OU Health Patient Tower

[jdizzle]

Man if that had about 20 more stories on top of it that thing would be dope.

Meh, would not be a good use of space. Not sure why a 30 story hospital would be a good thing. Granted I feel you are being sarcastic.

[Plutonic Panda]

Meh, would not be a good use of space. Not sure why a 30 story hospital would be a good thing. Granted I feel you are being sarcastic.

I am saying that this building would look great as a tall building. Not all buildings you can say that about as some are good as a 5-10 story building.

I’m not sure why a tall hospital would be a bad thing but there are certainly medical campuses around the country that have tall buildings either having hospital beds or offices. A taller building utilizes the third dimension more so I fail to see the waste of space and in fact I see quite the contrary.

[okccowan]

It was supposed to be 3 stories taller, but budget overruns resulted in the top 3 floors getting lopped off.

[Pete]

You can see the triage area adjacent to the emergency entrance and on the west side of this project:

[5alive]

A beautiful addition to this area. I hope consideration will be given to painting the old Presbyterian building a lighter color to better blend with the new construction.

[bombermwc]

Hospitals never seem interested in making the old and new match. in fact, it seems like they purposely try to make a point of them not matching. lol. I'm sure it's partly the idea of not wanting to look like they're stuck in whatever decade the original was built. I just wish they would spend effort on some facade work to update the old stuff too. Only thing is, that's just fluff money and doesn't help the patients any or make them any money.

I mean look at Baptist. That's the ugliest conglomeration mess of all of them in OKC. I think Deaconness has probably done the best to keep a look that isn't dated but still matches.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

Hospitals never seem interested in making the old and new match. in fact, it seems like they purposely try to make a point of them not matching. lol. I'm sure it's partly the idea of not wanting to look like they're stuck in whatever decade the original was built. I just wish they would spend effort on some facade work to update the old stuff too. Only thing is, that's just fluff money and doesn't help the patients any or make them any money.

I mean look at Baptist. That's the ugliest conglomeration mess of all of them in OKC. I think Deaconness has probably done the best to keep a look that isn't dated but still matches.

Believe it or not, sometimes there is a method to the madness. If an old building on a campus is clinical, it may keep the old exterior to help orient older patients. I agree it is aesthetically unpleasant but it's often the only way people can still find their doctor's office when a new skyscraper is placed in front of it.

[PaddyShack]

I like seeing the mash up, it helps see how the campus progressed and built up over time. I say only spend money on needed repairs and updates to keep the building in safe/ efficient running order. I like seeing different eras of building styles close together.

[Pete]

Speaking of mashups, here is a photo I took last week of the Baptist complex:

[jdizzle]

Are there any other projects planned for the HSC? It is an area of massive potential, and a major engine for the city and the state.

[Merman]

I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but If they would have added 4-5 more floors, this building would have stood out like no other in the HSC. Every morning driving to work when the sun rise is shining on this building I think to myself if they had only added a few more floors how great it would stand out. I still think this is an awesome addition to the area.

[Plutonic Panda]

I know this building looks so weird like it was designed to be taller but last minute had floors shaved for whatever reason.

[HangryHippo]

I know this building looks so weird like it was designed to be taller but last minute had floors shaved for whatever reason.

I believe whatever reason was money.

[Plutonic Panda]

I believe whatever reason was money.

I’m sure it was. I’m not saying buildings that aren’t tall can’t look good. As many here know I prefer taller buildings but there are shorter buildings I like. This one just looks weird being so short.

[HangryHippo]

I’m sure it was. I’m not saying buildings that aren’t tall can’t look good. As many here know I prefer taller buildings but there are shorter buildings I like. This one just looks weird being so short.

I agree with you on this one. It would look much better if it was taller - as it stands now, IMO, the base kind of overwhelms the attractive glass "tower" portion (if that makes sense).

[HFAA Alum]

Speaking of mashups, here is a photo I took last week of the Baptist complex:

I always said this place could use some more height. It would be a pretty good secondary core to help bring in business revenue to the city. Plus I'm sure there would be some larger developers/corporations looking to build on the cheap. A few midrises and around three towers with twenty stories would actually be pretty nice in this spot.

[Rover]

I always said this place could use some more height. It would be a pretty good secondary core to help bring in business revenue to the city. Plus I'm sure there would be some larger developers/corporations looking to build on the cheap. A few midrises and around three towers with twenty stories would actually be pretty nice in this spot.

The views from the taller buildings here are actually pretty great. However, people don't seem to want to pay high-rise prices for them and land is too plentiful to be expensive and force vertical growth economics. All in all, it has a decent amount of taller buildings and a lot of commerce running up and down May and on the expressway.

[Plutonic Panda]

I agree with you on this one. It would look much better if it was taller - as it stands now, IMO, the base kind of overwhelms the attractive glass "tower" portion (if that makes sense).

That is a great way of putting it. More in line with my criticisms.

[iMAX386]

Just noticed on the video on the last page renderings of what it was supposed to look like with the 3 extra floors:








And one last real aerial shot where all the new buildings are visible except the OMRF tower (Children's, Stephenson Cancer, med school tower, Dean McGee):

[Pete]

[5alive]

Nice!

[PaddyShack]

Is it impossible to add the 3 floors at a later date?

[shawnw]

Midwest Regional added two floors a few years ago and I'm not sure the building was designed for that outright, whereas this one was designed for it, so you'd think they could...

[One Dot Less Than Nine]

Floors were added to MW Regional on 2 different occasions. The existing structure and foundations were sized and designed to accept the loads imposed by the additional structure. Its somewhat common to design for future vertical expansion in healthcare facilities. NRH's Healthplex for example was designed for additional floors which is why the elevator/stair tower extends past the existing patient floors.

I do not know if OU's facility was designed to accommodate the additional floors in the future but it would make sense to do so.

[shawnw]

thanks for the insight