Lancaster General Hospital

Heery International was faced with several challenges in designing the new 90,000 SF Duke Street Medical Office Building for Lancaster General Hospital.  First, the design had to respond to the surrounding historic fabric.  It also had to provide convenient access and clear circulation for patients.  It had to allow for efficient space layout on a long thin site.  Finally, it had to accommodate future planned growth on adjacent parcels.

Heery’s designers started with the plan for growth, revising the existing master plan to reflect the hospital’s current needs and proposed utilization for the site.  The design team then developed a transparent circulation spine, winding through and connecting all the portions of the project.  The spine is a glass bridge where it crosses Duke Street to the existing hospital.  The two-story bridge functions like a system of arteries and veins, with patients traveling from the MOB on the lower level and to the MOB on the upper level.  All along the circulation path, the designers made extensive use of glass to provide natural light and views and to help visitors orient themselves within the complex.

Heery’s response to the historic nature of surrounding neighborhood included preserving existing historic houses in some portions of the site and also designing the pedestrian bridge to be transparent, so it does not block the view up the existing historic Duke Street corridor.  The result is a first-class medical facility of which the hospital can be proud and which provides great benefits for the community.