Details
Overview
The SWH Addition is a 4,523 SF office addition for an existing outpatient surgical ophthalmology center, intended to provide new office and meeting space.
During initial site investigations it was determined that current retention requirements for the site had been reduced and the new addition could occupy a portion of an existing retention basin fronting the street. The project capitalizes on that prominent corner location, establishing a distinctive and open presence in front of the original building’s blank rear wall. The new structure connects through an existing opening and maintains existing building separations and exiting. Construction required almost no demolition, allowing the eye center to continue operations for the duration of construction.
Conceptualized as an ‘eye’ on the street, the building’s curved roof was central to the design partii and was achieved with a series of stepped glu laminated beams, which proved to be a cost-effective and sophisticated structural solution. As the design developed, the structure became an organizing element of the space, establishing the rhythm for the façade’s expansive glazing, and a mezzanine which provides additional open office space within the single volume.
