Green Clinic, a 37-physician multispecialty group in rural northern Louisiana, was seeking to improve patient care in the local community. The construction of a new surgical hospital provided such an opportunity, and the result is a dramatic departure from the “cubicled,” institutional healthcare models that existed in the area. The use of soft, indirect lighting, passive colors, and simple circulation patterns resulted in a building that provides patients with relaxed, comfortable surroundings and demonstrates the owner’s overriding concern for patient comfort and privacy.

The facility’s architectural image reflects the significant community impact of this new healthcare delivery system; the bold, white, curving façade contrasts with the hard-edged brick boxes that make reference to the adjacent existing clinic and surrounding buildings. Patients and visitors are welcomed into the building through a spacious, atrium-like waiting area with an abundance of natural light, which at night provides a warm glow suggestive of the nurturing environment inside. The 30,000-square-foot facility houses four ORs designed to service the existing outpatient surgical demand and accommodate new inpatient procedures. Included is a new cardiac catheterization lab.

Initially limited to ten private patient rooms, the facility has been planned to accommodate future expansion and transition to a full acute care hospital. Structured for two additional floors, the hospital potentially can provide as many as 60 patient rooms, as well as additional departments. A second-floor “pedway,” designed as part of the initial project but not yet constructed, connects the new hospital to the existing clinic.

Project category: Addition (completed September 2003)

Chief administrator: Toby Tubbs, Administrator, (318) 232-6169

Firm: Bledsoe Architects, (318) 219-2295

Design team: Benjamin Bledsoe, AIA, Principal, Architect (Bledsoe Architects); Cynthia Colon Gay, ASID, Interior Designer (Design Services); Paul Cormier, PE, Structural Engineering (Smith & Raley, Inc.); Homer Purtle, PE, MEP Engineering (Purtle & Associates, LLP)

Photography: Neil Johnson Photo

Total building area (sq. ft.): 30,218

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $196

Total cost (excluding land): $5,936,170