{"id":219,"date":"2013-06-09T16:57:08","date_gmt":"2013-06-09T16:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/?p=219"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:21:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:21:31","slug":"university-hospitals-ahuja-medical-center-features-alucobond-acm-in-signature-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/university-hospitals-ahuja-medical-center-features-alucobond-acm-in-signature-design\/","title":{"rendered":"University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center Features ALUCOBOND ACM In \u2018Signature\u2019 Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Project Name:<\/th>\nUniversity Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Project Location:<\/th>\nBeachwood, Ohio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ALUCOBOND\u00ae Materials:<\/th>\n95,970 sq. ft.
\n4mm custom Ahuja Crystal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Year of Installation:<\/th>\n2011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Architect:<\/th>\nHKS, Inc.
\nRichmond, Virginia in collaboaration with
\nArray Healthcare Facilities Solutions, Inc.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fabricator:<\/th>\nRoyalton Architectural
\nFabrication, Inc., North Royalton, Ohio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Installer:<\/th>\nCaroll Glass Co., Euclid, Ohio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
General Contractor:<\/th>\nGilbane Building Co., Cleveland, Ohio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Images:<\/th>\nBlake Marvin, HKS, Inc. and Royalton Architectural Fabrication<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The new University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, Ohio, was designed not only to garner attention\u00a0 as a modern \u201csignature\u201d building in this upscale southeastern Cleveland suburb but to incorporate an innovative theory of \u201cevidence-based\u201d design in which scientific research was incorporated to better serve patients and promote healing in a guest-centered environment.<\/p>\n

The new $298-million 432,000 square-foot medical center \u2013 which includes both a seven-story 144-bed\u00a0 hospital and a three-story outpatient medical building \u2013 officially opened March 1, 2011. The hospital is designed with a seven-story curved curtain wall filled with glass and accent bands fabricated from ALUCOBOND\u00ae aluminum composite material. ALUCOBOND\u00ae also clads a large portion of the medical center\u2019s exterior walls in combination with rain-screened terra cotta ceramic tile.\u00a0 Both interior and exterior columns and beams are covered in ALUCOBOND\u00ae ACM as well as are entryway canopies.<\/p>\n

This sweeping-curve design not only provides a visually striking exterior but makes the building interior easy to navigate, reducing foot traffic and improving patient sight lines to staff.\u00a0 Additionally, the curved design reduces wind and traffic noise from nearby Interstates 271 and 480 while offering panoramic views of the 53-acre park-like campus setting that includes protected wetlands.<\/p>\n

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n

International architectural firm HKS, Inc.<\/a>, served as the project\u2019s design architect in collaboration with Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions, Inc., which served as the corporate architect and interior designer.<\/p>\n

“University Hospitals wanted a unique, modern structure,\u201d said Seth Meltzer, AIA, vice president in the Richmond, Va., office of HKS, and Ahuja Medical Center project architect.\u00a0 \u201cThey wanted a signature-type project to serve as this community\u2019s hospital.\u00a0 This design also was integral to an overall response to patient needs, including patient flow and sight lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

A total of 95,970 square feet of ALUCOBOND\u00ae PVDF-2 in the 4mm thickness and custom Ahuja Crystal color was fabricated for the medical center by Royalton Architectural Fabrication, Inc., of North Royalton, Ohio.\u00a0 The ALUCOBOND\u00ae was installed with Royalton\u2019s Royaltech 200A wet-seal panel system by Carroll Glass Co., of Euclid, Ohio. The Cleveland office of Gilbane Building Co. served as construction manager on this project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project posed a number of challenges especially with the hospital\u2019s large radius design and its grandiose two-story entrance,\u201d said Stefan Winkler, president, Royalton Architectural Fabrication.\u00a0 \u201cThe panels were incorporated into the glazing in the window system and had to fit like a glove.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wall panels were field measured and fabricated by elevation as the buildings were being constructed, according to Winkler, who said the ALUCOBOND\u00ae performed well in the Royalton composite panel system, which incorporates stiffeners.<\/p>\n

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n

“These ALUCOBOND\u00ae panels look flat and show no trace of oil canning,\u201d said Winkler.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a big difference in the materials used by other fabricators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Architects at HKS spent a great deal of time determining the types of building materials required to create a modern and environmentally-friendly design for the medical center, according to Meltzer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to use brick or other traditional materials,\u201d said Meltzer. \u201cWe chose ceramic tile and Alucobond. \u00a0We\u2019ve specified ALUCOBOND\u00ae on a number of projects and have never had an issue with the material.\u00a0 The ALUCOBOND\u00ae served as a key component in this medical center\u2019s design.\u00a0 We specified the ALUCOBOND\u00ae in the Ahuja Crystal custom color to complement the terra cotta.\u00a0 The materials needed to seamlessly integrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hospital is expected to expand through the years to 600 beds with the new seven-story tower serving as the first of three planned towers, according to Meltzer.<\/p>\n

“We planned the building with expansion in mind,\u201d said Meltzer.\u00a0 \u201cPlanning for expansion was an integral part of winning this project.\u00a0 We had to anticipate every need that may arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

(The Ahuja Medical Center is a key component in University Hospitals\u2019 $1.2 billion Vision 2010 strategic plan.\u00a0 University Hospitals operates 150 locations throughout Northeast Ohio, with the health system\u2019s core located at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.)<\/p>\n

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n

At the outset of planning for the Ahuja Medical Center, University Hospitals expressed interest in incorporating green building methods and materials.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t until the project already\u00a0was underway that hospital executives requested that it be submitted for green building certification through the U.S. Green Building Council\u2019s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew they wanted to be green from the project\u2019s start,\u201d said Meltzer.\u00a0 \u201cLEED certification would give them recognition that the public could understand. ALUCOBOND\u00ae definitely played a part in green building.\u201d<\/p>\n

University Hospital Ahuja Medical Center was awarded a LEED New Construction 1099 (NCv2009) Silver certification \u2013 giving it the distinction of being the first healthcare facility in the United States to receive certification under this version of higher and more stringent sustainable requirements.<\/p>\n

Among the many green building methods incorporated in the medical center are:\u00a0 the use of bio-swales and bio-retention basins to manage onsite storm water, a plan to reduce energy through metering and monitoring, installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof, and the selection of sustainable and eco-friendly materials to provide a healthy indoor environment. The completed medical center has been well-received, according to Meltzer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community loves this project,\u201d said Meltzer.\u00a0 \u201cCity officials there are very proud of it.\u00a0 Its location serves as the front door to Beachwood, which is a very modern, progressive and affluent community in which city buildings are incorporating metal.\u00a0 The unique form of this building serves as a signature for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Project Name: University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center Project Location: Beachwood, Ohio ALUCOBOND\u00ae Materials: 95,970 sq. ft. 4mm custom Ahuja Crystal Year of Installation: 2011 Architect: HKS, Inc. Richmond, Virginia in collaboaration with Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions, Inc. Fabricator: Royalton Architectural Fabrication, Inc., North Royalton, Ohio Installer: Caroll Glass Co., Euclid, Ohio General Contractor: Gilbane Building […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11,39,37,38,28,48,29,54,55],"class_list":["post-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies","tag-acm","tag-acp","tag-aluminum-composite-material","tag-aluminum-composite-panel","tag-architecture","tag-building","tag-design","tag-green-building","tag-hospitals-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7491,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions\/7491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}