Streetscape Planning and Intervention at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center

5 weeks, Spring 2024
Academic: ARCH 7390
Prof. Mike Avery

Objectives
The objective of this project was to develop three major streetscape interventions and implement them at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center campus. Throughout the semester, we studied this campus with an emphasis on using the built environment to introduce new buildings, structures, and designs that promote the health of both patients and community members. I worked in a group with two other students on this project. My primary contributions were background precedent research, developing process sketches, developing the model for each of our three interventions, and providing input for the development of the design renderings. Our group used Rhino3D, Adobe Illustrator, and Lumion to create these images.

Inspiration and Process

Getting Started
The goal of our design was centered around the idea of increasing respite, incorporating biophilic elements, and making the campus a more comfortable environment for patients, visitors, and hospital staff. Our three built interventions include a rooftop garden complex, rooftop canopies that cover the main entryways into the campus, and a central respite space.

Process and Ideation
The images to the right show early process sketches of respite spaces for patients and staff. The top image shows terraces with greenery extending from hospital floors to provide patients and staff with easy access to this space. The bottom image, which inspired our final design, shows a central accessible respite space featuring trees, running water, and seating areas. This central space doesn't obstruct views of the outdoors ornatural sunlight from some hospital windows. The four images on the bottom show process sketches of design ideas for the protective canopies. We examined the hospital’s major points of access and the overall space that would be covered. We experimented with various shapes for the canopies, such as concentric circles and ellipses, which mimic the natural curves and shapes seen in nature and reflect the movement of people throughout these entry points. The ellipses created the most aesthetically pleasing layout of the canopies. The sun hits these canopies at different angles throughout the day, creating adynamic and engaging space.

Major Interventions

Rooftop Garden
The first intervention consists of rooftop gardens with staircases, allowing patients and those from the surrounding neighborhood to engage with the space. This not only provides therapeutic green space, which has been shown to benefit the recovery of hospital patients, but also attracts those in the local community to the campus.

Canopies
The second intervention is a series of canopies that line the hospital entrance which shield pedestrians and visitors from the sun and other elements. Wooden slats hold up the canopies and line the road, helping to direct people to the main entrance, which was previously difficult to find. The canopies also allow for the implementation of more green space. All of these are ways in which the canopies create a more comfortable and welcoming environment.

Respite Space
‍The third intervention is a respite space for visitors and staff at the center of campus. This space is easily accessible and contains seating areas that are blocked off from the noisy street using brick dividers, water features that line the seating areas, as well as walkways and foliage which provides therapeutic green space for users to engage with. This is a space that people can use to escape the stressful and busy hospital enviornment.