BOSTON, Mass. – Construction has recently been completed on the 100,000-square-foot Park Avenue Medical Center located in Trumbull, Connecticut. The project team included Shepley Bulfinch as architect and Gilbane Building Company as general contractor.
Part of Yale New Haven Health, Park Avenue Medical Center provides a new level of access to quality outpatient care, with a range of services that includes outpatient cancer care provided by Smilow Cancer Hospital; pediatric specialty care provided by Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital; an ambulatory surgery endoscopy center, radiology and laboratory services, as well as rehabilitation medicine including physical and occupational therapy provided by Bridgeport Hospital and primary care and specialty physician practices.
Programmed, planned and designed by Shepley Bulfinch, the new three-story facility creates a hub for unified patient care, transforming a disconnected medical office building and freestanding radiation/oncology facility into a seamlessly connected healing campus, organized around a central garden. Sheltered by a generous canopy, the patient circular drop-off at the prominent main entrance conveys a sense of welcome, with easy access to all services from the lobby. An enclosed pedestrian bridge connects the outpatient center to a new, adjacent 525-car, five-level garage. The center’s medical oncology program is now integrated with the radiation oncology program, sharing a day-lit lobby flanked with gardens, a dedicated entrance and parking.
The centerpiece of the new facility is the Norma Pfriem Healing Garden that is uniquely designed to support the care given to patients at Park Avenue Medical Center. Designed by landscape architects, Towers|Golde, the healing garden is a visual focus for the complex with a rich palette of plantings, while a waterfall and pool provide soothing respite in the sunken terrace. Shepley Bulfinch’s design for the new building brings nature and light into the space, with views of the healing garden from the center’s glass-walled corridors. The garden-level cancer center emphasizes patient privacy and healing; views of the healing garden from its lobby and private infusion suites with adjoining private terraces offer patients the option to sit outside during treatment.
