Geometry + High-Tech Imaging

The new Center for Surgical Innovation at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is an addition that infills between the hospital and the existing Imaging Pavilion on the north side of the medical campus. Staff parking is adjacent to the site while a path cuts through the site leading to the new main staff entrance which negotiates a fifteen foot grade change across the site. The design language of the existing campus is homogeneous, consisting of white insulated metal panels with green accents. A linear medical mall defines the public spine of the hospital campus while a series of extended pavilions define specialized programs. The design drew from the existing campus palette of white metal panels and strip windows but in an elegant simplified manner to refine the language and form in a way that blends with the context.

The overlay of the magnetic field patterns, as defined by the hospital’s physicist, provided singular areas where the new MRIs could be located on the site. These positions shaped the project both internally and externally introducing an unexpected geometry when overlaid with the existing context. The sloped site presented the opportunity to shift the mechanical space below grade while expressing the concrete foundation as an integrated form. Rough sawn pine board formed concrete defines a new language on the campus, articulating the concrete as an extension of the landscape.

This concrete form reaches up the sloped site to form a portal defining the main staff entrance to the hospital. The upper metal panel enclosure draws from the existing context while refining the language by maximizing panel lengths to minimize joints, wrapping corners and expressing long strip windows carefully blending the context of the campus with a redefined clean modern aesthetic. This refined exterior gives an expression of lightness above the concrete base, concealing the complexity of the high-tech cutting-edge spaces concealed within.

Related:
Designing for Complex Equipment
Photo shoot: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center