Synopsis: Located beside the lobby of The Medicine Company’s 167,000 SF suburban New Jersey campus, the new 8,100 SF Medical Simulation Center is a new lab model for demonstrating and testing pharmaceuticals and surgical procedures through simulation settings and devices. The center’s welcoming ambiance fosters collaboration among members and outside consultants. Its prominent location within the corporate HQ invites the participation of all staff members while highlighting advances in technology and research. The space and its creative use symbolize the firm’s culture.
Detailed Description: The design process and pre-design programming of The Medicine Company’s Medical Simulation Center were conducted by interviewing key stakeholders, e.g., senior management, researchers, surgeons. Core design, technical parameter analysis, and research on the world’s best pharmaceutical and surgical practices became a valuable design/build resource.
The design program combines hospital elements—operating room, catheterization laboratory (Cath lab), control room, ICU, nurses’ station, ER entrance—with a learning space, debriefing room, research workshop, kitchen/café, gallery, and library. Sustainable elements include LED lighting with energy-saving controls, daylight harvesting, low-flow plumbing, and recycled materials.
An oft-mentioned term in the interviews, “Simulation as Theater,” became the theme for creating spaces in which actor and spectator, teacher and learner roles could alternate, and for redefining rooms to let participants observe each other’s activities in sense-exciting ways.
“Simulation as Theater,” became the theme for creating spaces.
