E4H Environments for Health Architecture designed the update for Virginia Hospital Center 4A Inpatient renovations in Arlington, Virginia.

Virginia Hospital Center has completed its 17,300SF renovation, adding 21 state-of-the-art patient bed units to what used to be their 4th floor Medical Office space. The floor plan for the new unit includes high-visibility nurses’ stations, along with private patient and family consultation rooms, and a new lobby. The unit’s ventilation systems were modified in response to COVID to allow for remote conversion from positive to negative pressure, providing an extra layer of protection for patients and staff. By successfully blending a high-end residential look and feel with the campus’ clean and modern aesthetic, the newly renovated unit will remain consistent with similar floors above while creating a fresh and modern look, flow, and functionality.

Within the new patient rooms, a large footprint is utilized to establish well thought out, highly functional zones for caregivers, families, and patients.  Each private patient room is complete with spacious toilet/shower rooms, wall-mounted charting stations, large patient televisions, family sleeper sofas, patient recliner chairs, beautiful artwork, and built in benches and storage options.  All of the features in the new rooms are carefully designed to give the feeling and comfort of home in an environment conducive to healing.

An investment of square footage throughout the floor allows for critical programs such as central caregiver support areas with both physical and visual connectivity, patient nourishment areas, a private family consult room as well as staff respite areas.  The use of artwork, furniture and high-end finishes merging decorative tile, stone and wood-look surfaces all contribute to an extremely comforting space. The design will also set the stage for future bed expansions across the rest of the floor and the entire floor below.

Additional Design Highlights include fully interactive VR design process, preparation and management of full-scale cardboard mock-ups of new patient rooms, and utilization of aggressive lean design process with wall scheduling.

Architect: E4H Environments for Health Architecture
Contractor: HITT Contracting
Photography: Jeffrey Sauers