Because the type of patients and services were so diverse–from cancer surgery to a simple facial, the design utilized a central concierge touch-point as soon as you enter the building. The concierge, welcomes and guides any patients, further easing any tension or anxiety that can often be associated with medical care. Centralizing this point also deflects the continual interruption of the medical care staff with deliveries, industry representatives, or other operational coordination, allowing them to keep laser focused on patient care.

After 24 years, the DF has become known in the profession for their internal culture of camaraderie, growth, and development. In their new space, the designed aimed to protect and amplify that legacy by dedicating an expansive, yet multi-functional area reserved for the internal team. This super-sized space gives their large scale team a place for gathering, socializing, large scale training and convening, dining, or simply a place for a moment of respite from care-giving.  The leadership not only had priorities for their patients’ experience, but also their staff’s. With such a large quantity of people moving and working through-out the space, the design layout paid attention to circulation, offering ample space and an efficient flow. The new flow eliminated bottlenecking for the team and allows them to see more patients in a single day without sacrificing personal care.

When it came to the building’s exterior form, the design was inspired by the topic given the most attention on the interior; the skin.  Our skin, with its many layers is our most visible and outward facing element to the world – and the exterior plays with bold material forms and layers to mimic this dynamic and vital organ. Each building plane is representative of one of the three layers of skin.  The outer most layer, the epidermis, is represented by a slightly contrasting fiber cement panels to represent the variations and uniqueness our skin has.  On the interior, angled and intersecting lines are a repeated motif that flow through the building in both detail joints and finishes reference an abstraction of the web-like structure of skin cells