Veterans Healthcare Medical Center

The SLVHCS Replacement Medical Center Project created an environment that honored veterans and their families. As a model for the future of healthcare, it set new standards for patient-centered care, flexibility, and sustainability. The new campus respected the surrounding neighborhoods, authentically reflected the culture of the region, and became a cornerstone for the emerging bioscience industry in New Orleans.

The exterior architecture employed strategies that built upon the nation’s tradition of great civic architecture: enduring materials, gracious canopies and overhangs, and vertical orientation of the facades. These attributes, deployed at the scale of the project, positioned it as one of the most prominent works of civic architecture in the region. As a result, the buildings became more than a hospital – they became a living monument to the Veterans they served.

Courtyards and gardens were interwoven throughout the facility, allowing 33% of the program spaces to be within fifteen feet of a day-lit exterior wall, providing access and abundant views of the landscape outside. The campus courtyards were designed for a range of experiences from open and communal to private and introspective.

TRANSITIONAL LIVING & REHABILITATIVE BUILDING – VETERANS HEALTHCARE MEDICAL CENTER

The transitional living component of the TLRMP building was a hybrid of clinical care and community living. The design strategies blended the clinical palette developed throughout the campus with a more residential tone that encouraged comfort, healing, and a sense of belonging. Transitional living engaged with other departments of the building and the campus at large through the main street component of facilities on the first floor, as well as with third-floor roof gardens that overlooked the Banks Street corridor.

On the second and third floors, patient rooms were grouped into pods of ten beds that functioned as individual houses with distinct community living areas and easily accessible caregiver and support spaces. Each pod had a “front porch” presence along the central corridor, serving the dual purpose of a front door entry and a place for family members to find respite from the clinical process. Courtyards flanked the corridor, providing abundant natural light and views of the sky, perceptually opening up the interior to the outside. These same courtyards formed the light-filled center of each pod, offering direct access to exterior spaces.