MONROE - Patients and visitors at Monroe Clinic's hospital addition may feel right at home when the four-level expansion opens near the end of March.
With most of the technology and energy-saving innovations now installed, the interior of the building is beginning to show its harmonious design elements reflecting Green County's architecture, culture and ecology.
Natural stone tiles from southern Illinois accentuate the fireplaces, elevators and chapel backdrop.
"Part of being a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design level) building, means bringing in materials from no more than 500 miles away," said Steve Borowski, director of facility services.
A never-ending palette of green, from misty tropical blues-greens to sages and mints, define the different areas of medical treatment and waiting areas.
Green and brown hues are also found in the carpet patterns, where the circular forms found in seed pods or copper cheese kettles sit beside the long flexible strands of natural grasses or reeds. Where vinyl floor covering is used, circular wooden designs mark the hallway intersections.
Associates of the design firm Kahler Slater developed the series of colors and patterns used throughout the facility, including the large frosted glass windows casting their design on the nearby chapel, according to Borowski.
"You will notice the curves, almost everywhere," Borowski said.
Waiting areas are not just for waiting in departments anymore; shared seating areas are dispersed throughout the facility, Borowski noted.
The first floor main entrance features two seating areas. One is near a two-story-high rain chain, which serves as a free-hanging waterfall, backed by tiered planters outside, and another looks out onto a circular roof top garden. Between the two spaces, visitors can get a "grab and go coffee" and a quick sandwich or browse the gift shop.
Spotlighted by ultra-violet LED lights, the rain chain ends in a 4-inch deep, tiled pool, accessible from the floor below. The LED lights provide no heat; the water is chilled to a cool 68 degrees; and a water quality monitoring system automatically treats the water chemically, like a swimming pool, to prevent the growth of bacteria.
"We wanted to make sure we took out any of the risks," Borowski said.
The second-floor chapel has its own water feature: A small fall made of the natural stone and copper in the chapel entrance, and just outside the entrance, the shape of large individual hanging lights echoing the rain drops motif. The chapel also has its own roof top garden, which is accessible by new mothers in the birthing wing.
The top-floor cafeteria's outdoor dining area has been "capped" with a redwood pergola, a shaded sitting area of vertical double posts supporting cross- beams. From here, diners can see the west side of the city and the church steeples downtown. A fireplace invites them inside on colder days.
In keeping with the LEED certification, Monroe Clinic encourages visitors to refill their water bottles from any of the sensor activated, filtered water drinking coolers, specially designed to accommodate bottles, everywhere in the building.
"We would like to get away from selling water bottles," Borowski said. "It's the right thing to do."
All four levels of the new hospital are connected to the clinic. Construction began in the fall of 2009.
With most of the technology and energy-saving innovations now installed, the interior of the building is beginning to show its harmonious design elements reflecting Green County's architecture, culture and ecology.
Natural stone tiles from southern Illinois accentuate the fireplaces, elevators and chapel backdrop.
"Part of being a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design level) building, means bringing in materials from no more than 500 miles away," said Steve Borowski, director of facility services.
A never-ending palette of green, from misty tropical blues-greens to sages and mints, define the different areas of medical treatment and waiting areas.
Green and brown hues are also found in the carpet patterns, where the circular forms found in seed pods or copper cheese kettles sit beside the long flexible strands of natural grasses or reeds. Where vinyl floor covering is used, circular wooden designs mark the hallway intersections.
Associates of the design firm Kahler Slater developed the series of colors and patterns used throughout the facility, including the large frosted glass windows casting their design on the nearby chapel, according to Borowski.
"You will notice the curves, almost everywhere," Borowski said.
Waiting areas are not just for waiting in departments anymore; shared seating areas are dispersed throughout the facility, Borowski noted.
The first floor main entrance features two seating areas. One is near a two-story-high rain chain, which serves as a free-hanging waterfall, backed by tiered planters outside, and another looks out onto a circular roof top garden. Between the two spaces, visitors can get a "grab and go coffee" and a quick sandwich or browse the gift shop.
Spotlighted by ultra-violet LED lights, the rain chain ends in a 4-inch deep, tiled pool, accessible from the floor below. The LED lights provide no heat; the water is chilled to a cool 68 degrees; and a water quality monitoring system automatically treats the water chemically, like a swimming pool, to prevent the growth of bacteria.
"We wanted to make sure we took out any of the risks," Borowski said.
The second-floor chapel has its own water feature: A small fall made of the natural stone and copper in the chapel entrance, and just outside the entrance, the shape of large individual hanging lights echoing the rain drops motif. The chapel also has its own roof top garden, which is accessible by new mothers in the birthing wing.
The top-floor cafeteria's outdoor dining area has been "capped" with a redwood pergola, a shaded sitting area of vertical double posts supporting cross- beams. From here, diners can see the west side of the city and the church steeples downtown. A fireplace invites them inside on colder days.
In keeping with the LEED certification, Monroe Clinic encourages visitors to refill their water bottles from any of the sensor activated, filtered water drinking coolers, specially designed to accommodate bottles, everywhere in the building.
"We would like to get away from selling water bottles," Borowski said. "It's the right thing to do."
All four levels of the new hospital are connected to the clinic. Construction began in the fall of 2009.