Medical/Dental Clinic Replacement,
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
Download printable project sheet, 138KB.
Seeing that the existing Andersen clinic at was becoming inadequate for its base
population and antiquated in its systems and code performance, the Pacific Division
of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command selected SS&A to study their improvement
choices. Through a charrette process, the SS&A team worked with the client
to determine that the most appropriate response was to construct a totally new
replacement for the clinic. Following this conclusion, SS&A was retained to
supply architectural and engineering services for the facility.
Construction of the new building, located just west of the existing facility,
will be phased to allow uninterrupted clinic service to the base's servicemen
and women and their families. The new one-story building will connect to the recently
constructed Flight Medicine Clinic to the southeast and to the existing Logistics
building to the northeast. The facility centers upon a Barrel-vaulted entrance/waiting
area flooded with natural light from clerestory windows. All areas of the clinic
are conveniently located around this space, with all major patient areas visible
to clinic visitors upon entry.
The exterior of the clinic is designed according to the latest anti-terrorism
guidelines and is designed structurally to resist the severe weather common to
the Pacific island. The massing of the building is ordered to provide hierarchical
priority to entrance points, with vertical elements and exterior surface treatments
helping to give rhythm to the more horizontal edifice. Exterior elements materials
are in accord with surrounding Mission style architecture.
The medical and building systems are designed with flexibility as an utmost concern,
to help ensure the new structure does not reach obsolescence as quickly as its
predecessor.