Opened in December 2009, the Maple Grove Hospital in Maple Grove, Minn., was designed by BWBR Architects, St. Paul, Minn., to meet the needs of the greater northwest metro area in an environment “where human touch and the latest technology come together for a safer, better experience.”
The $70 million, 301,000-square-foot(27,963-m2) hospital is a joint venture between North Memorial Health Care, Robbinsdale, Minn., and Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis. The design for the new healthcare facility was guided by the Green Guide for Health Care and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system.
In addition to a full range of emergency,medical and surgical care, and wellness education offerings, the hospital will offer patient set visiting hours, flexible meal plans and café, and valet service. The hospital has 90 private rooms to focus on the patient and family experience,each with a large screen television, guest bed, patient controls for temperature and ventilation, natural light and decorative finishes in soothing earth tones.
The hospital features a distinctive copper-colored exterior with custom Maple Green accents painted by Linetec, Wausau, Wis., to withstand the demanding Northern climate. Rogers, Minn.-based Quality Metalcrafts LLC supplied 1/8-inch (3-mm) aluminum-plate panels with a Kynar finish for the metal canopies, column covers and wall panels for the project. It took Linetec more than a year to paint the material for each shipment. The majority of the aluminum components were finished in a dark copper color using a Fluropon Classic II mica coating.
Located in a grove of trees, the hospital’s copper color was chosen to pick up the color of the leaves changing over time, according to Jim Davy, principal with BWBR. “Copper communicates transitions-from the new copper color to a patina.”
According to Wayne Ripienski, president of Armetex, Maple Grove, the installer, the architect took three pennies from his pocket-one new, one medium-aged and an old one- and the finish was matched to them.
Davy added: “This also helps represent the transition in health care and in getting better. The metallic color also offers a brightness and life when the sun hits it.”
In addition to complementing the natural environment, the exterior color palette also reflects the neighboring ambulatory care center and medical office building, with design cues and colors continuing throughout the facility’s interior.
The new hospital broke ground in the summer of 2007. By the next summer itsexterior began to visibly emerge. “The product looks great on the hospital. It blends in with the building next door and ties in nicely with the window system,” said Bruce Quam, president of D.J. Kranz Co., Plymouth, Minn., the general contractor.
“For the curving, special bends of the column covers and canopies, Quality Metalcrafts produced these and Linetec painted them to match,” Ripienski said.
Quality Metalcrafts manufactured and delivered the canopies, column covers and specialty panels in phases to accommodate the project’s construction schedule. “Oneeighth-inch, aluminum-plate panels were th best choice for this project. There were design challenges on the segmented canopy that required intricate layout from both the field and manufacturing [teams],” said Quality Metalcrafts President Mike Wallace. “In addition, the project’s success depended on the panels to be finished in several releases. Through a cooperative effort, Linetec was able to paint the various releases and maintain color consistency throughout the project.”
Maple Grove Hospital, Maple Grove, Minn.
Developers: North Memorial Health Care,
Robbinsdale, Minn., and Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis
General contractor: D.J. Kranz Co. Inc., Plymouth, Minn.
Architect: BWBR Architects, St. Paul, Minn.
Installer: Armetex Inc., Maple Grove
Metal canopies, column covers and panels: Quality Metalcrafts LLC, Rogers, Minn., www.qmcrafts.com
Finisher: Linetec, Wausau, Wis., www.linetec.com
