A vertical expansion and renovation spanning multiple floors of St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, the NICU and Women’s Services project seeks to improve the patient experience by creating a healthy, healing environment that encourages operational efficiencies.

Designed for future expansion, the addition of four new floors provides over 164,705 square feet to increase service line delivery and provide shelled space for future growth. Constructed from architectural pre-cast concrete panels, the vertical expansion delivers a fourth floor addition that includes a 24-bed antepartum unit and four birthing suites to accommodate natural births. The new fourth floor, strategically designed to encourage the best labor and delivery experience for mothers, includes an eight-room obstetrics triage area, 32-bed labor, delivery and recovery unit and a C-section operating suite with four rooms and post-anesthesia care unit space. Floors five through six are shelled for future expansion.

Totaling 28,325 square feet, the renovation of the existing second floor creates 30 new NICU bassinet pods, four new postpartum patient rooms along with a new Ronald McDonald Family Room for respite. Designed to attain an Austin Energy Green Building® (AEGB) 2-Star rating, this project specifies low-VOC and formaldehyde-free interior finishes, along with Green Label or floorscore-certified flooring products. High-efficiency HVAC systems, lighting and controls are designed to deliver annual energy savings and the use of potable water is also projected to reduce water consumption by 37 percent, as compared to a typical facility. The vertical expansion and renovation enhances the patient experience, creating a space centered on healing, sustainability and future expansion to meet future community needs.

Photos: © McGinn Photography