Bill blackmon, command digital

Bill blackmon, command digital
Project category: Project in progress (January 2008)

Chief administrator: Thomas G. Cavender, CHFM, Vice-President, Facilities and Construction, (919) 350-8098

Firm: BBH Design, PLLC, (919) 460-6700

Design team: Douglas Hall, Partner-in-Charge; Laura Gwyn, Project Manager; Andy King, Project Designer; Kenyon Worrell, Project Architect; Douglas Freeman, Construction Administration; Jack Monroe, Designer

Illustration: Andy King/Frank Giordano; Bill Blackmon, Command Digital

Total building area (sq. ft.): 87,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $231

Total construction cost (excluding land): $20,100,000

Andy king/frank giordano

Andy king/frank giordano

Andy king/frank giordano
The four-story, 85,500-sq.-ft. WakeMed Apex Healthplex, scheduled to open in January 2008, is poised to be classified as the first business-occupancy, stand-alone emergency and ambulatory care facility in North Carolina. Designs for the Ambulatory Surgery Center and Medical Office spaces are in progress. The success of the new Healthplex is driven by a desire to create human-centered architecture emblematic of a shared dedication to efficient care, optimized staff performance, and favorable experiences for patients and guests.

The architect matched WakeMed’s forward-thinking business model with a cutting-edge architectural design based on the “Velocity of Care” concept to reinforce the notions of delivering medical attention, accelerated recovery times, and the overall organization of the building. Site-related opportunities directed the exterior treatment of the building mass, which is firmly embedded in the site. The building accelerates programmatically along its length and culminates in the highest level of urgency, the Emergency Department, which is cantilevered over a pond. The design team carefully evaluated how natural progression of the medical-care processes inform the appropriate placement of departments and public spaces.

The Healthplex, medical office building, helipad, and parking garage will be built on a scenic, 16-acre medical campus, which preserved expansive green space and embraced landscape opportunities.

Together, the architect and WakeMed have reached an innovative, cost-effective solution that promotes the transformational power of the built environment and its purpose to sustain and enrich lives.