Ronald M. Lusting, AIA, ISCH, Principal Design Architect

THE NEW ONE NINETEEN HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER

INTRODUCES THE NORTHERN ALABAMA TO AN AL-ENCOMPASSING HEALTHCARE APPROACH

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ONE NINETEEN HEALTH

Ronald M. Lustig, AIA, ISHC, Principal Design Architect Ron Lustig serves as a principal design architect of ESa. While his areas of specialization are in corporate office projects and hospitality and entertainment venues, his extensive experience also includes design and master planning of healthcare, retirement, retail and educational facilities.

and WELLNESS CENTER features SPA SERVICES

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nder the umbrella of Birmingham's St. Vincent's Health System, the new One Nineteen Health and Wellness facility introduces the northern Alabama area to an all-encompassing healthcare approach. The Center houses the only integrated medical and holistic healthy lifestyle program in this region. The program promotes health and well being in all aspects of a person's life through education, fitness, diagnostic services and related programs. In addition to the spa, there are five other program components housed in the facility: diagnostics, rehabilitation, wellness, fitness and physicians’ offices.

Earl Swensson Associates(ESa), a 45-year-old firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, served as the Center's architect and interior designer.

Health Fitness Dynamics (HFD), a leading international spa consulting firm of Pompano Beach, Florida, served as the spa and fitness consultant. HFD provided feasibility analysis, start-up budgets, programmed pieces of equipment for both the spa and fitness area, identified types of treatment to be offered by the spa and worked with the design team through design development.

Since joining ESa in 1976, he has served as design architect and project coordinator for many of the firm’s largest corporate office buildings with flexible work spaces geared toward high productivity and efficiency, state-of-the-art technology, training rooms and meeting spaces.

The 154,645-square-foot center provides services to diagnostics patients and also individual members, who can join the fitness center for the benefits of the well-rounded program and highly skilled staff professionals. A curving lobby enables simplified wayfinding, allowing easy accessibility from the center’s main entry. The curved corridor design leads guests to the spa and fitness areas to the left and to rehabilitation and diagnostic services to the right.

During a nine-month process, the project team and several committees from St.Vincent's Hospital intensely studied and evaluated similar facilities around the country in an effort to determine the best solution for the Birmingham community.

They examined the potential benefits that a wellness and fitness center would provide, and their findings showed that having wellness integrated with healthcare in one facility supports healthy living and provides long term preventative care.

Selected Project Experience Spas & Wellness Centers • The Broadmoor Hotel renovation and Spa, Colorado Springs, CO • The Hotel Hershey & Hershey Spa, Hershey, PA • Malliouhana Hotel Spa, Meads Bay, Anguilla, British West Indies • St. Vincent's One Nineteen Health and Wellness Center, Birmingham, AL

Photo: Scott McDonald © Hedrich Blessing

Photo: Vince Wallace

THE NEW ONE NINETEEN HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER

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HOUSES THE ONLY INTEGRATED MEDICAL AND HOLISTIC HEALTHY LIFESTYLE PROGRAM IN THE REGION

DESIGN TAKES WELLNESS APPROACH

Photo: Vince Wallace

Photo: Scott McDonald Š Hedrich Blessing

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integrates the facility into its surroundings.We tried to be sensitive to the surrounding residential neighborhood," says Ron Lustig,AlA, ESa's principal who led the design of the center.As many as possible of the site's approximately 100-foot pine trees were retained during the center's construction. Parking medians with bio-swales incorporate rocks and plantings that thrive in wet conditions to filter parking water run-off before soaking into the ground.

rom site selection to material applications, this health and wellness center incorporates natural healing elements throughout the design, including an abundance of natural light through generous glass curtainwalls, textures and soothing colors. "The interior finishes subtlely play off natural textures," says Sarah Woodard, IIDA, ASID, ESa's interior designer of the center.

"Wallcoverings and tiles used throughout are textured.

Another example is the use of wood flooring in the spa areas. To continue a seamless, spa-like integration to the other areas, a wood-look vinyl flooring was used in the physical therapy treatment rooms and in diagnostics spaces."

Efficiencies Incorporated One of the most difficult design challenges in the center project was the creation of functional adjacencies. The success of combining multiple services into one cohesive facility without any perceived division depended upon strong functional relationships. For example, the locker area serves the spa, fitness, pool and rehabilitation guests, all at the same time. Both the fitness and rehabilitation programs use the same equipment, and one registration desk serves both of these departments.

Likewise, the center respects its natural setting and neighborhood to convey a total message of wellness to the community. The landscaping's natural approach

"Though the center's integration of design and cross-training of its personnel, there are no bottlenecks or waiting back-ups of the center's patrons," explains Lustig.

By multi-functioning areas of the facility, square footage and redundancy were reduced, which allows sharing of staff between services.

Direct connections from each area allow fitness members and patients alike to utilize the entire facility without having to create separate areas for each service.

THE NEW ONE NINETEEN HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER

HOSPITALITY APPROACH UTILIZED

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circular monumental stair and cardio theater is the center's organizing element. Various programs emanate from this central axis point, which also serves as an anchor for the oval three-lane indoor track form that connects all areas of the fitness center. The track form creates a curving lobby, enabling departments to be seen and accessed from the main entry for simplified wayfinding.

The curving lobby allows all departments to be seen and easily accessed from the center's main entry as it ties all the departments together visually. Designed with a hospitality approach, the lobby creates one central entry for the entire facility where fitness members and patients are greeted as guests from

HAVE FOUR OTHER PROGRAM COMPONENTS HOUSED IN THE CENTER: DIAGNOSTICS, REHABILITATION, WELLNESS & FITNESS the moment they enter. When needed, escorts are provided to assist the guests to their desired areas. The curved corridor design leads guests to the spa and fitness areas to the left and rehab and diagnostic services to the right.

As guests enter, they can immediately see the activity and energy of the fitness area, the heart of the facility, through glass walls behind the reception desk.

Over 8,300 square feet are devoted to the spa, which includes 11 treatment rooms, nail care facilities and a private suite for body treatment therapy that includes a wet treatment room. A special entrance for medi-spa services is provided for guests who have sensitive needs and desire privacy. Completing the program are a combination library/lounge, juice bar and a community education room with a demonstration kitchen providing wellness and nutrition classes.

The monumental stair with a cardio theater highlights the 15,000-square-foot open-plan rehabilitation and fitness area and is equipped with 28 flat LCD monitors. Surrounding the cardio theater are over 130 pieces of equipment, including free weights as well as three exercise studios, and a multi-purpose gym. The center also includes a sixlane lappool, therapy pool and whirlpool.

Breaking Stereotypes The diagnostic component of the center offers a variety of imaging services, including MRI, CT scans, ultrasound and digital mammography. New patients have the additional availability of a skilled staff and services for provision of whole body health assessments and complete, individualized programs developed specifically for their nutritional, fitness, diagnostic or rehabilitation needs.All of the center's services are provided in a calming spa setting. Breaking the traditional clinical stereotypes and providing a unified collection of services was a key goal of the design team.

“We feel that we have blended the best of medical and hospitality design for this amenityrich, high service facility. This center will set the standard for wellness and healthcare in our region."

To aid in accomplishing this goal, the designers incorporated elements to sooth the senses. Soft music is piped throughout the facility in a low-keyed manner. While the energy of the fitness area is immediately visible upon entrance to the facility, the design's curving forms and calming colors are visually pleasing. Textures of natural materials and indigenous colors, such as greens, ambers and copper, create a soothing palette that is carried from the exterior into the interior.

Architectural forms play against one another to express the functions within.

For instance, the oval form of the track plays against the rectilinear massing of the office building while creating a connection of all the center's functions.

Rough stone fin elements, monolithic brick forms and diaphanous glass walls combine harmoniously, to infuse the healing power of natural light while displaying the center's natural setting. Landscaping purposely accents the facility's exterior stone fin elements as it settles into its 35-acre setting.

The wellness approach of building design is consistent to the facility's true function.

"Our vision for One Nineteen Health and Wellness was of a truly patientcentered, healing environment. We feel that we have blended the best of medical and hospitality design for this amenity-rich, high service facility.

This center will set the standard for wellness and healthcare in our region," says Nan Priest, vice president, planning and marketing, St. Vincent's Hospital.

Photos: Scott McDonald Š Hedrich Blessing

EARL SWENSSON ASSOCIATES Interior Architecture Master Planning Space Planning 2100 West End Avenue Vanderbilt Plaza Nashville, Tennessee 37203 T: 615-329-9445 F: 615-329-0046 W: www.esarch.com

©MEDI CAL SPAS REVIEW • SEPTEMBER 2006