Justice Architecture - Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

a healthcare hub
A healthcare hub for all
By Christopher Guly
When it opened in Toronto in June, the Bridgepoint Healthcare Centre became the largest facility of
its kind in Canada focused on the rehabilitation and treatment of patients living with complex health
conditions. Now, one of the architects involved in its design believes the 464-bed, 10-storey hospital
could serve as an important component of a holistic health-and-wellness system of community care
never before seen in this country.
www.raic.org / 2014
Greg Colucci, MRAIC, a principal with Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt
Architects, envisions a model that would provide urban, suburban and rural
residents with access to treatment, care and prevention on one campus—and
Bridgepoint, which was designed by a consortium of architects from Stantec,
KPMB Architects, HDR Architecture and Diamond Schmitt—satisfies some
of his wish list in providing ambulatory care as well as complex continuing
care and rehabilitation services that incorporate elements of prevention
and treatment.
The 63,000-square-metre facility also happens to sit on a plot of land
where three other sites have been identified for future development over the
next decade.
Were Colucci to realize his dream, such an area could consist of other
elements, such as centres for cancer care and mental health, a medical clinic,
a long-term care facility, an assisted living retirement home, a guest house
for respite, a fitness and community centre, a learning resource centre and
possibly even space for life-sciences research. This healthcare constellation
could also include food markets and cafés.
“Imagine a place where you could go to your family doctor, then drop your
kids off at a fitness centre while you search for information about healthy
living at a library,” said Colucci. “You then pick up Grandma at the retirement
home and take the family grocery shopping followed by lunch—all at the same
location, whether it’s in a major city or a rural environment.”
He presented the idea of such a fully integrated campus of care at the
2013 International Union of Architects Public Health Group Forum and Global
University Programs in Healthcare Architecture Meeting at IIDEX 2013 in
Toronto, presented by RAIC.
“At one end, you would have a site for treatment, whether it’s through
long-term care or rehabilitation services. At the other end, you would focus
on prevention, such as through a learning resource centre or fitness facility,”
explained Colucci in an interview.
“Ambulatory care would straddle both sides in providing people with access
to primary care and minor day-hospital procedures.”
The question that confounds him is why such a one-stop healthcare
complex has not been established in Canada. Similar treatment-andprevention
models exist in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia
and Scandinavia.
“It doesn’t have to be a physical collection of buildings,” said Colucci. “It
just has to be a mindset that has all these entities talking to one another to
Photos: Tom Arban
22 ■ Architecture Canada