“University of Missouri Health Care is proud that our patient care tower has achieved LEED Gold certification,” said Mitch Wasden, chief executive officer and chief operating officer of MU Health Care, in a statement. “This recognition demonstrates our commitment to providing patient and family-centered care in a healing environment, as well as our dedication to our community by being good stewards of the environment.”

The tower includes six operating rooms, 25 pre-procedure rooms, 18 post-procedure rooms, 90 private patient rooms with smart room technology, a 7,000-square-foot inpatient pharmacy with robotics to automatically dispense medications, a 1,800-square-foot lounge for families of surgery patients and a new facility for Ellis Fischel Cancer Center outpatient services.

The north-south orientation of the patient tower maximizes scenic views and connections to nature, providing views to Missouri farmland. Additionally, more than 100,000 square feet of roof gardens are located on the north and south sides of the building. The 3,150-square-foot Brown Family Healing Garden, specifically designed to reduce stress in patients and staff, is visible from all floors and serves as a crossroads between the new tower and the main hospital.

“Medical research has shown that patients benefit from a healing environment that provides a comfortable environment with natural light and a connection to nature,” said Paul Dale, chief of surgical oncology at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and medical director of Ellis Fischel, in a statement. “Our achieving LEED Gold certification is a testament to our efforts to provide our patients with a state-of-the-art facility that puts our patients at the center of everything we do.”

MU Health Care originally sought simply LEED certification for the 310,500-square-foot addition, but HOK was able to exceed that goal and achieve a LEED Gold rating incorporating several green building techniques. HOK tied environmental systems into the University of Missouri’s existing biomass boiler, replacing a coal-burning boiler with one that burns hardwoods and wood waste to reduce the fossil fuel use of the campus by 25 percent. HOK also used locally sourced material, used a high-performance building skin, provided more efficient fixtures to reduce potable water use by 46 percent, used low VOC-emitting finish materials, and optimized natural light using high-efficiency glass.

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The 106,000-square-foot project will include new classrooms, science and vocational labs, band rooms and art studios.

With St. Louis-based S.M. Wilson as the general contractor and Ill.-based Wight & Company as the architect, the expansion will resemble the existing buildings, including its terrazzo floors and steps, and limestone accents.

A vocational lab will be located on the ground floor and in the basement, serviced by a freight elevator. The ceiling of the basement will feature sound and vibration controls to keep lab noise from disrupting activities on the first floor.

The first floor will include the fine arts program, featuring visual, instrumental and vocal arts classes. The second floor will house the social studies programs.

Designs for the school also include a vegetation area on the roof surrounded by a glass curtain wall to be cared for by students.

Three 20,000 gallon outside water harvesting tanks will also be located at the base of the building for rain collection and irrigation for the field behind the building.
    
Officials from the contracting firm expect the project to be completed in the fall of 2012.

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