Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center – Critical Care Building Expansion

  • area / size 745,000 sqft
  • Completed 2021
  • ZGF Architects completed the Critical Care Building Expansion for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

    Cincinnati Children’s has grown significantly over the last decade, particularly in patients needing critical care. Not only has the hospital outgrown its existing facilities, but the way they practice medicine has changed too. More than a much-needed expansion of space, the new Critical Care Building expansion enables providers and staff to better care for the most fragile, medically complex patients from around the world, including those needing newborn and pediatric intensive care, cardiac care, and bone marrow transplants. For patients and families, it’s a welcoming, uplifting, and transformative healing environment that offers a sense of hope for tomorrow.

    Sited on the northernmost part of Cincinnati Children’s Burnet campus, the new building connects seamlessly to existing inpatient critical care facilities, adding 225 beds, an expanded emergency department, rooftop heliport, and right sized clinical support functions to meet increased demand. The new emergency department features a wet lab to support clinical research and a flexible behavioral health and medical treatment space.

    Inspired by Cincinnati Children’s vision that by working together we can transform outcomes for all children, the Critical Care Building integrates forward thinking planning and design to position the hospital at the forefront of pediatric and fetal care. ZGF Architects, in association with GBBN, worked closely with patients, families, care teams, and community members to understand what they need and expect from a healthcare environment today and co-create a highly flexible yet beautiful space that serves all users for generations to come.

    Cutting edge research is also being implemented in the new Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where a unique spectral lighting system builds upon recent discoveries about how light affects human health and development. ZGF led the collaboration with a team of Cincinnati Children’s researchers, lighting designers, and manufacturers, to develop a first-of-its-kind programmable and tunable LED lighting system, which optimizes the quantity and quality of light newborns receive in the NICU. The system has the potential to not only transform outcomes for the hospital’s tiniest patients, but also lighting design standards in healthcare industry and beyond.

    Architect of Record: ZGF Architects
    Associate Architects: GBBN and WA Inc.
    Contractor: Messer Construction
    Photography: Ryan Kurtz