Cannon design completes South Nassau hospital addition

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 17, 2007 by Judy Pullar

The recent completion of South Nassau Communities Hospital North Addition on Long Island's South Shore speaks to Cannon Design's vision as it brings us to new beginnings rather than an end to our relationship with this client.

A beginning, as it represents the ideal outcome that provides for a continued long term relationship in the building process that is the mission of Cannon Design.

As of the writing of this article, we are continuing our partnership with South Nassau Communities Hospital in their new era of heath care by providing design services for renovations and overall master plan implementations that will support the needs of the surrounding community.

The underlying program for the project at South Nassau Communities Hospital was the desire to provide a new image for the hospital, while providing space that addressed the needs of today's health care consumer.

The project includes both a two story entrance lobby and a three story glass enclosed conservatory. The new lobby serves as the main entrance to the hospital and is a welcoming beacon along the main entry road to the facility.

The conservatory connects the new building with the existing hospital with its view of South Nassau's trademark Cupola; it acts as the transition between the future possibilities of this new facility and the stability and history of south Nassau past. The new building houses 108 patient care beds, a new maternity services unit with state of the art labor/delivery rooms, a neonatal intensive care unit and 26 private post partum rooms, as well as a new behavioral health unit. All designed to respect the dignity, comfort and privacy of the patients and their families.

The desire for more "hospitality" like qualities in the new interior environments helped in our decisions to open up the program elements to each other, both physically and visually: functions like ambulatory services waiting is discretely connected to the main lobby space, stacked about and viewing into the larger waiting areas, and all connected with an elegant stair and glass paneled balcony.

Working closely with our healthcare planners, engineers, architectural designers and our client user groups, we developed strategies of arrangements, circulation, mechanical systems, lighting strategies and materiality that informed each other. Our continuous questioning led to new opportunities and solutions that we all "owned". Great contributions from individuals came out of ongoing dialogue.

Lighting, both natural and artificial always plays a critical role in successful interior environments and SNCH is no exception.

The glazing system in the north building facade provides maximum interior light to the patient room settings with a floor to ceiling glass wall with both translucent and vision glass.

Public spaces are flooded with natural light and supplemented with discrete systems to supplement artificial lighting at night time and during overcast days.

Patient corridors benefit from a stratified lighting system that has both day and night schemes and accents to provide for variety of character and quality of spaces, achieved in part by the careful coordination of mechanical systems and devices to support the ambient light coves.

The finish palette maintained an underlying framework that emanates from the materials and colorations of the building's exterior. Based on a framework of warm neutrals and woods, like a good suit of clothes, accent coloration is achieved in those elements that can change overtime to keep the atmosphere fresh and lively.

Durability, first costs, and maintenance were continuously considered by the project team as selections were made, never forgetting the vision of the hospital or the comfort of the patient.

Working together, we ensured a successful project, one that was delivered on time and within budget, but more importantly it assisted South Nassau in their goals to change health care delivery for the better in their community.

JUDY PULLAR, CANNON DESIGN