Colleen Curry

The diagnosis was clear: UVA Health’s emergency department was seeing 60,000 patients a year, a figure 50 percent higher than its intended capacity. Tasked with devising a solution was longtime collaborator Perkins&Will, and its 440,000-square-foot expansion—the largest in the modern history of the University of Virginia’s medical system and the winner of the IIDA competition’s healthcare category—would add 180 much-needed beds to the Charlottesville campus. Construction on the project, which was led by P&W principal and global design director Ralph Johnson, lasted six years. Included are 82 new emergency treatment rooms, 19 pro­cedure rooms (including for radiology and operating), 33 pre- and post-op rooms, and a patient tower with 84 private, acuity-adaptable rooms.