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NYP’s Healing Urban Oasis

NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center | New York
CERTIFICATION
LEED Gold
SIZE
734,000 sq. ft. / 68,190 sq. m.
Awards
USGBC Leadership Award – Mid-Atlantic & Northeast Region
IIDA Healthcare Design Awards – Ambulatory Cancer Center
European Healthcare Design Awards – Healthcare Design
European Healthcare Design Awards – Design Innovation for Quality Improvement
ENR New York – Best Healthcare Project
Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award
BD+C Team Award – Silver
Project Facts

When NewYork-Presbyterian’s leaders set out to develop an ambulatory care center on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, they started with two simple questions: What will world-class healthcare look like in the future? How can we begin to make that vision a reality today?

The result is the David H. Koch Center, a three-in-one facility designed with the flexibility to support advancements in medicine and patient care.

HOK worked closely with NYP to create a new urban context for the medical center. The 17-story building houses three distinct programs: ambulatory care; the Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns; and the Integrative Health and Wellbeing program operated in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine.

The design team included HOK as architect and interior designer (public spaces), Ballinger as medical architect and interior designer (clinical spaces), and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners as consulting architect for the building envelope and lobby.

“This is truly an environment that was designed for healing, and we believe it represents the future of ambulatory care.” — Dr. Steven J. Corwin , President and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian
NewYork-Presbyterian David Koch Center

An Urban Sanctuary for Integrated Care

Occupying the first 11 floors of the building, the ambulatory care center offers outpatient surgery, endoscopy, interventional radiology, diagnostic imaging, radiation oncology, infusion, digestive disease treatments and more in a contemporary and soothing environment.

The holistic programming and design prioritized patient and family-centered care. With its glass-encapsulated, wood screen facade and transparent lower floors, the building presents a bright face to the community. A private drive-through drop-off and a generous daylit main lobby welcome patients and their families from the congestion of the city.

NewYork-Presbyterian David Koch Center

The hospitality-inspired lobby space includes comfortable living room-styled seating areas, bold artwork and a warm wood ceiling. Wood, stone and natural materials evoke comfort and ease. A prominent reception desk and clear wayfinding facilitate an intuitive journey that minimizes stress.

A dramatic stair ascending from the lobby encourages healthy movement and leads to quiet zones, lounges and a mezzanine dining area with restaurant-quality offerings and a juice and coffee bar. A staff conference center on the third floor overlooks the lobby and mezzanine and features a large divisible board room, intimate conference rooms and a multipurpose training space.

Upper levels continue the focus on patient comfort with bright, airy sky lobbies and circulation areas. On the clinical floors, a triple-glazed facade with encapsulated wood screens provides light and views that orient people as they move through the space.

A typical clinical floor procedure area features private prep/recovery rooms dedicated to the patient and family for the duration of their visit. This reduces patient movement and provides peace of mind. Locating decentralized caregiver stations outside these rooms bring care closer to the patient.

Many hospitals place infusion and radiation oncology services below grade. Here they are on the fourth floor, where they offer patients access to windows with city views and restorative natural light.

Maternal and Newborn Care

Located on the top six floors of the building with a separate elevator corridor in the lobby, the Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns provides individualized care to pregnant women and their newborn babies before, during and after childbirth.

Designed as a collaboration between HOK and Ballinger, the hospital’s 75 antepartum and postpartum rooms allow each patient to have her own room, promoting privacy, family bonding and comfort.

The 60-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) also features private rooms. The Level IV NICU offers the highest level of critical care for newborns and is the first in New York City to have a dedicated MRI and operating room.

Spaces for mothers offer a choreographed experience designed to comfort mom, baby and family throughout the birthing process. Natural light fills patient rooms and corridors. Off-center ceiling lighting creates visual interest and makes the environment feel less clinical.

Patient rooms adorned with hospitality elements such as bedside reading lights, mini fridges, illuminated bathroom mirrors and soft furnishings help families feel comfortable.

A muted color palette creates a visually calm space complemented by simple materials. The colorful art becomes the point of interest. Consultant Salon 94 selected works exclusively by women artists.

A private family dining room has a large stone-top table that anchors the room, which also features a stone sideboard, light wood textures, colorful art and textured wallcovering. A banquette provides a space to capture an Instagram moment with the new baby. A dramatic sculptural light over the dining table is functional while adding to the hospitality feel.

Holistic Treatment

NYP’s Integrative Health and Wellbeing program provides personalized, comprehensive care for mind, body and spirit. The program helps patients lead healthier lives by offering self-care and self-healing tools they can use every day.

Located on the third floor with its own street entrance, the center features a meditation garden, resource library, group exercise room and nourishment station. From the moment a visitor arrives, the environment feels warm and welcoming. Curved surfaces that guide movement, comfortable seating areas, soft indirect lighting and wall sconces all entice people to be proactive about their health and return in the future.

The design celebrates the influence of nature on the healing process, embracing a fusion of healthcare, hospitality and wellness spaces. Calming design elements include natural materials, greenery, vivid artwork and nature-inspired tactile elements. Wood furnishings and details call to mind forest bathing, a Japanese method of preventive healthcare and healing.

Healthy Inside and Out

The building’s sustainable and resilient design features include a green roof, high-performance facade and a high-efficiency mechanical system designed for continuous operations during extreme weather events and city power disruptions.

To promote health and well-being, the team focused on critical elements affecting the patient experience and staff productivity. This includes comfortable and appropriate acoustic design; highly curated lighting and controls for occupant comfort and flexibility; low-emitting materials and pollutant source control; and thermal comfort verification.

The David H. Koch Center was the first project in New York City to earn certification and the first in the state to achieve LEED Gold under the more stringent LEED Healthcare rating system.

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