About the project

PFB worked with the University of Chicago Medicine to create a two suite, 18,000 SF outpatient clinic, located at SouthGate Market, an existing shopping center in the South Loop.

The project boasts a Women’s Health Clinic, a Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Lab, a General Care Clinic, and Orthopedic Clinic. Included spaces are a state-of-the-art X-Ray Lab, Mammography Lab, REI Lab, & Echo Lab. The suites provide UCMC with a total 34 Exam Rooms, along with private Blood Draw rooms and separate UltraSound and Procedure Rooms. The project also provides UCMC with multiple consult rooms and private offices. Large wait areas and open space provide patients with a pleasant experience during their visit.

As a part of the design process, the project team held a multi-day 3P (production, preparation, process) event. The event took a LEAN approach to creating and testing potential space designs in order to optimize flow and value for the patient. “We want to get it right the first time,” said Theresa Quinn, executive director of ambulatory services. “Undergoing this process helped us to be more efficient and understand how to best serve our patients and ensure staff needs are met to provide the best experience.”

The new outpatient clinic – which employs more than 30 physicians, nurses, phlebotomists, medical assistants, and others – offers conveniences such as same-day appointments, onsite parking, self check-in kiosks, and easy access to public transportation. The South Loop site is UChicago Medicine's newest outpatient location, as the academic medical center seeks to respond to the growing demand for its services and extend into the south and southwest parts of Chicagoland and beyond.

About the project

This project involved removing the existing Linear Accelerator and replacing it with a Varian TrueBeam system. The project included installing new casework and finishes in the treatment room and control room. The second installation incorporated the Brain Lab Exact Trac Xray System which has only been installed in a handful of other facilities in the U.S.

Design Features
Prefabricated modular walls were placed on either side of the Stand and Gantry to hide the modulator and UPS after the Linear Accelerator was in place. This method freed the area around the frame during construction and was installed dust free.

About the project

The Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Lab at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital boasts sophisticated Toshiba equipment with real-time radiation dose tracking within a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary lab space.

PFB worked with Leopardo Construction to complete fast track design and construction in an unprecedented 5 ½ months. The project design utilized a 5-day Kaizen process to track the flow of physicians, clinicians, patients and supplies through the various procedures that will take place in the room. The Kaizen process allowed the design team to complete full construction documents in a 6-week timeframe.

The University was able to implement Lean practices for each part of the patient experience analyzing check-in, pre-op, procedure, post-op, and check-out for a variety of procedures.

About the project

Access Community Health Network is the nation’s largest federally-qualified health center network, and it provides high-quality, comprehensive, community-based health care for the under-served in the greater Chicago area. This $1.2M family health clinic is the 8,000 SF flagship treatment center for ACHN. This clinic provides a full continuum of care to its community while focusing mainly on OB/GYN and pediatric care.

The design team was challenged by ACHN to design the public lobby and restrooms to be attractive as well as durable. Even though the Cabrini Family Health Center is located in a low income area in Chicago, ACHN wanted the patients to have the feeling of quality healthcare once inside the health center by the use of quality materials that you could find in any suburban clinic.

Typical in renovated buildings, challenges with this older structure presented themselves during construction. The building had been given a new face lift 10 years prior, when a new elevator, stair, and facade were added to the building, but many of the code violations were not brought up to current standards. This project not only involved the interior renovation of the space but also included stabilizing the old wood joist floors on the first floor, removing the air handling equipment from the large-span wooden bowstring truss system on the roof, removing vacated stairwells, as well as numerous other improvements to accessibility and building egress.

About the project

This 4,510 SF, $1.2M HLA Laboratory project at the University of Chicago Medical Center involved the renovation of the existing Clinical Immunology laboratory in the sub-basement to make it more efficient. The scope of the project included installing new lab casework and adding additional storage units. The Transplant Immunology Lab was relocated to adjacent spaces to combine the two independent labs into a single suite with a shared Specimen Intake area. The Transplant Immunology and Immunogenetics Labs were consolidated from two separate rooms into the new single lab with a dedicated clean room and laminar fume hoods. This project also involved relocation of the Laboratory Information Services offices to the second floor of the Wyler Pavilion. This complex project required extensive coordination with users and vendors for equipment and lab casework design and installation. The project was completed in four phases in order to keep the current labs operational at all times.

About the project

The VA Joliet Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) is a multi-phased renovation project that relocates the existing Joliet Clinic to the former 60,000 SF Silver Cross Emergency Department Pavilion in Joliet, Illinois.

The first phase relocates and expands Primary Care, Mental Health, Women's Health, Telehealth, and Administrative functions to the new space. In order for the new Joliet CBOC to function as a standalone building, utilities were separated from the existing hospital, and a separate boiler plant was constructed to provide steam. The design team worked closely with the VA to meet an aggressive documentation schedule in order to achieve the clinic opening date.

The second phase of the project includes Radiology, Physical Therapy, Podiatry, Audiology, Respiratory, Eye Clinic, Pharmacy, and Lab. These additions provide a marked improvement in the level of care for area Veterans.

About the project

The project includes the renovation and expansion of 20,835 SF of existing 3^rd floor physician office space. The existing three-story medical office building was originally designed for an additional seven floors. New areas in the MOB 3^rd floor include:
- 18 Infusion Bays
- 4 Mammography Rooms
- 3 Ultrasound Rooms
- 3 Nurse Stations
- 2 Waiting Areas
- 18 Exam Rooms
- 1 Stereotactic Room
- 1 Procedure Room

About the project

Shanghai East International Medical Center is located four blocks southeast of the famed Jin Mao tower in Pudong. PFB Architects worked with design firm KaziaLi Design Collaborative and AEI Chicago for MEP and sustainability on the 24-story, 700,000 GSF replacement hospital project. The project is geared toward high-end healthcare service which embodies a "five-star" hospitality environment. The new hospital adds 400 inpatient beds to the existing 800. Twenty (20) state of the art operating rooms will also be added to the campus.

Like a body, our design is shaped by its physical environment and the constraints forced upon it. The site constraints and programmatic requirements, such as area and existing obstacles which can not be touched or overlooked, drive the form of the building. The building is shaped to reveal the complex nature of the programmatic and site requirements while providing exterior continuity with the existing hospital. The building becomes the “joint” linking the old and new hospital, providing functional and visual continuity between the two parts. The outside of the elbow faces the prominent urban corner of the site creating an identifiable image to the city. The inside of the elbow defines the internal campus space while working with the existing site circulation.

A central entry atrium has been added in the new hospital at the end of the concourse or public bypass connected to the existing atrium of the hospital. The concourse defines and segregates the public circulation and creates a new face to the existing hospital complex while providing identity to the individual components. From the new atrium the public realm continues to the clinical sky lobby that reaches the rooftop healing garden located on the existing hospital.

Recalling the operations of imaging, the ability to see within the body, the intelligent skin that incorporates principles of biomimicry has a large quantity of transparency revealing internal functions and structures.

The skin features a southwesterly solar wall that will power the critical loads of the Surgery floor and contain a back up battery system; areas of a double skin to lower mechanical loads; sun shades and light shelves to optimize day lighting opportunities; rooftop healing gardens to increase the humanizing experience while taking advantage of the insulating and water retention attributes; a waterfall which will create a memorable image and provide 15 to 20% of the cooling load capacity.

About the project

The new 259,000 SF Bed Tower is part of the master facilities planning study of this 720,000 square foot flagship hospital. The addition and renovation creates 150 new private beds, updates and replaces 48 Intensive Care Beds, and provides additional nursing units. As the Design Architect, PFB - in a joint effort with HDR - guided this project through the approval process by the Center for Health Design Research as a “Pebble Project.” This makes this project the first “Pebble” concept in the State of Illinois to receive a “Certificate of Need” approval.

About the project

The Loretto ICU Renovation addresses the Nurse Station, Patient Rooms, and Support Areas of the outdated and unwelcoming existing department. New finishes and millwork improve the aesthetics and atmosphere of the space to one more conducive to healing. New lighting fixtures increase lighting levels and, along with new finishes, create a comfortable environment for the family within the patient room and the unit. Improvements to the Nurse Station lead to an increase in functionality and overall staff satisfaction with their workplace.