Construction is complete for the new phase II addition and crisis stabilization unit located on the Cherokee Indian Hospital campus in Cherokee, North Carolina. The project team included construction manager Robins & Morton and architect McMillan Pazdan Smith.
The two-story, nearly 77,000-square-foot addition will provide community members substance abuse treatment and behavioral health services.
The first floor houses an outpatient behavioral health facility featuring 13 talking rooms, exam room, small group room, large group room, two large classrooms, arts and crafts group room, kitchen and dining/living room. To aid the functions of this space, the center of the floor contains faculty workstations and administrative offices.
The second floor houses the crisis stabilization unit with 18 inpatient rooms, four acute care rooms, two large group therapy rooms, dining area, wellness gym and accessible roof deck patio. Faculty and support staff also have a designated workspace in the core of the floor.
The project team worked closely to weave Cherokee heritage throughout the building’s design elements. These include columns fashioned to resemble the trees of Western North Carolina, terrazzo flooring designed to tell the Cherokee legends and the continuation of the unique exterior motif.
The facility was completed two months ahead of its original 20-month schedule. Crews worked 257,595 total hours on the project with zero lost-time incidents.
