An Outpatient Center Designed for Community Access

The Advocate Outpatient Center consolidates a group of smaller medical practice sites into a larger, highly visible facility. The strategy encompassed an enhanced patient experience, improved operational efficiency, greater technological capability, and a sustainable outpatient model for the future.

Situated in a clearing on a prominent wooded site, the building serves as both a new gateway to the medical campus and a bridge to the community. The new facility was carefully planned around a pristine existing site context to preserve mature trees and natural site features.

The Advocate Outpatient Center is one in a series of new Advocate clinics. The branded design was the result of deeply immersive workshops involving a large cross section of stakeholders, with the end goal of providing convenient access to care anytime, anywhere, for the communities served. This facility design is adaptable, expandable and flexible.

Key features of the Advocate Medical Group Outpatient Center include:

• The building is composed of a series of tectonic planes that slide, fold and float in order to define space, let in daylight and frame views of the surrounding natural landscape. Materials assigned to each plane were informed by the local context including precast materials, brick and aluminum, recalling the buildings of the existing hospital and downtown.
• Working closely with contractors and fabricators, these ordinary and ubiquitous suburban materials were elevated using simple techniques such as subtle brick projections, amplified by the sun, and precast concrete masonry units of varying aggregate colors and sizes, derived within the limitations of standard fabrication methods.
• A cantilevered metal and wood-clad canopy begins a spatial sequence by defining a landscaped courtyard space with seating that visitor’s pass-through to enter the building.
• Inside, a composition of wall and ceiling planes comprised of wood, glass and natural stone define north-facing waiting areas that lead to seven clinic modules, conference rooms and the surgery center.
• Minimal custom signage continues the planar language and subtly provides and intuitive and calming patient experience.
• Recognizing the link between healthy environments and healthy communities, the design team’s approach celebrated this commitment with elements such as an outdoor courtyard with native plantings open to the public, daylighting and views to the landscape from all public spaces, art that includes images of the local community, and a gallery space to display work from local artists and students in the area.