HKS Architects, Inc., Santa Monica, CA, in conjunction with Karly Tremblay, president of Squaw Peak Design Associates, Phoenix, AZ, had a double mission in designing the Maternity & Child Health Center in Yuma, AZ. The two-story, 65,000-square-foot center is an addition to the Yuma Regional Medical Center campus and houses maternity on the first floor, pediatrics on the second. As an addition, the designers wanted the center to complement the architecture of the existing buildings, as well as blend with the desert terrain.

According to Michael Rogers, AIA, senior designer at HKS, the campus had a wide range of architectural character. The design team studied that range to pinpoint the strongest features. Then, they set about designing the center so to complement, if not mimic, those features, yet have an identity of its own that would make it easily recognizeable to patients and their families.

Possibly the strongest characteristic they chose to copy was the arcade, or arched walkway, that connects the east and west wings of the campus. The feature is exhibited on the exterior of the new center as copper roofed arches that leap between windows on the first floor of the building and top windows on the second floor. Copper was selected because it so obviously ages and weathers, as do many materials in the desert. Windows on the second floor pediatric unit also have a criss-cross of copper with a red ball in the center. This exterior element adds a touch of playful interest to a view that is mostly of the horizon.

To better withstand the sun and heat, an exterior insulated finishing system, or EIFS, was selected for the exterior walls. The designers wanted the look of stucco, says Rogers, which was the material used on buildings throughout the rest of the campus. However, they also wanted a material that was stronger and would show less cracking.

Finally, the designers used wood trellis elements made of natural cedar to connect the center to the radiology center, which actually is located adjacent to the main campus. Placed above windows on the first floor, the wood trellis helps shade the sun and serves as a connector between arches.

Exterior/Interior Finishes
In designing the lobby of the center, Rogers and Tremblay carried the use of copper from the exterior to the interior. Signage above both the information and registration desks are made of a patinaed copper.

"The first point of contact when one enters the center is at the information desk," says Rogers. "Then, directly across the open lobby is the registration desk with its admitting cubicles. We made the steps from one spot to the other very simple, so there wouldn't be any confusion added to what might already be a stressful day."

While the lobby is open to the second floor, both the information and registration areas have lowered ceilings, which make for a quieter and more secure place to communicate with hospital staff. From the lobby, visitors can see up ward through the grid patterned windows to the second floor pediatric unit. Children, of course, can look down to the lobby, thus making an important visual connection between the two spaces.

Finishes within the lobby were chosen to maintain a contemporary, Southwestern atmosphere. For example, the flooring combines Adaquin stone that is quarried in central Mexico with whitewash hard wood floors. Paint, wall coverings and wood all have natural tones that mimic the dry vegetation and landscape of the desert, as well as the woods used in other buildings on the campus.

Center Planning
While the medical center's administrators had in mind a direction for the future of the Maternity & Child Health Center, HKS architects were able to formulate that direction into a program. HKS developed floor plans that provided smooth traffic patterns and visual access from the nurses' stations into the patient rooms.

In addition to admitting and registration on the first floor, there also are 23 Labor Delivery Recovery Postpartum (LDRP) rooms, a surgery suite with three operating rooms, phase one and phase two recovery, a nursery and an antepartum suite. The second floor includes a waiting area, 20 private pediatric rooms, a pharmacy and an outdoor play area that is on the roof of the first floor below.

In selecting materials for these two floors, Tremblay particularly considered the wear and tear fabrics and finishes would have to endure, as well as the dust and sand that breezes in from the desert surroundings. With these two influences in mind, Tremblay chose materials that hold up well and easily are maintained.

In the corridors on the maternity floor, a checkerboard pattern of VCT covers the floor. The colors--natural, taupe, teal and plum--are certainly noticeable, but nevertheless are soft. In the LDRP rooms and in the nursery, a welded sheet vinyl creates an impervious surface. Lighting in the LDRP rooms includes wall sconces and indirect light sources, which create a more comforting and hotel-like atmosphere, rather than emphasizing the hospital atmosphere that is hard to overlook.

In the connection but also in contrast to the maternity floor, corridors on the pediatric floor have a similar VCT checkerboard pattern. The colors, however, are more intense--purple, yellow, red and blue.

Again for ease of maintenance, and to meet the budget requirements, almost all of the wall surfaces are painted. Reveals in the sheet rock provide interesting surface changes.

"What was lacking in interest on the wall surfaces, we made up for in color and texture," says Tremblay. "All of the fabrics are very patterned and have a visible and tactile texture. The artwork chosen was contemporary and bold, which also adds visual interest to the walls."

According to Tremblay, her firm and HKS worked together closely in order to coordinate the interior and exterior design. Although HKS was ultimately responsible for the exterior design and Tremblay was responsible for the interior design, she estimates that some 90 percent of the work was done together. In fact, she says, to look at the center, no one would ever guess that two firms collaborated on the project.

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