Riverside Medical Center, set between the Kankakee River and Highway 113, faced a challenge when it was learned that Highway 113 would be expanded from two lanes to five. The majority of the facility’s parking is located across the highway from the main entrance.

The Riverside Pavilion, using three architectural elements, was our response to this challenge. Element 1, a two story atrium, is the new Main Hospital Entrance. Inviting and serene, it contains a prominent reception desk, gentle flowing fountain with a “Healing Hands” sculpture, grand piano, and coffee bar to promote a “Community Center” aura. Escalators, stairs, and elevators provide access to Element 2, the Pedestrian Bridge, which allows safe passage across the highway into the Main Hospital.

Element 3, the six-story Office Building, is the new aesthetic centerpiece of the campus. Riverside’s Outpatient and Women’s Centers fill the first floor, providing convenient access for outpatients, who no longer have to travel within the Main Hospital. Relocating the Outpatient Center also freed up prime first-floor space in the hospital for expanding and ever-changing hospital services. Riverside’s Administrative Office Suite relocated to the second floor of the Pavilion, freeing up space to be converted to a new Patient Bed Wing.

The top four floors were reserved for Medical Office Suites, giving physicians and their patients offices with convenient access to the hospital. Only four months after the Grand Opening, the six-story building was 95% occupied.

Project category: Addition (completed November 2003)

Chief administrator: Dennis Millirons, President and CEO, (815) 935-7549

Firm: Jensen & Halstead, Ltd., (312) 664-7557

Design team: Glenn Seerup, Project Architect; David K. Dastur, Principal-in-Charge (Jensen & Halstead, Ltd.); Dave Hanshaw, Electrical Engineer (KJWW Engineering Consultants); Dave Doubek, Director (Lighting Design Alliance); Sue Schroeder, Interior Designer (Studio One Design)

Photography: © j/j images, J. Morrill Photo

Total building area (sq. ft.): 105,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $210

Total cost (excluding land): $22,000,000