November 28, 2012 -- Central City Concern’s innovative Old Town Recovery Center is among a handful of projects nationwide honored this year with a Healthcare Environment Award. The annual competition, sponsored by Contract magazine, The Center for Health Design and the Vendome Group, recognizes healthcare projects based on the following criteria:
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Interior spaces that support an environment capable of improving the quality of healthcare based on sound evidence-based design principles
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Demonstrated response to the program statement
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Demonstrated partnership between the clients and design professionals
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Client feedback or testimony that the project seeks to improve the quality of healthcare
Designed by the Portland-based firm of SERA Architects, the Old Town Recovery Center (OTRC) is a new model for outpatient healthcare for local nonprofit, Central City Concern (CCC). The innovative program integrates primary healthcare and behavioral healthcare in one seamless facility by affording patient access to the Old Town Clinic for primary care needs. Many patients are homeless, uninsured or covered by Medicaid, and suffering from co-occurring physical conditions, mental illness, and addictions related to substance abuse.
“OTRC is a very visible beacon of empowerment in this city,” says Chris Colburn, a staff member at the Center. “It breaks free from the stigma that the mentally ill and homeless are less deserving and a lower priority.”
Jurors recognized SERA and CCC’s work to design a community-centric mental health center that incorporates nature as a healing tool; bringing the outdoors in to add to a client’s sense of comfort. The landscaped atrium and other areas illustrate Biophilic design attributes - using elements that nurture our innate attraction to natural systems and processes. Key design highlights include:
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A bamboo courtyard glass-walled on four sides and visible from all three floors to help reduce patient stress
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Subwaiting areas situated along the courtyard perimeter to instill calm
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Natural wood employed in the main staircase and reception desk, wood doors and wood like floors
The building was designed to allow for future vertical expansion of 8 stories to provide additional housing in the neighborhood. A reinforced roof and seismically-sound construction ensures the facility will remain functional should the nonprofit add future residential floors.
Dr. David Cutler, medical director of Multnomah County’s Mental Health and Addiction Services Division, praises the facility and programs, “What they’re doing there is a national model. They’ve managed to get all these services together and it’s working beautifully. The practitioners are happy; the patients are doing better.”
