities, Spokane, WA, the construction
Spokane Univ., which closed in 1933. The historical
choice was a no-brainer: PHIUS+ certification through
campus brought with it significant challenges, including
The architect of the project, Sam Rodell, and his
the Passive House Institute U.S., Chicago. Not because
aging housing susceptible to temperature extremes, a
partner, Calla Kirkwood, of Sam Rodell Architects AIA,
the CEO of Sunshine Health Facilities is a tree-hugger,
problem for medically fragile residents. The campus in-
Spokane, have a long history with Sunshine Health, hav-
but because of experience on a 58-bed PHIUS+ certified
cludes a nursing home, a boarding home, and several
ing built, remodeled, or added to all of the buildings over
addition to a state licensed boarding home a few years
cottages.
a span of three decades. But until the boarding house
earlier. It was cheaper to build, cheaper to operate, and
The new administrative building, which shares a
it delivered superior comfort and healthy indoor air to
common atmosphere with the nursing home, is designed
the occupants.
to solve an interesting mix of requirements that have
48
COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE
NOVEMBER 2017
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com
addition, design and construction were the old-fashioned way: build to code. After dipping his toe—and eventually jumping—into
