UNC Rex Heart & Vascular Hospital

A focus on patient experience was the driving factor in all design decisions for this new Heart & Vascular Hospital for the UNC Health System. From the initial experience of the entry and main façade, down to the details of the patient room, the design embraces the visitor with openness and warmth while exuding strength and confidence. The gently curved façade incorporates lighting elements of a beacon, a generously uplit canopy, and a large light-framed open window onto the main waiting area revealing an interior of warmth. Lighting details for the patient room include a curved, soft-form light above the bed, a light-framed floating headboard, and a lower lighting element to double act as a night light. The materials chosen to provide warmth, strength and encourage a tactile, hands-on experience. Lighting to display and enhance these attributes included coordinated architectural installation details, studies for use of warmer color temperatures, and careful placement of light fixtures. Several detail and coordination meetings with the design team, as well as open and consistent communication with the construction team (even from afar), ensured the proper lighting effects. Two healing gardens are made even more comfortable at night with ample yet indirect lighting on the stone features. This serves to warm the light color, and allows one to appreciate aesthetic features and materials as the eye, and mind, are guided around the perimeter.