New 214,000 SF Kansas University Hospital Authority, Medical Office Building Opens

Accommodating 400,000 clinic visits a year, the new Kansas University Hospital Authority, Medical Office Building provides a complete range of ancillary testing and care to ambulatory adult and pediatric patients in a convenient, comfortable environment.  The six-story, 214,000-square-foot building houses 10 outpatient specialty clinics and provides consolidated office space for more than 200 ambulatory-care physicians and 200 residents previously dispersed throughout the medical center’s campus.  

For maximum efficiency, Cannon Design developed a standard clinic module and a space allocation model based on physician practices and patient visit volumes.  Thirteen clinic modules, each equipped with 12 exam rooms, staff work space, and reception and support areas, facilitate future adjustments in space assignments and enable the facility to respond to changes in care delivery. Patient and staff zones are segregated as much as possible, with separate public and service entries, corridors and elevators on all levels.  All public spaces enjoy natural light and views.

Clad in an aluminum panelized system with punched window openings and aluminum curtainwall, the building shelters a patient drop-off area formed via a notching-out of the first two floors at the southeast corner, enabling cars to drive underneath.  Clear signage and new connecting bridges to the main hospital and a new 600-car parking garage streamline processes for patients as they park, check in and receive high-quality care.  The Kansas University Hospital Authority is pursuing LEED certification for the project—the first new building on the campus, and one of the first medical office buildings in the city to achieve this distinction.

The main lobby—a two-story space facing south into the undercover arrival zone—is accessible by a glass-enclosed vestibule. Public waiting is situated at the base of the two-story space overlooking the arrival turnaround. An open communicating stair south of the main vertical core provides access to level two.  A column-free space, clinic waiting is identical on all the upper levels of the MOB. The tall ceiling height along the glass exterior ensures that all spaces receive a consistent penetration of natural light. The meandering shape of the floor-to-ceiling exterior glass wall is counter balanced by a similar shaped wood bulkhead over the transaction counter and portions of waiting area.  This combination of forms encourages a flexible seating arrangement for waiting that provides patrons with a variety of seating alternatives to suit their comfort needs. The walls defining the transaction and waiting zones are sculpted to enhance acoustics and provide opportunities to display art on each floor.  A floor-to-ceiling window on its south wall has framed views to the exterior.  

Architect:       Cannon Design
Project:          Kansas University Hospital Authority, Medical Office Building
Location:       Kansas City, Kan.
Size:              185,000 sf    
Engineers:     Burns & McDonell International (MEP); Professional Engineering Consultants (Civil);  Kleinfelder (Geotechnical)
Photography: Gayle Babock, Architectural Imageworks, LLC