Image courtesy of Ballinger and Ennead Architects
On Monday evening, Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh revealed new, more detailed designed for the new Inova hospital in Alexandria.
The company hosted a virtual community meeting to present an update on the hospital, which is set to open in 2028 at the former site of Landmark Mall in Alexandria’s West End. The hospital will eventually replace the current Alexandria Hospital on Seminary Road.
The hospital is expected to be the anchor of the Landmark Mall redevelopment which has been dubbed “WestEnd” and will take up more than one-fifth of the 50-acre site. There will be approximately 933,500 square feet of hospital space with room for expansion in the future if needed.
There will be three buildings – a 470,000-square foot inpatient hospital, a 92,500-square foot cancer center and a 71,500-square foot specialty care center which will provide outpatient services. The hospital will be up to 185 feet tall, the cancer center will be 80 feet in height and the specialty care center will be 77 feet high.
In addition to the three buildings, a new parking structure will join the parking structure that already exists on the site, which contains 550 spaces. The new above-ground parking structure, plus some parking under the buildings, will add 930 more spaces for patients, visitors and employees.
There will be a helipad on top of the main hospital building, which expects to fly 30 trips annually by 2030. Helicopters will take a “fly friendly” route over 1-395 and other large roads, avoiding nearby schools and neighborhoods as much as possible.
Street names surrounding the future hospital have been finalized including Healthway Place, Hecht Avenue, Tucker Place and Westend Boulevard.
The hospital campus will have a unified architectural design featuring light colors, glass, straight lines, transparency and angles. It will have a similar look to Inova’s Oakville Triangle project which is currently under construction in Potomac Yards.
Image courtesy of Ballinger and Ennead Architects
The new hospital campus will enable top notch healthcare for Alexandria. “It [the new hospital] allows for modern healthcare to be provided in facilities that really meet the requirements of that health care, so operating rooms of proper size, separation of traffic flows between patients, families and visitors. It allows for single-patient rooms and patient beds,” said Thomas Wong, Design Partner with Ennead Architects.
The main hospital lobby will serve as the main entrance to the hospital with a patient welcome center, pharmacy, meditation room and gift shop. The hospital is planned to have 19 procedure rooms of different types, and it is currently estimated that the hospital will have 192 licensed beds with a total of 231 beds, including observation, NICU and women’s beds.
In addition to the new structures, the hospital campus will have three distinct open spaces. A healing garden geared towards cancer patients will be located in front of the cancer center. It will have plenty of trees, flowers and shade canopies. A community green will provide a welcoming, flexible space for visitors and activities like yoga classes. Campus meeting place will provide benches and active space in front of the specialty care center.
The main hospital will have a green roof and two terraces, one for team member and another one for everyone including patients, visitors and team members.
The Inova project at WestEnd is currently on track although there is still a long approval process before construction can begin. Public hearings with the Planning Commission and City Council could happen in March of 2023. There will be future site walk-throughs with community members and construction is expected to start in 2024 with completion of the new hospital in 2028.
Once the hospital is relocated from Seminary Road to West End, the old hospital site will likely be demolished and turned into new housing.
