Submitted by: DLR Group (Cleveland)

Envisioned as the “Hospital of the Future,” the new Cleveland Clinic Avon Inpatient Bed Tower (Avon, Ohio) leverages flexibility and technology while incorporating an interdisciplinary team approach to both medicine and services. In keeping with the Cleveland Clinic’s architectural philosophy, the 224,300 sq. ft. expansion and renovation to the existing Family Health Center and Ambulatory Surgery Center creates a serene and well-ordered environment that communicates with the natural environment. In the interest of achieving this requirement, the following elements are integral parts of the design:

  • Patient and visitor entries are clearly defined and well sheltered.
  • Interior circulation is simple and intuitive, reducing the need for redundant signage.
  • Public interior spaces are highly visible upon arrival to promote a sense of community.
  • Exterior utilitarian components are treated with the same design sensibility as the public spaces and components.
  • Programmed exterior spaces are incorporated as means of integrating with the natural environment.
  • Clinical spaces receive careful scrutiny to ensure that the devices required in such areas are cohesively woven into the architecture as design elements to reduce the visual clutter that can exacerbate patient stress levels.
  • The light and monochromatic palette used on both the exterior and interior allow the building to interact with the dramatic and perpetually changing characteristics of natural light in northeast Ohio. In this way, the building is also in a constant state of reinvention as it plays back the changing quality of light both seasonally and daily. This attribute, along with views to the wooded wetlands and finely crafted landscape, provides an opportunity for interaction with the natural environment for patients and staff alike.

Project Category: New construction

Chief Administrator: Dr. Rebecca Starck, FACOG, president, Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital

Firm: DLR Group, www.dlrgroup.com

Design Team: Philip LiBassi (principal-in-charge); Tom Dieterle (project manager); Ronald A. Reed (lead designer); Vince Leskosky (designer); Stephanie Banfield (structural engineer)

Total Building Area (Sq. Ft.): 224,300

Construction Cost/Sq. Ft.: $491

Total Construction Cost (Excluding Land): $110.1 million

Completed: September 2016