St. Paul’s teases design of new Vancouver hospital – BC News
Photo: contributed
This is the year people will finally see Vancouver’s new St. Paul’s Hospital above ground.
This month the main concrete floor will be poured and up to seven floors are expected to be completed by the end of 2023. In preparation for these major moves, the New St. Paul’s Hospital project team teased the building’s interior design.
We won’t see the full 11-story height of the building until 2024, but we’re getting a glimpse of the colorful themed patient-facing spaces that will comprise those floors, and unsurprisingly they draw heavily from the natural landscape of BC and the US influences are surrounding Pacific Northwest.
“The inspiration for the interior design of the new hospital is ‘Embraced by Nature,'” says Jayson Hodgson, project manager for architecture and clinical design. “The aim is to create a comforting, inclusive, open and friendly experience for patients, staff and our community – all while showcasing the local natural landmarks of the West Coast and honoring the traditional territories of the three host nations.”
Each floor has a theme inspired by a BC landmark, with a shared color and natural motifs intended to act as markers so patients and families can easily navigate between the elevators, stairways, departments, nursing staff stations, reception and waiting areas can navigate. But there will also be signposting.
The first three floors use turquoise hues to reflect Pacific Spirit Park, Bowen Island, and Stanley Park and are described as “grounded nature.” The east tower uses cool blues and purples for the English Bay, Lost Lagoon and Burrard Inlet water monuments and the theme is Cool Respite. Finally, the West Tower is the “Forest Retreat” in shades of green reminiscent of provincial parks like Mount Seymour.
“Naming throughout the site is being reviewed in collaboration with the Indigenous Wellness and Reconciliation team,” says Trails and Signage Project Manager Zerina Hotic.
The team is working with St. Paul’s patients and the Indigenous Health and Reconciliation team to inform their design choices and identify the priorities of hospital visitors.
For example, Ken Wiecke, who has been a patient of St. Paul for over 20 years, says he has “really thought about the patient experience. How would you navigate the new hospital if you are tired or confused, or if your family is waking up? Visitors?” And the four floors of the parking garage were decorated in bright colors (green, magenta, yellow, and purple) to help people remember where they parked.
Wiecke has been in the hospital for treatments and procedures ranging from dialysis to kidney transplants and open-heart surgeries, and thinks the final interior design themes “features like stairs make the hospital much more eye-catching, making the hospital easy for patients and families.” navigating power for years to come.”
The hospital broke ground in 2021 and is expected to cost $2.174 billion and will cover 18.4 acres in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats area. It is scheduled to be completed in 2026 and open to patients in 2027, and the 127-year-old former St. Paul’s site has been sold to Concord Pacific for $1 billion, which will reportedly help fund the new project.
