$115m hospital pavilion a 'first' for architects.

Bellevue Hospital Center, America's oldest public hospital, officially opened a new Ambulatory Care Pavilion. The new building is the first to be built on the Bellevue campus since the construction of the Hospital Tower in 1973.

The $115 million development project was a partnership between the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). Designed by the architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, the Pavilion is the first modernization project that their firm has designed for a public healthcare facility.

"The redesign of HHC's ambulatory care delivery system has been one of my highest priorities. Our new Ambulatory Care Pavilion is the cornerstone for such an effort. It represents a furtherance of our commitment to provide quality public healthcare to the New York City community," said HHC President Dr. Benjamin Chu.

With sweeping interior views from gently curving balconies and a soaring glazed atrium that embraces the McKim Mead & White-designed Administration Building, the new pavilion links the past with the future and can only be described as "breathtaking." Containing over 400 exam rooms, wired with state-of-the art medical information systems and housing the new Bellevue Hospital Cancer Center, the Pavilion is located on First Avenue between 27 and 28 Streets. The grand translucent entryway draws the passerby's view into the building envelope and provides a glimpse into New York City's storied past.

"The design of this building is as bold and strong and significant as Bellevue's 269-year contribution to the people of the City of New York. The design enhances our 'Open Access' model of ambulatory care service delivery by merging Bellevue's structural capacity to meet the community demand. By bridging the contemporary with the historic, we are reinforcing Bellevue's vital presence within New York City," said Carlos F. Perez, Sr. V.P. SMHN/Executive Director of Bellevue Hospital Center.

Dr. Eric Manheimer, Medical Director of Bellevue Hospital Center, adds that "the new ambulatory care building will provide attentive and state-of-the-art care to patients from all over the world who have made New York their home. Comprehensive technical and cognitive services will be provided in the full array of medical disciplines."

The vision of this project, according to Fara Tabaei, Project Executive, "was threefold: giving Bellevue a new prominent face and entrance on the 1st Avenue corridor; designing a building that shows the strength of Bellevue's history and importance in today's healthcare arena; and to respect, preserve and reveal the beauty of the original McKim, Mead & White campus design."

Ian Bader, Design Partner with the architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Architects LLP, added, "For us, the principal architectural challenge has been the transformation of the close physical proximity between the new and existing buildings into a place of spatial and symbolic generosity. In bringing together new and old, the glazed atrium has become the emblematic heart of Bellevue .The configuration of this space makes the existing building the centerpiece of the entire complex and integrates the new facility into the daily life of the hospital."

The new Ambulatory Care Pavilion will be open in April of 2005.