Rapides Regional Medical Center
New Patient Tower & Interiors Upgrade
Alexandria, Louisiana
Project Facts
Location: Alexandria, Louisiana
Size: 128,000 SF New Const.
65,000 SF Finish Upgrades
Market: Healthcare
Services: Planning & Programming, Architecture, Interiors
Scope: Patient Tower Addition, Interior Design, Interior Master Plan
In 2006, Gould Turner Group completed a 128,000 SF expansion and renovation project for Rapides Regional Medical Center. The project opened in 2008. It entailed the renovation of the hospital’s clinical laboratory, as well as added a new four-story tower of 72 medical/surgical beds, 26 critical care beds, and 26 ED positions. The project increased the facility’s licensed bed count by 42 beds, bringing the new total to 314 beds. As part of the project, State Highway 1208 was rerouted around the facility, facilitating a land purchase from the state that provided the hospital with the necessary acreage for the addition.
In 2010, the hospital asked Gould Turner Group to return to the facility to develop an interiors master plan and to transform their outdated four-story atrium lobby into a dynamic space that celebrated women and children. Bright, bold colors were brought in through serpentine patterns in the floor, fabrics used on furniture, and coordinating art pieces to liven up the atrium. According to GTG’s interior designer for the project, “We used those bright colors in the main lobby area just because it was such a large space. As you go into the building and go back into the women’s area, those areas have a more adult feel to them.” The overall use of color in the lobby was an intentional piece of the design plan, an effort to reduce patient stress and provide a positive distraction. “This harkens to the fact that hospitals are becoming more and more a place for wellness and less and less a place for just illness. That’s really a transformation that the healthcare industry has undergone overall, and I think this project responds very well to that,” says GTG’s president, Linda Marzialo.
Photography by Creative Sources Photography, Inc.
Published in a 2011 issue of Healthcare Design Magazine, “Bringing Rejuvenation to the Renovation”
Used floor patterns throughout large atrium to aid in way finding for patients and families.
Successful use of colors, patterns and materials to achieve the client’s goal of transforming an outdated lobby to an uplifting space of positive distractions and wellness, celebrating women and children.
Littlejohn Engineering, Civil Engineers
TRCWW, Structural Engineers
ccrd, MPE Engineers
DPR, Contractor
