Collaborative Care
"We shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us.” - Winston Churchill
Rarely do we see that assertion so clearly played out as in the new George Brown College Waterfront Health Sciences Campus in Toronto, by Stantec Architecture / Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, Architects in Joint Venture. Opened in September 2012, the philosophical basis for the "shaping" of this seven-storey, 47,000m2 integrated vertical campus can be traced directly back to the findings of the 2002 Romanow Commission. Entitled "Building on Values: The Future of Healthcare in Canada," the Commission’s report included among its recommendations that, to improve both the efficiency of service, and the quality of outcomes, the delivery of healthcare services should move to a team-based, patient-centred approach. With respect to healthcare education, Romanow wrote, “If healthcare providers are expected to work together and share expertise in a team environment, it makes sense that their education and training should prepare them for this type of working arrangement.”
The result of this directive is that the healthcare system in Ontario has begun to move from a fragmented system of disparate medical functions to an integrated delivery model of care. Recognizing that changing the way health providers are educated and trained is key to achieving this systemic change, George Brown College required that the design of the new campus manifest the concept of Inter-Professional Education [IPE]. Gaining momentum in many service sectors, IPE refers to the approach where students from two or more professions, learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration, and so improve both service and outcomes. Accordingly the program for the new facility consolidates George Brown’s schools of Dental Health, Health and Wellness, and Health Services Management, which were previously dispersed across three of the College’s Toronto campuses. The new Waterfront Campus can accommodate 3,500 students and 500 faculty involved in a variety of in-house, community and outreach programs.
The program organization informs the architectural expression of the building. The composition is anchored on the west side by a multi-storey rectangular volume containing classrooms, practice laboratories and academic offices. To the east, a three-storey, highly transparent glass podium has retail, food services, clinics, student amenity space and an auditorium. A two-storey Learning Commons cantilevers above the podium at the south-east corner, its roof a landscaped terrace with views of Lake Ontario. On the north-east corner, the trapezoidal profiles of two lecture theatres break free of the facade to float above the podium. Entering the building, one is immediately struck by the scale and variety of the facility’s public spaces which occupy almost 40% of the program area. The lobby takes the form of a multi-storey atrium, its many activities and events engaging onlookers from the floors above. The lobby also connects to the cafeteria, both spilling out when desired to the waterfront walkway.
Throughout the building, the public spaces are designed to promote informal interaction and collaboration, most notably the "learning landscapes" which take the form of broad flights of stepped seating,and the narrow gallery on the second floor with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Lake Ontario. Academic spaces encourage the same kind of collaboration. The traditional library has been replaced with a "Learning Commons" that comprises a variety of spaces. These range from individual silent study areas to small meeting rooms with A/V monitors, which allow groups of students to work collaboratively. Lecture theatres are designed with two rows of seats on each tier, enabling those in the first row to turn round and work with those behind; and the "regular" classrooms have no defined orientation, with smart boards on each wall and easily reconfigurable seating.
The campus also houses a number of state-of-the-art "living laboratories," including a Simulation Practice Centre, and Wellness, Applied Research and Visionary Education [WAVE] - a group of clinics where students are able to develop new models of care and practice skills learned in the classroom. These include a fully fitted apartment in which students can practice homecare skills - including cooking healthy meals under the supervision of the Nutrition department; and a fully equipped hospital ward complete with remotely activated patient simulators, capable of responding to practicing students at the bedside. The design prioritizes the essential principles of sustainability, including maximum exposure to fresh air, natural light, and views; access to public transit and alternative modes of transportation; and a commitment to building for the long term. Among other initiatives, the project provides over 300 bicycle stalls, a 30% reduction in water usage, and 40% energy savings from ASHRAE 90.1. Vegetated roofs and a rain water storage cistern help control the rate of stormwater discharge. There is even a custom ceramic frit pattern on the glazing of the podium which is designed to discourage migratory birds from flying into it. Facilitated in no small part by the architecture of the building, programs at the new George Brown waterfront campus prepare graduates for a new and integrated form of healthcare practice, where all professions work effectively and efficiently together. Beyond the now familiar quantitative aspects of sustainable design, this project promises to foster a more collaborative and sustainable approach to healthcare that will benefit generations of Canadians to come.
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Photos 1) George Brown Waterfront Campus - viewed from the east. Photo: Tom Arban Photography
2) The lobby/atrium is the social heart of the building with ground level activities visible from above. Photo: Maris Mazullis
3) "The learning landscapes" foster informal collaboration between students and faculty, or students of different disciplines. Photo: Maris Mazulis
4) Nursing students interact with high fidelity infant mannequin in the Simulation Practice Centre. Photo: Richard Johnson