Originally completed in 1965, the Darnall Army Community Hospital at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, was built to serve 17,000 troops. Over the years, a number of expansion projects were undertaken to meet growing needs, but by the early 2000s, it was clear that a new facility was necessary.
In 2006, plans were announced to build a replacement hospital – a project that would become one of the largest DOD contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The new 950,000-square-foot facility opened in November 2015 with a six-story hospital tower, three outpatient specialty clinic buildings, and three parking garages. Today, the hospital serves more than 42,000 active duty personnel, plus an additional 100,000 family members and veterans.
For the hospital’s building envelope, Thermomass insulated concrete panels were used as part of a plan to maximize sustainability.
The facility was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification with such features as drought-resistant landscaping that’s irrigated using condensate from the mechanical system, a mechanical system that uses 100 percent outside air, and a high-performance building envelope.
See photos and read the full article at:
http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/projects/acute-care/built-to-serve/