Project Description

For 115 years Piedmont Atlanta Hospital has been caring for Atlantans and its new 16-story tower expands its capacity for the next century. The new Marcus Tower at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital will become the premier destination center in the Southeast for cardiovascular care and enable the expansion of neuro/stroke and transplant services. More than 1,000 people—including patients, staff, neighbors and expansion leadership—provided input on the project vision through workshops and advisory meetings. Phase 1 completes the tower and builds out 10 floors, then the additional six floors will be completed at one or two per year until final completion in 2026. Southern hospitality is not tangible, but is an attitude which has been ingrained in Southerners forever. It’s a feeling of being sincerely welcomed as a guest or a long, lost friend, a way of life that lets people be as warm as the climate. This attitude is the inspiration for the comfortable and welcoming interior environment in Piedmont’s new addition. The lobby features an expansive, light-filled, double-height space with a monolithic, wood ceiling extending to the exterior, inviting visitors, both into the space and creating a gathering place for the community in the outside plaza. The beautiful, beloved trees on the site were integral to the design, and the interior as a whole can be viewed as a cross-section of a tree--with walnut panels cladding the strong horizontal and vertical elements in the public space mimicking the bark and emerald green accents symbolizing the heartwood. Atlanta’s southern hospitality and charm also had a major influence on the project. The design team took care to create symbolic design language to emulate key elements of this culture. For example, visitors will notice an emphasis on portals, which is intended to symbolize the front porch, an Atlanta icon: relaxing in a rocking chair on a slow, hot day, sipping an ice-cold glass of sweet tea. Other details include a custom Shaw Contract area rug featured in the lounge which depicts an abstract veining pattern. The rug’s graphics symbolize life-giving energy transported in the venation of leaves, but it also serves as a metaphor for the human cardiovascular system. The motif could also be viewed as a birds-eye view of sprawling traffic circulation broken up by expanses of foliage, reflecting Atlanta’s well-earned nickname “the city of trees.” Piedmont Atlanta Hospital and HKS design teams also felt it extremely important to pay homage to the trees onsite that were so integral to the story of Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. During the visioning process a team, including an arborist, took inventory of the trees onsite to salvage the wood for special feature pieces planned in the new building. Over the course of 4 years, Skylar Morgan Furniture dried, milled, and designed custom pieces that would integrate the salvaged wood into live edge transaction tops at the reception desks and furniture pieces showcased in the lobby and plaza. Artwork throughout the space dubbed, “The Canopy of Care,” was a collaborative effort between the designers of HKS and the curators/graphic designers at Farmboy Fine Arts. The works are a thoughtful reflection on the culture of Atlanta and the history of the hospital itself. Visitors are greeted at the front door by a massive super-graphic wallcovering incorporating photography, taken by a member of hospital staff, of the celebrated trees on the site. Two large-scale, fine art originals are statement-making pieces in the lobby, creating an immersive and interactive viewing experience. The sculptural steel leaves by David Landis float off the entry super graphic and over the gift shop. Atlanta locals will find his work familiar as it is frequently showcased on the Atlanta BeltLine. The lenticular work by another well-known Atlanta artist, Derek Bruno, incorporates elements to play with light and concepts of color therapy, promoting a sense of wellness and eye-feasting interaction. Both featured artists have a personal connection with Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. Clinical spaces were not excluded from this comprehensive art and design package. The prep/recovery pods on the surgical floors typically named alphabetically were given an Atlanta neighborhood identifier to assist with wayfinding and give patients a sense familiarity in an often unfamiliar, and sometimes frightening, circumstance. On Level 01 there is Pod A for Ardmore Park, B for Brookwood Hills, C for Collier Hills, and D for Downtown. On Level 02 there is E for Edgewood, F for Five Points, G for Garden Hills, and H for Home Park. Each cross-corridor through the surgical floors has a custom graphic mural featuring a vintage map of the correlating neighborhood with an overlay of vintage botanical etchings that begin to crawl across the graphic and take over the map as you inch closer towards the Operating Suites. This biophilic imagery was carefully considered to support evidence-based design which is proven by research to create positive distraction and reduce pain levels for patients. These graphics also provide key wayfinding icons to assist the staff as they navigate the space. Visitors who study these graphics will find clever Easter eggs hidden throughout in “Where’s Waldo” fashion. For instance, the observant viewer will find a small heart shaped leaf over the hospital site on the corner of Collier and Peachtree in the Pod A - Ardmore Park Neighborhood map. As an over-arching concept, “The Canopy of Care” really comes to life as a vertical force through the tower. Each patient floor was named after an indigenous species of vegetation and are stacked through building as they would be in the forest. The art team researched species of native plants, curated originals, and created custom graphics that informed the color story of the unique species showcased on each floor. These color stories featured in the art informed the finishes for the furniture package, curated by Dekalb Office, and perfectly accent the neutral and timeless backdrop created by the design team. Perhaps the best work of art in the building is the expansive view of the city patients will have from their room in the tower showcased in the full glass curtain wall along the concave face of the building. The building itself wraps the city of Atlanta in a warm embrace and reminds the community that Piedmont Atlanta Hospital is truly the heart of the city.