BOSTON – July 20, 2021 – Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, has taken an active role working with health care clients to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic and recently worked with Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) in Burlington, Mass., to create a 3,100 SF COVID-19 testing lab.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and providers across the Commonwealth worked in numerous capacities to respond to COVID-19, caring for thousands of patients, re-configuring care settings, and endlessly innovating to meet the rapidly changing demands of this pandemic. Throughout this time, hospitals needed to find new ways to meet the growing demands for COVID-19 testing and analysis and support the achievement of the Commonwealth’s goals to grow testing capacity in the state, which was critical to ensuring robust diagnostic testing and surveillance of the spread of the disease.
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, a world-renowned tertiary medical center known for its innovative technology, pioneering medical treatment and leading-edge research, committed to more than doubling its existing COVID-19 testing capacity to meet the demand. The renovation of existing lab space created a new expanded COVID-19 testing lab with rapid throughput testing capabilities of up to 11,100 tests per day that would allow specimens to be resulted in 24 hours or less.
“To make a project like this happen requires an enormous amount of collaboration and alignment to ensure the entire team is working together to meet the project goals,” said Bob Humenn, AIA, director of healthcare strategy at Margulies Perruzzi. “The project team worked closely with LHMC to be sure the lab design would meet their current testing needs as well as future testing requirements.”
Margulies Perruzzi and Columbia Construction worked with LHMC to create a COVID-19 testing lab designed to accommodate new and larger equipment. The design/construction team was challenged to complete the COVID-19 testing lab as quickly as possible to meet the immediate needs for COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. Multiple sites on- and off-campus were explored, and it was determined that creating the COVID-19 testing lab within the main campus laboratory would have the greatest capital and operational cost efficiency. This approach could also be built in the shortest time because the mechanical infrastructure was already in place. The challenge with this option was restrictions on planning based on available space in the existing lab. Creating sufficient contiguous space needed for the Thermofisher testing equipment involved multiple moves of existing lab services and required renovation within an existing functioning laboratory. There were several strategies to accelerate the process, including team working sessions for material approvals and finishes flexibility to work with materials more readily available. Utilizing quick ship options for materials with unavoidably long lead times and using movable lab furniture to provide more flexibility for delivery, assembling and installation.
“LHMC moved quickly during the pandemic to meet the urgent demand for testing services. It was important that the lab could process a lot of tests quickly, but the space needed to be efficient and functional also. The design and construction teams helped us achieve our goals by taking a more proactive role to address issues immediately as they arose to ensure the new lab could open quickly for the benefit of our patients, colleagues and physicians,” said Michael Slejzer, director of planning, design and construction at LHMC.
Project team members include:
Architect/Laboratory Planning: Margulies Perruzzi
Construction Manager: Columbia Construction
Owner’s Project Manager: Lehrer Cummings
MEP/FP: BR+A
Commissioning: CMTA
About Margulies Perruzzi
As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health, Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at https://mparchitectsboston.com.
Across the country, we are seeing numerous changes at healthcare facilities as they reopen for elective and non-critical care while still addressing potential surge capacity issues related to COVID-19. One of the biggest difficulties is getting into and through these facilities while practicing social distancing and minimizing risk to patients and staff.
MP’s John Fowler, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, is featured in Healthcare Design – Healthcare facilities are employing a variety of strategies and tactics, including technology, to overcome the challenges of reopening amid COVID-19. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3iZms9r
Architecture firm expands healthcare studio
BOSTON, Jan. 22,, 2020 /PRNewswire/ —Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, is pleased to announce that its healthcare studio continues to grow and expand its scope of services with the addition of Bob Humenn, AIA as Director of Healthcare Strategy. Bob joins Jason Costello, AIA, EDAC and John Fowler, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, in leading the healthcare studio at MP. Bob will strengthen the strategic master planning and long-range planning capabilities while serving as an additional client resource in clinical programming and planning.
“Bob’s expertise will benefit our clients during the strategic planning and programming phases, helping them to align their capital investments with clinical growth as reimbursements and healthcare reform continue to evolve,” said Jason Costello, AIA, EDAC, associate principal at Margulies Perruzzi. “His leadership and design skills, combined with his practical, hands-on focus, will play an integral role in the continued growth of our healthcare practice.”
With extensive experience in the field of healthcare planning and design, Bob was an executive principal at Steffian Bradley Architects (SBA) in Boston where he was the lead medical planner, programmer and designer. While at SBA he worked on the 54,000 SF cancer center for the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center at Milford Regional Medical Center in Milford, Mass.; a 65,000 SF cancer center and 75,000 SF adjoining medical office building for the Hospital of Central Connecticut Cancer Center for Hartford Healthcare in New Britain, Conn.; a special care nursery and NICU for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston; and a new musculoskeletal ambulatory surgery center and medical office building for New England Baptist Hospital in Boston.
Bob fuels his passion for the for the industry as a member of the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE/NEHES), the National Council for Architectural Research Boards (NCARB), American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) where he is the past chairman of the Healthcare Facilities Committee.
“We’re pleased to be able to offer our Healthcare, Science, Workplace and Real Estate clients the high level of expertise critical to the success of their missions,” said Marc Margulies, FAIA, LEED AP, principal and senior partner at Margulies Perruzzi. “The healthcare industry is growing at a rapid rate, and innovation and new thinking are no longer optional. Our mission is to provide forward thinking content from experts in the field that inspire and provide actionable insights to healthcare leaders who are responsible for facilities looking to grow, expand and keep up with the rising number of people coming through their doors.”
While healthcare is an expertise unto itself, the team at MP is rethinking what a healthcare space looks and feels like by leveraging best practices from every discipline, Workplace, Science and Real Estate Development, and applying them to healthcare design. By designing and creating spaces that physically and emotionally communicate each client’s goal, MP strives to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction, attract and retain high performing teams, and maximize clinical efficiency.
“Our team has delivered healthcare projects of increasingly sophisticated scope and scale in both the inpatient and ambulatory markets, while offering a unique advantage for clinical administration solutions for specific departments as well as entire healthcare systems,” said John Fowler, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, associate principal at Margulies Perruzzi. “The deep knowledge Bob brings to complex clinical departments like surgery and new interventional radiology suites will allow us to provide our clients with creative solutions to their most complex challenges in the heart of the hospital.”
Some current healthcare projects include:
Harvard Street Community Health Center (Dorchester, Mass.) A new 25,000 SF community health center will address deficiencies associated with the current health center building, which is outdated and in need of repair. The new health center will enhance the patient experience by addressing space configuration concerns, leveraging new technology, and allowing for the co-location and integration of Primary care and behavioral health services. Finally, this new building will afford HSNHC additional opportunities to serve the community through the incorporation of a teaching kitchen, education/conference center and food pantry etc.
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Endoscopy Suite (Burlington, Mass.) New 13,500 SF endoscopy suite utilizes emerging, state-of-the-art “pass-through and tracking” scope processing technologies to reduce the risk of infection and provide better patient care. Designing the facility with the first-of-its-kind equipment required strategic planning and coordination by the design team, and marks only the second installation of the sophisticated technology in the U.S.
Southern Maine Health Care Inpatient Behavioral Health Units (Sanford, Maine) A 25,000 SF renovation of the existing inpatient hospital to improve regional access to behavioral healthcare. MaineHealth is relocating the existing 12-bed adult behavioral healthcare unit from Biddeford to Sanford and expanding the number of beds to a total of 40 In partnership with Array Architects, the project brings a welcoming feel to a complex and challenging program with access to new exterior roof deck.
Sturdy Memorial Hospital (Attleboro, Mass.) New construction of a 29,000 SF medical office building to increase capacity for orthopedics, physical therapy, primary care, rheumatology clinic, and patient service center.
MP’s scope of services includes programming and planning, site evaluation and clinical test fits, ground up construction, interior design, sustainable design, WELL Building, and LEAN process improvement.
About Margulies Perruzzi As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health+Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at http://mparchitectsboston.com.
