DPR, SmithGroup and Boulder Associates Break Ground on AdventHealth Parker Hospital Expansion

DENVER, Jan. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Design partners Boulder Associates and SmithGroup celebrate the groundbreaking of a new 186,000-square-foot, seven-story bed tower addition at AdventHealth Parker Hospital. In partnership with DPR Construction as the general contractor, Boulder Associates and SmithGroup collaborate closely as co-leads in the planning, design, project management and execution of the healthcare facility's expansion.

AdventHealth Parker Hospital is a 170-bed, Level II trauma hospital. With leading medical experts, cutting-edge technology and a broad range of clinical services, AdventHealth Parker Hospital is committed to excellence in healthcare, offering patients access to more than 55 medical specialties, including Joint Commission-certified stroke, spine, and joint replacement programs, advanced robotic surgery, neuroscience, award-winning birth and bariatric surgery centers of excellence, and more.

Located at E-470 and Parker Road, the bed tower addition will become a prominent fixture of the existing campus, which is in urgent need of enhancing its healthcare services for the rapidly growing community of Parker, Colorado. In response to the rising demand for medical-surgical beds, this expansion will significantly increase AdventHealth's capacity to provide high-quality care to its patients and surrounding communities in Parker.

"Achieving this milestone is a testament to our collaborative efforts with Boulder Associates and DPR, with special recognition to AdventHealth's senior executive team for their meaningful involvement in our decision-making throughout this process, ensuring we meet the increasing healthcare demands of this community," said Brenna Costello, SmithGroup Health Studio Leader in Colorado.

When the tower is completely built out, AdventHealth Parker will have an overall capacity of 329 total beds. With the goal of maintaining efficient, effective care for patients, the addition is situated such that the Emergency Department and the Operating platform can expand seamlessly to the south with the bed floors following suit above.

"This expansion marks a significant milestone in AdventHealth's commitment to addressing the immediate need for expanded healthcare services in the Parker community, said Tim Riddle, Principal at Boulder Associates. "The entire project team came together to help deliver these essential resources as swiftly and diligently as possible. The project's innovative design, accomplished within an exceptionally tight timeframe, showcases the strength of our teamwork."

Phase one of the expansion project includes an expanded loading dock for operational efficiency, an expanded emergency department, a new Cath and IR suite, and a new Sterile Processing Department with six new operating rooms. It also adds medical-surgical units with 30 beds per floor on Levels 3 and 4. Levels 5, 6, and 7 will be shelled for future medical-surgical or ICU use. Significant Central Utility Plant upgrades and the relocation of the helipad will also occur during phase one.

Phase one allows for existing space to grow and support the program of the new tower. Phase two of the project will renovate 40,000 square feet of the existing facility, including expansions to the pharmacy, GI department and pre/post-operative spaces.

"AdventHealth Parker has assembled a great team to manage, design, and deliver this project. Our team has completed multiple renovations and expansions on this campus since the original build. AdventHealth Parker has always been a great place of care, and we take that pride of care into what we build," said Scott Miller, Mountain States Business Unit Leader at DPR Construction. 

Keeping key drivers in mind, the architecture, design and construction teams created a design that enhances hospital efficiency to accommodate 150 new beds and optimizes the workspace for healthcare providers and staff. The interior lighting design prioritizes the patient experience, using circadian-supportive strategies to mitigate glare and support healthy sleep cycles. Layered lighting provides comfort for patients and staff, emphasizing intuitive wayfinding and adjusting throughout the day to maximize energy performance and promote overall wellbeing.

Due to the high demand and accelerated schedule for this project, the design teams implemented lean practices to maximize efficiency and capture a streamlined decision-making process. As part of this process, the teams utilized virtual reality (VR) to help user groups understand the project and fully realize the result.

Other key partners included MGA as the structural engineer, Cator Ruma as the MEP engineer and SA Miro as the civil engineer. The project is being overseen by Adams Management as the owner's representative.

Boulder Associates (www.boulderassociates.com) has over 40 years of experience primarily focused on healthcare, senior living, and life science design. We understand deeply our clients' economic, operational, and regulatory challenges. We take these challenges on as our own and meet them by combining beautiful, innovative design with high-quality, efficient, and cost-effective solutions. Our integrated, multidisciplinary approach combines the talents of our architects, interior designers, design researchers, sustainability experts, and operational excellence consultants to help solve our clients' most pressing needs.

SmithGroup (www.smithgroup.com) is one of the world's preeminent integrated design firms. Working across a network of 20 offices in the U.S. and China, a team of 1,500 experts is committed to excellence in strategy, design, and delivery. The scale of the firm's thinking and organization produces partnerships with forward-looking clients that maximize opportunities, minimize risk and solve their most complex problems. SmithGroup creates exceptional design solutions for healthcare, science and technology organizations, higher education and cultural institutions, urban environments, diverse workplaces, mixed-use and waterfront developments, and parks and open spaces. 

DPR Construction is a forward-thinking, self-performing general contractor and construction manager specializing in technically complex and sustainable projects for the advanced technology, life sciences, healthcare, higher education and commercial markets. DPR's portfolio of work ranges from large-scale new construction to small tenant improvements and special projects. Founded in 1990, DPR is a great story of entrepreneurial success as a private, employee-owned company that has grown to a multi-billion-dollar organization with offices around the world. Strategically focused on delivering more predictable outcomes through applications of virtual design & construction, prefabrication, its team of self-perform craft, and leveraging data to learn and improve from DPR consistently ranks among the top building contractors and employs approximately 11,000 professionals across its family of companies. For more information, visit http://www.dpr.com.

SOURCE Boulder Associates