Article by Fremont Latimer, PLA, Marquis Latimer + Halback, Inc. | Landscape Architect | To view the original article, click here.
The Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower – which opened in April 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida – was designed to set the standard for pediatric and neonatal health care. The new, seven-story, state-of-the-art building serves as the entryway to Baptist Health’s downtown campus and houses five floors of pediatric care, pediatric intensive care, cardiovascular intensive care, neuro-intensive care, a neonatal intensive care center, and a specialized burn and wound unit.
The Overall Objective
The focus was on crafting the patient experience – from their arrival at the auto court, to their stay in the tower, to their departure. The young patients are often facing life-threatening conditions and will be in the facility for weeks at a time. As designers, Marquis Latimer + Halback, Inc. (ML+H) were charged with helping create a healing environment for children.
ML+H has a long-standing relationship with the Baptist Health System and was brought on to the Borowy Tower project in 2018 as the Landscape Architects. They worked on concept development through the completion of construction, all of which was part of the “Hope Starts Here” campaign – a $60 million project designed to deliver integrated critical care to the gravest ill and injured children in the surrounding areas and elsewhere.
Creating the Foundation
During the planning stages, the design and construction teams attended multiple design charrettes to craft an overall vision. Early on, a theme of “light and hope” was selected, which pervaded both the interior and exterior design.
The visual effect of the building and its surrounding property is designed to be apparent from a distance as well as from up close. It is a high-tech, high-touch structure bursting with art and science, including five commissioned pieces headlined by “Aethereal,” a reflecting light piece by artist Soo Sunny Park that hangs in the atrium.
Illuminating the Results
Just after sunset, the building bursts with light. A six-story, animated, projection-mapping design plays over the metal-skinned panels. The effect blends three-dimensional animation with live-action video and is visible from Interstate 95 that runs adjacent to the new building. In the center of the site is a large precast sculpture designed by ML+H and local sculptor David Engdahl called “Guiding Star.”
The radial design features precast concrete fins in a bright white finish with lengths varying from 13′ to 40′. Narrow, 10-degree flood lights point inward at a color temperature of 6,000K to form a star pattern over the dark exposed aggregate concrete while wide-angle 3,000K flood lights point outward to make the precast concrete glow with a warm, diffuse light. This vivid, optimistic-themed sculpture is visible from all the patient rooms situated above it.
Inserting Effervescence
The “light and hope” theme carries through to the small details. For example, materials and products were selected to add sparkle to the site. A seat wall and series of cast-in-place concrete walls have a finish that mimics a natural stone appearance, with – important to this project – mica flakes in the mix that reflects light and flashes in the sunlight.
Similarly, the paving stones selected for the project are from Wausau Tile’s Aurora line. The aggregate used in these pavers contains “glitter rock,” which when bathed with light creates an effect similar to what you would see if the surface were sprinkled with actual glitter.
The high-end finishes are carried through to the site furniture as well. The entryway is flanked by groupings of planters from Landscape Forms’ Kornegay Quartz Series. The creative spark for the series came from colored quartz crystals that designer Larry Kornegay received from his father. “I loved how most [quartzes] had six sides,” Kornegay explains, “and with each one-sixth of a rotation, they looked completely different. This is the quality I wanted the Quartz Series to have.”
The planters feature six faceted sides of intersecting planes. As the sun moves across the site, the planes of the planters shift from shade to light and create an interesting contrast. Twig benches serve as the primary seating element and are cast in white to match the precast sculpture and contrast with the dark grey of the exposed aggregate concrete.
Bringing Hope
“It is an honor to be a part of this important initiative for our community, knowing the impact it will have on children’s lives for many years to come,” enthused Roseann Duran, campaign chair of Hope Starts Here.
Fremont Latimer, PLA, the project design lead for ML+H, calls the project “A place where significant memories are created. The design of this space will feature large in the stories of the families and children that are there. We are proud to be a part of it and to help make this a place where healing can happen.”
TEAM LIST
Landscape Architecture: Marquis Latimer + Halback
Architecture: The Haskell Company
Engineering: England-Thims & Miller, Inc.
MEP Engineering: TLC Engineering Solutions
Structural Engineering: O’Donnell & Naccarato
Construction Management: DPR Construction
Construction Management: Perry-McCall Construction
Projection Mapping: Castaño Group
Hardscape Contractor: BrightView
Landscape Contractor: Sun State Nursery & Landscaping