Bridgepoint Active Healthcare officially opened its new hospital in Toronto on June 25. As the largest health-care facility of its kind in Canada, the 464-bed facility is a major milestone in Bridgepoint’s vision to become Canada’s leading centre for rehabilitation and patients living with complex health conditions. The adjacent pre-Confederation Don Jail was also restored to become the hospital’s administrative offices.
This epic project is based on master plan developed by Urban Strategies in 2006. It was designed and constructed by two teams recognized as leaders in healthcare design and architectural excellence. The first team is Stantec Architecture / KPMB Architects: the Planning, Design and Compliance Architects for Bridgepoint responsible for the project specific outline specifications (PSOS) and the Design Exemplar. The second team is HDR Architecture / Diamond Schmitt Architects: the architects to the Design, Build, Finance and Maintain consortium responsible for the design as constructed and also the Architects of Record. The two architectural teams delivered the project under a two-tiered design and delivery process under Infrastructure Ontario’s Alternate Financing and Procurement program.
The ceremony, attended by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews, celebrated the opening of the Hospital and the transformation of the historic Don Jail as the first phase in the realization of the campus of care. It also marked the beginning of the next phase to complete the redevelopment of the site as an interconnected, pedestrian-friendly campus with landscaping and gardens.
Every element and detail was strategically designed to bring the community to the hospital and to maximize connections with the city and with nature to optimize healing. Key strategies are integrated through every level, from the ground-floor “Porch,” which is accessible to the community; to the windows that allow patients lying in bed to have unobstructed views; to a green roof that provides access to the outdoors in the upper levels of the hospital.
In addition to the completion of the overall site redevelopment, the project is undergoing the most rigorous hospital facility Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) in the history of Canada to measure and assess the effect of architecture on well-being and health outcomes. Bridgepoint Active Healthcare will be an exemplar for evidence- based design to ‘demonstrate substantive outcomes related to capital investments’ and to ultimately contribute to international research in the field of healthcare design.