“Rubble Mobile”
PROJECT: Air Force Base, Ambulatory Care Center
LOCATION: Panama City, FL
PARTNERS: StructSure Projects, United Excel Design (UED)
MARKET SECTOR: Healthcare
PROJECT SCOPE: Concept Development
SIZE: 39,000 SF
COMPLETION: 2021
PROJECT CONCEPT: FROM RUBBLE TO REBIRTH
Design is driven by the history of Panama Beach and, more specifically, the challenges this Air Force Base and its surrounding community faced and are currently overcoming as they clean up the destruction Hurricane Michael left behind. This transition from chaos to order, from rubble to rebirth, will be a recurrent theme throughout the clinic, and is best reflected in the main entrance.
The flooring pattern, defined by the porcelain wood-look flooring echoing the Panama Beach Pier, will draw the visitors’ eyes down the open, airy atrium to a grand mural portraying the journey of Hurricane Michael’s destruction.
As visitors enters the building, their eyes are first drawn to an acoustic baffle mobile, which represents the destruction left by Hurricane Michael. This mobile element serves as a wayfinding tool to mark the major intersection of two pathways, the atrium and the annex. Their eyes are drawn down the atrium by the pattern of the linear ceiling baffles above, which start at the "Rubble Mobile" in a disorderly pattern, but become more unified and the farther down the pattern, and land on a grand mural, just before the entrance of building A. This mural represents the story of the community pulling together to work through and repair the destruction of Hurricane Michael to the rebuilding and rebirth of this clinic building. Th linear baffles also serve as a wayfinding cue, leading visitors visually through the atrium and to the elevator lobby of the building.
Every department is identified by a unique “portal”, clearly identifying the reception desk and staff.
The existing reception desk’s material palette and design reiterate the existing FY15 project, but each department’s portal will be clearly identified by a unique color and indigenous plant. Each plant or flower in its respective color will be used as a vinyl graphic on the sliding glass doors, as an accent paint in each portal, and in an in interesting textural surface color on the portal’s ceiling. This textural element, Nordgrona reindeer moss, requires no maintenance, is hypo-allergenic, fire-resistant, and provides sound dampening with a perfect NRC rating of 100%. The moss promotes patient speech privacy, a positive visual distraction, and brings a healing garden into each waiting space. These portals are a strength of this design, providing visual interest, acoustical properties, and connection to nature while also serving as a critical wayfinding tool.
