Ennead Architects covers a health facility in Philadelphia with “pleated” glass

It may surprise you that patient privacy falls under an architect’s responsibility. But privacy as well as technical needs informed Ennead Architects’s core design decisions for the Jefferson Health Honickman Center in Philadelphia—a feat, given the building’s generous use of glass. The building sits on South 11th and Chestnut streets and is part of National Real Estate Development’s expansive portfolio in the area, a historic neighborhood characterized by low-lying masonry structures. But here, Ennead took the opportunity to create a skyline-defining building.

Many Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (branded as Jefferson Health) buildings occupy historic structures. But the opportunity for Honickman to be a ground-up project customized to the needs of doctors, nurses, patients, and students was an exciting proposition for the university.

Ennead designers were largely influenced by the school’s legacy of innovation and its humble beginnings as the Philadelphia Textile School. It was from this history that the New York–based architecture firm got the idea to have the glass treatment adopt the texture and appearance of fabric.

“Glass was a natural choice to say, ‘This is the future,’ but using glass tells a story about fabric and softness and care,” Jarrett Pelletier, a principal at Ennead, told AN.

Pelletier added that the building was conceived as two volumes: Metal panels face the building on the north and west facades, while “pleated” glass envelopes the rest of the building. The program of the medical facility informed the glass treatment. On the ground floor, a double-height lobby space was created using a glass storefront system by InnovationGlass—metal strongbacks form a linear grid on the flat glass. This space acts as a large waiting room for patients and families receiving treatment or attending appointments throughout the 19-story building. The ability to see out to city streets, and alternatively let them in, makes the healthcare facility a welcoming part of the neighborhood.

On the upper floors, the glass was custom-designed by Ennead to mimic pleated fabric. The pattern is made possible by 6-foot curved panels placed between two flat 5-foot panels. The curved glass segment is completely transparent, while the flat pieces feature a frit made up of a gradient of vertical lines. The glass grows gradually more transparent as one moves closer to where the curves intersect.

This articulation is not only visually compelling from the exterior, but defines a comfortable seating area inside. There, the curved glass takes the shape of a nook, and the frit—combined with an additional coating that minimizes influx—shades occupants from the sun. It was challenging to get the coating to be seamless across the panel types, as the product used on the curved glass elements couldn’t be “co-located” with the frit.

“It’s almost like an optical illusion, because the gradient of the frit on the flat piece exaggerates visually the three-dimensional quality from the exterior,” Pelletier said.

Other references to textiles were woven into the project: Elevator cores are wrapped in etched painted glass and feature rounded corners that nod to glass extrusions on the exterior, and elsewhere mosaic tiles take cues from woven fabrics.

Ennead worked closely with local glazing contractor New Hudson Facades. Together the team of designers reviewed countless mock-ups of the glass panels and tested the performance of various frits.

Programmatically, enclosed spaces occupy the lower floors, while the patient-centered spaces are delegated to upper floors. Ennead ensured glass was used in patient waiting areas and staff spaces, while exam rooms are located more toward the center of the floor plate for obvious privacy reasons.

Pelletier added, “In the planning of the building, there was a lot of care taken to make sure it was organized in a way to support patient privacy, but then balanced with the benefits of having waiting spaces that have daylight.”

This project will be presented at Facades+ Philadelphia on September 19.

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