Curves and radiuses provide welcoming feel for hospital

by Jonathan McGaha | October 31, 2009 12:00 am

The Hillcrest Medical Center’s new six-story, 183,000-square-foot (17,001-m2)
Oklahoma Heart Institute in Tulsa features a round rotunda that emits a beacon visible across half of the city at night.

Approximately 23,000 linear feet (7,010 m) of Flex-C Trac and Flex-C Angle from Oklahoma City-based Flex- Ability Concepts were used to frame the rotunda and entire front façade, as well as create the interior curves and radiuses that provide a welcoming feel.

 

The design team from WHR Architects, Houston, created a warm, relaxing lobby to greet guests as they enter the institute. Hillcrest sent teams of employees and architects to visit five of the nation’s best heart hospitals to review best practices. Hillcrest then built mock-ups of several rooms so that physicians, nurses and other work groups could study the designs and make adjustments.

 

Green Country Interiors, Tulsa, did the interior and exterior framing. The project utilized 8,100 feet (2,469 m) of Flex-C Angle and 15,000 feet (4,572 m) of 16- and 20-gauge Flex-C Trac in 3 5/8- and 6-inch
(92- and 152-mm) widths. The Flex-C Trac included a new Hammer- Lock feature that allowed the shaped track to be held in place by hammering down tabs in each link of the track instead of securing the track with screws. Building Specialties, Broken Arrow, Okla., was the distributor.

 

“It was a pretty complex job,” said Ed Gregory, project manager for Green Country. “There were lots of radiuses weaving together and numerous large radiuses that had to be laid out off of a grid.”

Flex-Ability Concepts

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/curves-and-radiuses-provide-welcoming-feel-for-hospital/

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