Title: Atrium Health Kenilworth Medical Plazas I & II
Location of Proejct: Charlotte, North Carolina
Project Completion Date: April 2021
Firm Name: The Beck Group

Short Description: Atrium Health consolidated over 20 outpatient clinics into one flagship location at Kenilworth Medical Plaza. The design is centered around wellness and brings a hospitality feel to the medical office buildings. Views to the outdoors at waiting and clinic spaces provide positive distractions while terrazzo floors and wood soffits bring a sense of openness and warmth reflective of the wooded Carolina landscape. More delicately, the design uses natural light and specialty light fixtures to enhance the experience for patients, visitors and staff. With sophisticated care, the spaces integrate advanced technology with clean lines and soft edges.

Architect's Statement: Located near downtown Charlotte yet away from the hustle and bustle of the main hospital, this state-of-the-art medical office facility anchors itself in the new urban fabric of Midtown and provides patients and their families a calm and inviting place to visit their doctor and pick up prescriptions. The Kenilworth Medical Plaza welcomes visitors with grand lobbies that are open, light, and airy giving a nod to the rebranded hospital system, Atrium Health (formerly Carolinas Healthcare System). Contrasting many traditional medical office buildings that typically include a maze of dark carpeted hallways and suites, natural light floods each of the 24 clinics in this 400,000+ sf facility and pours through to the waiting areas from windows strategically placed to capture the light.

The interior design creates a positive and enriching patient experience by following principles of hospitality rather than those of a hospital. Throughout the building, the interior responds to the wooded Carolina landscape. The forest canopies, branches, and riverbeds of the landscape are integrated to promote faster recovery, provide a calming grounding effect, lower blood pressure, and increase patient mood. The first floor responds to the riverbed effect by extending walls into the walkway in an oblong fashion. Patients move around the “rocks” and are guided by a water-like pattern in the terrazzo. Wood patterns on the "rock" walls break up the bright white space simplistically and elegantly.

The wood tones from the exterior soffits fold into the building creating a wood-paneled ceiling. A grand staircase provides patients access to the second floor, promoting a sense of movement. The openness of the staircase allows for the second-floor atrium to be open and light-filled from below. Specialty lighting fixtures placed at seemingly random angles give an organic feel to the ceiling plane and reflect the branches that grow overhead forming the canopy of forest.

As patients and families move to the upper floors, they are welcomed to a light-filled central waiting area. The design intent extends to the upper floors by integrating the branch-like design in the lighting and carpet flooring. To better control sound, carpet is deliberately placed around certain furniture and where more gathering is likely. Within clinic suites, luxury vinyl tile provides a floor that is easy to clean and maintain.

Each clinic is planned to function as a repeatable, standard “neighborhood.” The “neighborhood” pod features a central provider space and exam rooms that surround a race-track module. The design team worked iteratively with the administrators and clinical staff to agree on a standard exam room that was deployed throughout the entire building. Due to this, adjacent clinics can easily expand without having to alter the patient room design or layout. Flexibility was integral to the design, and the interior architecture responds by incorporating demountable walls that can accommodate technological advances without disruptive changes.

Programmatically, the building is truly focused on a multi-disciplinary approach—patients and families have access to several amenities for a seamless experience. On the first floor, patients can access the pharmacy after their appointment to avoid traveling to another location. Additionally, since many patients are focused on vascular health, the cardiac rehabilitation gym is located on the first floor, which features floor-to-ceiling windows for patients to overlook the urban landscape. Families and patients have the option to stop at the café on the first floor to enjoy coffee or a snack anytime. Patients arriving for infusion are also on the first floor to take advantage of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The open infusion bay with short barriers provides patients with privacy and a beautiful well-lit space. The infusion center is located adjacent to the pharmacy to allow for direct and quick medication delivery to the care team.

Traditionally, physician and care team offices are located within each clinic pod, however, this project made the conscious decision to locate all offices on the top floor. This allows the care team to focus on their patients while they are present in clinic. It also allows for increased collaboration between physicians of the 24 clinics, which would be challenging in a decentralized office model.

Unique to this medical office building is a 150-person auditorium that sits at the ground level of the building but accessible from the main entrance or an exterior entrance near the pre-function space. This double height pre-function space is full of daylight due to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Vertical lighting integrated into the wood panels promotes this space at night as a statement and provides a sense of warmth and sophistication.

The entire medical plaza provides a unique, unexpected experience for a medical office building. The interior architecture is not only functional and efficient for the care teams, but it is beautiful and welcoming for patients who are visiting for one-time and reoccurring visits.