Project Category – New Construction (completed October 2000)

Facility Contact – John Mazzula, Staff Assistant to the Director, (718) 630-2804

Firm – Urbahn Associates, Inc., (212) 239-0220

Design Team – Martin D. Stein, AIA, President and CEO; Natale Barranco, RA, Vice-President (Urbahn Associates); Joe Lucca, Project Manager (STV, Inc.)

Patient/Bed Capacity – N/A (outpatient)

Total Building Area (sq. ft.) – 140,000 (gross)

Total Land Area (acres) – 6.36

Total Cost (excluding land) – $35,000,000


The Ambulatory Services Building includes primary care clinics, medical and surgical subspecialties, and a diagnostic and treatment center that houses a clinical laboratory, imaging and outpatient surgery. Prior to construction of this project, these services were located on overcrowded converted inpatient floors of the Main Hospital. Thus, the planning and design of this facility offered an opportunity to create an environment that could enhance the delivery of care. The goal was to establish a team-based approach, utilizing a primary care model and multidisciplinary care teams.

The designers responded by providing a series of flexible clinic modules, each of which is assigned to a care team. Patients are also assigned to care teams, so that they become familiar with and known by their caregivers. The size of the facility and the necessary linkage to the Main Hospital, however, posed a wayfinding challenge to the design team. Designing a circulation system to facilitate patient movement was paramount. Therefore, floor and wall finishes were used that direct patients through the facility and help them identify each of the clinic modules.

Views to the outdoors also orient patients as they move throughout the building. Major circulation corridors end at windows. Each clinic module has a reception and waiting area with a large picture window overlooking urban gardens. The corridor that connects the outpatient building with the Main Hospital features a series of windows that provide a view of both the Ambulatory Services entrance and the Main Hospital entrance, to keep patients oriented as they move from building to building.