May 26, 2008

The Sherbourne Health Centre’s priority on meeting the needs of the homeless and other’s who have “fallen through the cracks” is reflected in its design.

Projects

IBI takes on unique challenge with downtown Toronto health centre

'No template for facility'

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

When the IBI Group was retained to design a community healthcare centre in Toronto’s downtown core, meeting the needs of the homeless and others who have “fallen through the cracks” was a top priority.

“This is a story about inventing a new way to supply healthcare services,” says IBI Group director David Hastings, whose firm was responsible for master planning, architecture, interior design and construction management of the 100,000-square-foot facility.

“There was no template for this type of facility. Certainly the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, which funded it, had never encountered anything like it.”

The Sherbourne Health Centre combines traditional community healthcare, walk-in clinic services and a 24-hour continuous care area under one roof. Non-traditional medical practices such as homeopathy are also provided.

The project involved the adaptive re-use of the existing Central Hospital, an acute-care facility at 222 Sherbourne Street.

The team included Dineen Construction Corp., structural engineers Read Jones Christoffersen and mechanical and electrical engineers, H.H. Angus & Associates Ltd.

In addition to its geographic community, the centre focuses on three populations with complex needs or who face barriers in finding appropriate medical services within the traditional healthcare system: the homeless and under-housed; recent newcomers to Canada; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender persons.

The IBI Group worked with the centre “to invent a place where traditional and alternative forms of healthcare could be offered in a safe and supportive environment.”

Before starting the design process, information sessions were held with users.

“It’s not often you spend time in a design review with this kind of client group,” Hastings says. “Nor, had they ever spent a lot of time with architects. It was a new experience for everyone to sit there, exchange ideas and listen really hard.”

In the case of the homeless, the IBI Group found ways to help these clients maintain their dignity. These individuals usually carry all their clothes and possessions around with them and may not have bathed recently.

To that end, the design team provided an inconspicuous side entrance that opens onto a shower and locker area.

“They don’t have to enter through the front door,” Hastings says. “They can enter discreetly and wash, change and enter the public area on a level playing field. “This hasn’t been done in other places that we know of.”

The main entrance was also made friendlier for street people. The new entry façade is transparent, which communicates a sense of openness.

Among other features:

•Urban design principles break the building down into “neighbourhoods” that are easy to navigate.

•Non-gendered washrooms serve clientele with gender identification or sexual-reassignment issues.

•Treatment rooms are organized into pods that increase nurses’ efficiency.

•The 20-bed infirmary gives clients a place to recuperate and break free of the emergency room procedure-discharge cycle, reducing hospital wait times.

Learning from Toronto’s 2003 SARS epidemic, the building was designed to be plague-resistant. Isolation areas are located away from the main body of the hospital.

“We tried to achieve a level of safety and protection without being overt about it, which can create a sense of tension,” Hastings says.

On the exterior, the design team updated the original “brutalist” façade. The existing windows were masked by angled vertical panels rising from slab to slab, which made the building look closed off.

The panels were removed and windows replaced with energy-efficient glazing. A brise-soleil of angled horizontal steel fins was added above each floor to filter daylight.

“These more delicate features along the south and west elevations help passerby understand that something new is happening inside, which encourages them to come in and get the healthcare they need,” Hastings says.

A long, curved steel canopy and sunshade frames the front door.

The construction budget was $14 million. However, the project was tendered at $10 million and was completed under budget.

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