Healthcare Design - October 2018 - 30

R

EADING HOSPITAL'S 46-acre campus in West Reading,

© ALBERT VECERKA / ESTO (EXTERIORS); © HALKIN MASON PHOTOGRAPHY (INTERIOR)

Pa., has seen significant change during its 100 years,
expanding via a collection of additions, new entrances,
infills, and overbuilds. Through this, the surgical services grew across five buildings in a fractured arrangement that wasn't conducive to optimal patient care. In
2011, the hospital engaged Ballinger (Philadelphia) to
conceptualize options to consolidate the campus' surgical services. In August 2013, construction began on the Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care, with the 476,000-square-foot
surgical and inpatient tower opening in March 2017.
The hospital administration utilized the last available piece of land on
campus for the new eight-story building-an area notable for a 30-foot
slope. This dramatic grade change provided the opportunity to situate a
significant portion of the 115,000 gross square feet of surgical program
requirements below grade. This satisfied the clinical need to collocate surgical services, including 24 operating rooms, on a single level to provide
more efficient patient and staff flows. It also created the opportunity for a
dedicated entrance to the new surgery center. A five-story bed tower, with
150 new private patient beds, was placed atop the surgical platform, with a
smaller footprint than the base below.
However, in early designs, this approach didn't offer the same healing
views that patients were accustomed to in Reading Hospital's 500 existing patient rooms. The campus includes airy courtyards nestled between
brick and limestone buildings, whereas concepts for the addition left
large portions of the new surgical platform and its simple stone ballast
roof exposed. Taking note of the neighboring Wyomissing Park, home to
an art museum and walking trails, designers saw an opportunity to utilize the HealthPlex's sloping site and cover the surgical platform with an
88,000-square-foot vegetated green roof-the third-largest green roof on
a healthcare building in the United States.
The new patient rooms would then have views of the serene healing garden. Patients and families moving throughout the building could also experience access to natural light and garden spaces, such as a tranquil fountain area, a pergola offering shade in the summer, an oval-shaped grassy
area anchoring the rooftop garden, and a strolling meadow walk that connects to Wyomissing Park. Skylights and light wells would also allow natural light to enter the prep and recovery platform below the green roof.

TO P : Large windows in the bed tower offer views to the outdoors, while solar shading
strategies were used on the exterior to minimize heat gain. ABOV E : The rooftop park

extends to adjacent public gardens and a nearby art museum, physically integrating
the health facility with the assets of the community. RIGHT: The prep/recovery areas
for the surgical platform are linked to the garden above through a large monitor that
brings natural light to the patient spaces below. PREVIOUS PAGE S: The green roof has a
range of plantings, from full-size trees to small flowers.

30

OCTOBER 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - October 2018
