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76 | FEBRUA RY 2015 Markham Stouffville Hospital Expansion PHOTOGRAPHY + RENDERINGS COURTESY B+H ARCHITECTS Markham Stouffville Hospital Expansion by IRWIN RAPOPORT M arkham Stouffville Hospital and its partners recently celebrated the completion of the facility's ex- pansion and renovation – a project that essentially doubled the size of the hospi- tal with a 385,000-square-foot addition and upgrades to 325,000 square feet of existing space. The build finance (BF) project assigned to Infrastructure Ontario included the construction of a new four-storey wing, which tied into the existing hospital that originally opened its doors in 1990. The expanded hospital includes a new emergency department, expanded ambulatory clinics, more inpatient beds and operating rooms, a new diagnostic imaging department, and a new and expanded maternal child unit and men- tal health program. "Before our expansion and renova- tion, we were having a difficult time keeping up with the health-care needs of our rapidly growing and aging com- munity," says Janet Beed, the hospital's president and CEO. "Our new space is bright, modern and designed around patient safety and comfort, but it has also allowed us to expand essential services." The new wing houses the emergency department, diagnostic imaging, surgery, intensive care unit, maternal child, neo- natal ICU, in-and-out patient mental health, several inpatient units and the pediatric area. Many of the various clin- ics were relocated in the renovated areas of the existing hospital. "Our redevelopment team spent count- less hours with our architects to achieve a number of goals," says Beed. "In the end, it is a facility that our staff, physicians and community are extremely proud of." Among those goals, B+H Architects sought to improve access and flow outside the hospital, enhance efficiency and func- tionality within it, and create an interior space that uses colour, light and materials to promote a healing environment. "It was important that the hospital reflected a very modern and positive vision of being current," says Douglas Birkenshaw, senior design principle at B+H. "This is part of the new mandate for hospitals with the patient being at the centre of the process – [the man- date] is much more service oriented and patients tend to heal better when they are not anxious, understand what is being said to them and are welcomed into an environment where they know that they will be cared for." B+H worked closely with the hospital team to embrace the needs of Markham's diverse population. The key to creating clinics and spaces that are welcoming, accepting and comfortable is anticipat- ing the needs of the patient. Providing places for children to sit and play in the emergency department and designing the chemotherapy clinic to receive ample natural light are two such examples. The construction schedule called for the expansion to be built first so that departments could move into the new quarters and the existing hospital could be renovated in a way that would reduce the impact on patients and staff. The new emergency department is a design feature that represents both fashion and function. Built into a slope on the hospital's south side, B+H embraced the topography and in doing so, created a separate entrance distinct from the main entrance, which has been retained and renovated on the north side. Having two access points has served to better regulate and separate traffic to various departments. "The renovation of the existing main entrance has given it more open space, comfort and amenities," says Birkenshaw. Built with a two-and-a-half-storey atrium with skylights, the main entrance allows visitors to look up to where they are going. In addition, all the elevators open into the atrium, which is one of the way- finding elements that B+H employed. "For the lobby walls we introduced a light cream coloured stone that allows the donor wall to be integrated into it with its cut stone. It creates a warmer tone to the lobby instead of everything being grey and shiny. For the f loors, we used rubber sheet flooring and to help with the wayfinding, the colours selected were similar to the system used for London Tube wayfinding," explains Birkenshaw. It was imperative that the materials used were hygienic, as well as easy to keep clean and maintain. "Wood can- not be used in hospital environments because of its potential for absorbing microbes," explains Birkenshaw, "so in quite a few areas we used a faux panel, which has a wood face that is fully impregnated with resin and is basically plastic, but gives the feeling of wood." Bringing B+H's design to life, PCL Constructors Canada Inc. began con- struction of the project in December 2010 and reached substantial comple- tion ahead of schedule in July 2014. "The renovation of the existing hospital was

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