Children’s Hospital of Chicago Scheduled to Open

June 2012 will celebrate the opening of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which has relocated to a densely urban area in Chicago’s Streeterville community. This 23 story, state the art hospital, has expanded from 699,000 square feet to 1.5 million square feet. The health care facility will open with 288 single patient rooms estimated to be 290 square feet each and will accommodate 313 inpatient beds. Atelier Ten collaborated with ZGF, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, and Anderson Mikos Architects, to guide the sustainability approach and provide energy analysis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and environmental design.

Atelier Ten’s work supported two primary goals of the project – energy efficiency and high indoor environmental quality, including daylight, views and air quality. Once the sustainable design direction was established, Atelier Ten then projected the energy performance of multiple HVAC system design options for the patient rooms to determine the most energy efficient and effective system, and helped to optimize the exterior shading design to reduce solar heat gain and glare while protecting patient views. Atelier Ten also coordinated (in conjunction with RWDI) CFD analysis to ensure airflow for patient comfort and minimized risk of airborne infectious contamination. A “sky garden” was incorporated to allow access to nature and views from inside the building and will utilize displacement ventilation to offset solar heat gains.

Atelier Ten’s team, from the New York office, includes Director Paul Stoller and Associate Emilie Hagen. The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is targeting LEED Silver.