Essentia Health’s 930,000-square foot St. Mary’s Medical Center, which opened in Duluth in Minnesota, will be the tallest structure in the city. The project team had to find a way to reduce the size of such a large building to make it feel like a part and welcome to the community.
Saul Jabbawy is the regional director of design for EwingCole.
The building base was designed to reflect the mix of Victorian, post-industrial and colorful masonry in Duluth. It features deeply articulated brick panels with striated lines and recessed glasses that recall Duluth’s urban scale and texture. The glass facade on the upper levels of the building and the patient tower is inspired by the surface pattern of Lake Superior.
Plan strategies to reduce bird collisions
The project team recognized that glass buildings could create a risk of bird colliding, a concern especially in Duluth which is situated on one the largest migration bird paths in the U.S., and incorporated a frit pattern like a wave inside the glass panel, allowing birds to see through the building.
Jabbawy explains that fog comes out of Lake Michigan every morning around 10 am. We thought it would look great to create a pattern reminiscent of this fog, which softens the building.
Wind studies can be used to improve your business
Oscar Gomes, principal of EwingCole, said that the severe weather patterns in the area had a significant impact on the design.
The project team tested a model in a wind tunnel after establishing the general geometry of the building.
The project team redesigned the building after testing revealed that certain areas would be exposed to strong wind gusts. This included softening the corners of the building, which led to its pill-like form.
Jabbawy said, “We designed the tower shape to minimize wind flow both at the front of it and over the roof-garden.”
