Innovation by design.

Since 2005, innovation has been the hallmark of TRIA Orthopaedic Center. And their newest location in Woodbury is no exception. The state-of-the-art facility is a key component of the 100-acre CityPlace development, which transformed a vacant corporate campus into a dynamic live-work-play environment. The entire building is designed for flexibility, transparency and patient-centric care.

Project goals:

Create a state-of-the-art design worthy of Minnesota’s first fully dedicated orthopedic urgent care center
Support the brand and design integration of our three clients: TRIA, HealthPartners and Park Nicollet
Reflect the guiding principles throughout the design, especially transparency
Provide convenience by integrating the building into the RSP-designed CityPlace mixed-use development

The integration of TRIA with HealthPartners and Park Nicollet — all of which came together in this new venture — was a critical component of the project. Each had distinctive cultures and brands. So, together, leaders from each organization created guiding principles to guide the project and refine the patient approach.

“I think this was part of the secret sauce,” said Jon Buggy, AIA, Principal. “Taking what could have been an obstacle, and channeling the power of the collective to elevate, enhance and reinforce the TRIA brand.”

The organizations’ unified vision sparked something big for the Twin Cities: the new TRIA is the region’s first fully dedicated orthopedic urgent care center, with an innovative, patient-centric approach that showcases therapy and recovery.

**Making an entrance.** A soaring three-story glass entrance wraps the front of the building and frames thoughtful views on all sides.

Entry: The beacon and lobby

The TRIA experience starts before patients even enter the building. A soaring three-story glass entrance, dubbed “The Beacon,” (pictured above) wraps the front of the building and frames thoughtful views on all sides. Perhaps most emblematic aspect of the design, the glass atrium is accented by curtain wall, metal panels and stone.

Upon entering, the intuitive design of the lobby allows visitors to see everything the building has to offer in a sweep of the eye. The continuation of glass lines the waiting areas and demarks exam rooms and team spaces. The dynamic lifelike artwork, starting with a larger-than-life image of a female sprinter in the entry, represents movement and wellness in all phases of life.

**Door details.** Exam room doors are translucent, so patients have privacy without feeling boxed in. Each door has a silhouette design that represents various forms of movement.

The First Floor: Clinic

From a medical planning perspective, there were a lot of moving parts at TRIA Woodbury. Addressing adjacencies (i.e. which departments had to be next to one another), to the layout of individual spaces, to envisioning the big picture flow — all had to be considered with both the patient and staff experience in mind.

**Laying the foundation.** The diagram highlights the design intent for patient flow, departmental separation and views to the outdoors.

Because of this, plotting the overall the floorplan was a painstaking process. The RSP team worked closely with TRIA to ensure the building programming was innovative and welcoming, yet still functional and accommodating of all clinical needs.

The clinic is typically the first place people go when visiting TRIA, so it had to be the most accessible. For the Acute Injury Clinic (AIC) and Orthopedic Urgent Care, which functions as an emergency department, there was a need for strong visual adjacencies to all of the rooms. Because visual connectivity to the entire urgent care team is crucial, a “neighborhood” care model was used. This model places the care team in a central location, where they have easy visual and physical access to all the exam rooms at once. On the scheduled appointment side of the clinic, however, an innovative “on-stage/off-stage” layout was employed. In this design scenario, exam rooms have separate entries for patients and staff, reinforcing visibility while also shielding patients from behind-the-scenes activities.

More hospitality than hospital.

From an interior design standpoint, TRIA is more “hospitality” than “hospital.” In other words, they favor more refined hotel furnishings over those typically found in a clinic. That touch of elegance can be found, for example, in the vessel sinks and stainless steel glove boxes.

“We used color minimally, with accents in flooring, accent stripes outside exam rooms, and, of course, the art. We wanted to keep it simple, classic and calming,” said Stephanie Statz, Senior Project Interior Designer.

As for finishes, simple, neutral tones are used throughout the clinic to provide a sense of classic timelessness. The finishes are a subtle blend of the TRIA’s signature white, gray, maple, and navy, with pops of color for a fresh, energetic, brand-forward update. This neutral palette provided a clean canvas for the art. RSP’s design team created more than 50 places for art and branding — including the option for video — throughout the building.

Healing design. The therapy spaces on the second floor were designed to encourage activity and reveal the healing journey.

The Second Floor: Therapy Services

The second floor Physical Therapy space features many special design moments.

“The space is designed to be welcoming. We wanted it to feel as though you were walking through a process, not a corridor,” design principal David Serrano said. “You’re bearing witness to the high level professional care as it is happening. This is definitely a unique part of TRIA’s culture.”

A grand staircase ascends from the lobby and leads to the second floor landing, where a waiting area and a large conference center is available for patients, staff and visitors. These spaces are equipped with with world-class audio visual capabilities that are used to monitor surgeries, conduct teleconferences, and more. The glass walls of the conference room are made of collapsible/movable partitions, which allows the room to be opened up for larger groups and community events.

From here, a corridor leads to a range of therapy services, including:

The Hydrotherapy Pool, which has two underwater treadmills featuring resistance jets and underwater cameras to provide state-of-the-art therapy
and observation.
The Hand Therapy department, which provides treatment for all conditions of hand, wrist, elbow and upper extremities, including fabrication of both static and dynamic custom splints.
Physical Therapy, which offers an indoor throwing lane, video-based performance analysis and surrounding outdoor views. Here, recovering athletes can test their progress in a safe, closely monitored environment, complete with retractable astro turf and a pitching mound.

**Transparency in surgery.** The Observation Deck provides surgical staff with critical first-hand access to procedures. It also allows students the opportunity to see surgical procedures in full, rather than just on video. This is in keeping with TRIA’s research commitment.

The Third Floor: Surgery

The third floor surgical area, with pre- and post-operative recovery spaces, required highly specialized design considerations and strict adherence to health care guidelines and standards. The Observation Deck provides surgical staff with critical first-hand access to procedures. It also allows students the opportunity to see surgical procedures in full, rather than just on video — in keeping with TRIA’s commitment to supporting best-in-class medical research.

**Getting the green light.** When turned on, this state-of-the-art, anti-fatigue green lighting provides excellent illumination while eliminating glare on the monitors.

In the operating rooms, TRIA employed the LifeSuite Air Filtration Management system, which delivers three times the recommended HEPA filtered air. This feature ranks TRIA Woodbury as the cleanest surgery center in Minnesota. In fact, the suite has groundbreaking technology throughout: each operating room is equipped with integrated surgical technologies, triple glazed windows and state-of-the-art anti-fatigue lighting. When turned on, this green lighting creates an ideal environment for surgeons by providing excellent illumination while eliminating glare on the monitors.

Transparency in the OR.

Most operating rooms are secluded or placed in the middle of the building. Which is why most don’t have windows. At TRIA, ample windows allow for extensive access to daylight in the third floor work and recovery areas. Even the ORs themselves have windows — albeit smaller and placed higher up. Still it was felt that the the connection to natural light would be beneficial to surgical teams, especially during extended operation procedures.

Because of the higher humidity demands of the operating room environment, particular attention had to be paid to the glazing on the windows. To prevent condensation on the glass, and issues with cleaning, triple glass was used to improve insulation and to mitigate exterior wall issues.

Architecturally, the challenge was creating a custom layered wall with ventilation that allowed the TRIA operating room to be easily temperature-controlled. Triple-paned windows and an interior blind system helped to maintain climate control while adhering to a strict code for sterile environment.

“TRIA wanted to go above and beyond the norm — they wanted more than a typical hospital,” said Jesse Ulland, Project Architect. “So it’s a lot more systematic. They wanted efficient flow, and pre- and post-operation areas that had different bays. We did away with institutionalized elements, as much as we were allowed.”

TRIA Orthopaedic Center has been honored with the following awards:

2018 Finalist, MREJ Awards, Medical Category
2017 Finance and Commerce Top Projects