Location
  • Edson, AB
Client
  • Alberta Infrastructure
Completion
2016
Size
  • 19,696 sq m
  • 212,005 sq ft
Sustainability
  • LEED® Silver certified
Collaborators
  • Burnstad Consulting
  • ISL Engineering
  • Kom Lynn Associates
  • MMM Group
  • RMC Resource Management Consultants
  • Stuart Olson Construction
DIALOG Services
  • Architecture
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Interior Design
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Planning & Urban Design
  • Structural Engineering
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Designed to feel more like a home than a hospital, the Edson Healthcare Centre (EHC) is a full service rural healthcare facility located in the Canadian Rockies foothills. The Centre significantly improves both access and quality of care in the community by consolidating services for community health and wellness, primary care, and acute care. EHC includes emergency, diagnostic imaging and laboratory, surgical suites, inpatient care units, ambulatory care, long term care, and a physicians’ clinic.

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There’s been a dramatic shift to a model of care that stresses the wellbeing of the patients and staff. Here, the design is functional, intuitive, and feels welcoming in a way that is refreshing.
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Set in the low-lying lands that stretch between the Rocky Mountains and Edmonton, inspiration was drawn from the healing offerings of the town’s surrounding environment.
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The building takes advantage of its sloping site with a two-level design which allows for intuitive wayfinding as well as daylight to flow throughout all levels.
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EHC is a hospital you won’t get lost in. The design team simplified navigation with intuitive wayfinding through thoughtful planning and visual connections to the outdoors.
edson healthcare centre design window view
Large windows bring the outdoors in and infuses the space with an abundance of light. A two-storey glass wall runs along the ‘Main Street’ corridor that branches off to main areas of the hospital.
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Patient rooms and corridors are arranged to take advantage of views into the courtyard and the magnificent outdoors, alleviating some of the stress that can come from hospital stays.
edson healthcare centre design hallway art
Each room has a large, operable picture window, providing a chance for patients to control their natural ventilation and have a visual connection to the outdoors where it is common to see wildlife.
edson healthcare centre design art
Photographs of nearby nature from the Edson Photography Club add a sense of home. Strategically placed art helps with wayfinding and offers moments of retreat and reflection.
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It’s a refreshing departure from a typically cold and sterile healthcare environment. In long-term care, individual curio cabinets outside every room allow patients to add their personal touch.
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At EHC, the long-term care beds are organized into three 16-bed residential units to feel more like neighborhoods in a community.
edson healthcare centre design courtyard4
A central courtyard creates a comforting micro-climate that provides relief from prevailing winds off the Rockies. Physiotherapy and rehab patients can use the courtyard paths as part of treatment.
edson healthcare centre design cladding
Wood cladding on the exterior of the hospital is a nod to the community's thriving timber industry.

Meet The Team

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With the windows, the natural light and the view of nature, it actually advances one's overall health, and the science is there to support it. So it’s impressive when you can actually use physical infrastructure to support health and to get people healthier quicker.
Dr. Kevin Worry, North Zone Medical Director for Alberta Health Services

Awards

2017 Award of Merit - Sustainable Design, Consulting Engineers of Alberta

2017 Special Mention - Collaboration, Healthcare Design Showcase

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