Methodist Olive Branch Hospital
Compassion and faith form the cornerstone of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, a not-for-profit healthcare system. Its newest hospital in Olive Branch combines these long-standing principles with a high tech twist using View Smart Windows.
- 35% HVAC peak-load reduction
- Enables patient-centered healing while preserving views
- One of the first hospitals to attain LEED HC Gold Certification
- Provides unobstructed views of the outdoors and an attractive building design
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Location
Olive Branch, MS -
Architect
Gresham Smith & Partners -
General Contractor
Turner Construction -
Glazier
BHN Corporation
Considered a suburb of Memphis, the northern Mississippi town of Olive Branch, just over the border from Tennessee, has experienced a population boom. According to Bloomberg, it was the fastest growing city in the country between 1990 and 2010.
To care for this growing community, Methodist Healthcare decided to build a hospital in the town. When it opened in August 2013, Methodist Olive Branch Hospital was the first newly licensed hospital in the state of Mississippi in 25 years. The most prominent architectural component of the five-story, 100-bed hospital is a south- and west-facing glass atrium that spans the full height of the building.
During the design phase, the hospital initially considered three options for creating this large open space. It could accept the heat gain; use a low-performance, static, tinted glass; or select a motorized shading system that would obstruct the views. Realizing the need for a solution that would block heat and glare, but not views, the hospital found the only acceptable alternative in View Smart Windows.
More than 2,100 square feet of 9-foot-tall View Smart Windows act as the glass skin of the atrium, allowing the hospital to realize its desire to build an innovative, environmentally friendly facility with a 21st century design.
The selection of View Smart Windows met the project’s energy efficiency goals and fulfilled the building design criteria. The hospital saved $22,000 immediately by reducing HVAC capacity and saves $2,000 annually in energy costs, giving it a 5-year payback on the View Smart Windows installation.