PROVIDENCE HEALTH PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTERS, Renton, Wash.
RETROFIT TEAM
ARCHITECT: JRJ Architects LLC
MATERIALS
The building’s ease-of-use and efficiency goals extend from its layout to its design features, starting with one of the most frequently traversed thoroughfares—the doors. Often overlooked, doors can provide a key element to optimizing a space while supporting occupant comfort. Providence Health and JRJ Architects specified AD Systems’ Exam-Slide sliding door system because it is designed to meet the needs of today’s health-care facilities. The flush wood doors’ precision-engineered and impact-resistant framing slides along a top-hung roller system for a smooth operation.
Because sliding doors eliminate a door’s swing path, they inherently maximize square footage. This, in turn, helped JRJ Architects create exam rooms that maximize usable space and are more accessible to align with PacMed’s patient- focused health-care philosophy.
“Providence Health uses a lot of doors in our clinic applications. We learned these barn doors save 10 square feet per exam room because they require no swing clearance, so we standardized on their use,” says Erin Couch, the director of Architectural Standards and Design at Providence Health.
“Clients often want more exam rooms,” adds Jason Mullavey from JRJ Architects. “ExamSlide’s space-saving design effectively gave us an extra exam room for every 11 we had planned by eliminating the traditional door swing into the room.”
From an administrative perspective, more rooms facilitate easier appointment scheduling
for staff. It also reduces time spent in the waiting area, both of which create an environment focused on occupant comfort. In addition, the added space in each room allows for exam rooms to hold more essential items. Lastly, the sliding doors do not require an approach clearance. From a patient’s perspective, this makes self-rooming easier.
The interior sliding door system features standardized hardware, which simplifies the design process. As Couch states, “Hardware can be difficult and challenging to specify for health-care projects. There are many operational and opening-width requirements to juggle. A clean and easy-to-use standard removes the guesswork from specifying a door.” This unified approach helps ensure the door fits all building-code requirements, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, and lowers the possibility of having to redo door specification.
It also simplifies facility care. All door handles, closing devices and wrap-around frames are built with long-lasting, commercial-grade components. In the unlikely event that a door should need adjustment, the standardized hardware ensures any maintenance will be straightforward.
The 52 doors used at Pacific Medical Centers are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, ensuring the doors’ materials come from responsibly managed forests.
SLIDING DOORS MANUFACTURER: AD Systems
THE RETROFIT
In 2022, Pacific Medical Centers moved into Providence Health’s Gately-Ryan Building. The new location is closer to downtown Renton and provides greater accessibility to PacMed’s world-class health care. Outside, patients can easily enter the three large, free parking lots from multiple streets. Inside, the all-first-floor clinic provides a modern self-check-in system and expanded access to physical therapy services and a cardiovascular lab. These amenities provide a more positive patient experience by making medical center visits easier and more efficient.
PHOTO: AD Systems