The $349 million, 500-room new Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre in Victoria is being built to Pacific Green standards. The term Pacific Green has been adopted by the Province of BC to capture a holistic new approach to ‘Green Building’ – an approach that captures all facets of a new building including concept, design, construction, facilities maintenance, operations and renovations. A Pacific Green Hospital building will include both visible ‘green’ features, such as exterior window shading, good daylighting, green roofs, and natural ventilation, as well as subtle or even invisible ‘green’ features. Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has committed to achieve LEED Gold status for the Patient Care Centre.
The new Patient Care Centre is designed by Cannon Design as an eight-storey, 38,000 square metre facility. The new facility enhances patient privacy and comfort with spacious single rooms and furniture designed to facilitate family visits and overnight stays. Walking is encouraged through strategic arrangement of walkable spaces and destinations as well as way-finding devices designed for clients with cognitive impairment. Sound-absorbing panels on ceilings and walls and quiet flooring and equipment minimize noise, while natural-themed art, calming music, natural light, and access to outdoor green space reduce stress.
Walking distances on clinical floors are minimized, also reducing stress for medical staff by allowing easy access to needed supplies, as well as increased nurse-patient interaction time. Staff amenities such as on-site day care, educational areas, dry cleaning, and pharmacy as well as easy parking access, cyclist facilities, lockers, and staff lounge enhance the overall working environment.
The building’s green design features include: fresh-air ventilation, natural lighting, access to nature, low-emitting and sustainable building materials, green cleaning products, energy-efficient design and equipment, water-efficient fixtures, public education, and reduction of waste volume and toxicity.
The new 500-bed facility will replace aging hospital infrastructure. Soaring at 32.5m in height, the patient tower will be the tallest building at the Royal Jubilee Hospital campus. The construction is expected to be completed soon and patients will be transferred from the old Royal Jubilee in March 2011.
The hospital is being called the first Pebble Project outside of the US. Pebble Projects are a research initiative of The Center for Health Design and involve healthcare facilities, where the design improves patient and staff results as well as enhance operations. The building was able to achieve LEED status by scoring 45 out of 70 on the LEED scorecard.
