HGA-Designed Innovative Facility, the Largest Current Hospital Project in Pennsylvania, and the Largest Project Undertaken by the World Class Healthcare Provider
Acclaimed interdisciplinary design firm HGA is pleased to announce UPMC Presbyterian’s state-of-the-art inpatient tower reached a significant construction milestone. UPMC is affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences and on October 1, 2024, one of the final structural steel beams was placed on the top floor (known as the “topping out”) of the new 17-story facility in Pittsburgh. This is the hospital’s largest construction project ever and the largest current healthcare construction project in Pennsylvania. When construction is completed in late 2026, the 1.2 million square foot tower will house 636 private patient rooms equipped with technological advances that will support the extraordinary experience of patients and staff.
Digital Technology and Natural Spaces
UPMC and HGA’s transformative approach to hospital-based care includes the following: digital technology to simplify treatment and enhance person-to-person connections, natural spaces in concert with beautiful architecture to boost the healing power of a serene environment, completely clear patient pathways, and planning enhanced by nature and dramatic design.
An Interactive Design Process
With the goal of supporting UPMC’s vision to transform not only UPMC, but the world of hospital care, HGA led an interdisciplinary team in conducting a mixed-method research process to examine how UPMC could support holistic care for patients and their families. Ethnographic interviews and focus groups with patients and their families were used to gain insights into the patients’ whole health journey. This information, along with evidence-based design research, was used in the design of public and patient care spaces in the hospital and tested with users through virtual reality.
Healing Power of Nature
The new tower features a series of terraced gardens that honor the site’s historic legacy as a place of “healing on a hill” and conceal important services and functional components. The entire entry experience, public circulation, clinical waiting areas, staff /visitor services and patient floors will enjoy park views and the healing power of nature.
“HGA is honored to work with UMPC and design this innovative new hospital tower,” said Kyle Weisman, principal, HGA. “The building is designed to reflect the cutting-edge healthcare provided within its walls. It is a proud beacon declaring “life changing medicine” to the surrounding community and everyone who passes through these doors.”
Patient Experience
The design of the tower uses a patient-centered care model that will connect patients to the resources they need for recovery. The universal inpatient platform serves the highest acuity patients and will support all levels of acuity and services to support the patient within the same floor for each disease-specific unit, from arrival to ICU, to med surg, to discharge. With floors organized around disease management, rather than acuity, the plan projects improved clinical outcomes and patient experience. The bed aggregation also provides the right resources, at the right time, in the right place, every time, for enhanced staff productivity and satisfaction. The “Hospital within a Hospital” will manage the entire patient stay and connect them with the shared resources and expertise of UPMC.
Supporting Well-being for the Whole Community.
As part of the design process, UPMC staff and designers participated in design thinking workshops to determine socio-spatial design solutions outside of the direct patient care spaces. The result is the allocation of more than 30,000 square feet of public and family-centric space, known as the “Lifestyle Village”, offering places to nurture the patient’s mind, body and spirt, as well as individual wellness rooms, grab-and-go food options, and inviting outdoor urban plazas. “The Lifestyle Village will advance translational support for families and patients, fuel community well-being, support staff in work and life and be a beacon for family-centered care” states Weisman.
With its ambitious vision, this project aims to set a benchmark for healthcare design excellence and exemplify a dedication to community well-being.
HGA led architectural efforts partnering with local architectural firms, IKM and Architectural Innovations, in addition to structural and MEP engineering. Additional project partners include contractors, Whiting Turner and PJ Dick; CJL, MEP engineering; Langan, civil engineering; Rippe Associates, foodservice design; Olin, landscape architecture; Lerch Bates, vertical transportation and logistics; Exit, wayfinding; Criterion, Medical Equipment Planning, Drawings, Procurement & Logistics; and Vantage, technology.
About HGA
HGA is a national interdisciplinary design firm committed to making a positive, lasting impact for our clients and communities through research-based, holistic solutions. We believe that great design requires a sense of curiosity—forming deep insight into our clients, their contexts, and the human condition. We are a collective of more than 1,000 architects, engineers, interior designers, planners, researchers, and strategists. Our practice spans multiple markets, including science and technology, corporate, cultural, education, local and federal government, and healthcare. Visit HGA.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
HGA Media Contact
Michelle Nelsen, Public Relations Director
mnelsen@hga.com
UPMC celebrates topping off ceremony.
