Project category: New construction & Remodel/Renovation (completed May 2003)

Chief administrator: John Smith, Senior Vice-President, (860) 585-3225

Firm: Moser Pilon Nelson/Architects, LLC, (860) 563-6164

Design team: James Bell, AIA, ACHA, Architect (Moser Pilon Nelson/Architects, LLC); Mark R. Roming, Civil Engineer, Landscape Designer (M.R. Roming Associates, PC); Joseph DeSimone, Jr., Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineer (BVH Integrated Services); Douglas Graham, PE, Structural Engineer (Girard and Company, LLP); Bruce Tompkins, General Contractor (Carpenter Construction)

Photography: ©2004 Robert Benson; Moser Pilon Nelson/Architects, LLC

Total building area (sq. ft.): 50,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $180

Total cost (excluding land): $9,000,000


With the trend rapidly moving from inpatient surgery to outpatient surgery, Bristol Hospital wanted to build a facility that would redefine its Surgery Department as meeting the needs of the community and staff. The hospital needed to vacate its cramped, windowless suite buried in the center of the facility and create a new identity. The solution was to build a new Perioperative Center that could stand alone but would be connected to the main facility via a two-level bridge. The new facility centralizes services for better staff, patient, and family efficiencies.

Patients’ and staff’s needs were paramount in designing the facility. The majority of the patient areas, as well as staff areas, are connected to the exterior environment via large windows. In the Pre/Post-Op Area, each patient is assigned an individual, hard-walled cubicle for better privacy. To facilitate staff visibility and reduce response time, the Nursing Station was divided into two, and the two Nursing Stations were separated.

The project was further enhanced by the incorporation of five elevators. One is dedicated to public use, two to patient and staff circulation in the building, and one to supply transfer; the fifth, an eight-story, oversized elevator, was added alongside the existing facility to be used strictly for moving patients to and from other departments.

By providing a separate identity, yet remaining connected to the main hospital, the new Perioperative addition provides for the needs of both patients and staff in an efficient, attractive, and safe environment.