Metal fabric reflects hospital’s advanced technology and healing spirit
by Jonathan McGaha | October 31, 2009 12:00 am
Stainless-steel mesh panels from Cambridge Architectural, Cambridge, Md., exude a clean and welcoming presence while filtering sunlight inside the atrium of the Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando, Fla.
Located just south of downtown, the hospital is unique because it serves guests of all the area’s local theme parks and attractions, resulting in a design that looks more like a retreat than a medical facility. Behind the scenes, the hospital houses state-of-the-art technology and provides high-quality care for Orlando’s residents and growing tourist population.
Cambridge’s Landscape Interiors woven metal fabric system was specified for the hospital’s lobby primarily because its visual characteristics help to portray the organization’s patient care philosophy.
“Because Dr. P. Phillips services central Florida attractions, the team had a desire to blend the technologically advanced hospital with the feeling of a hotel or resort,” said Carl Beers, senior vice president and director of health care for Orlando-based HKS Inc., and the project architect. “Cambridge’s architectural mesh system mixes the precision people expect in a medical environment with the warmth of fabric expected in a hospitality and healing environment.”
The Landscape Interiors system serves two specific functions in the hospital’s atrium-the mesh panels divide the space between the lobby and its connecting stairway while distilling and reducing the glare of natural light, which shines through the south-facing glass wall.
“The mesh really brought a dynamic quality to the hospital atrium,” Beers said. “Its shimmering, semitransparent look lent itself perfectly to the interior’s upscale design-all while acting as a see-through space divider between the lobby and the stairway.”
Cambridge and the hospital design team utilized a design-build approach for the project, which helped the team to better understand the product and also allowed Cambridge to develop an effective solution for creating a beautiful and engaging physical boundary within the interior space. The Landscape Interiors system was fabricated with mesh in Cambridge’s Shade pattern, which features large-scale, flexible open weaves, and was installed with Cambridge’s Eclipse tension attachment hardware. Robins & Morton, Orlando, was the general contractor.
Cambridge Architectural
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/metal-fabric-reflects-hospitals-advanced-technology-and-healing-spirit/