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BUSINESS NEWS EYP DESIGNS HOUSTON METHODIST CENTENNIAL TOWER AT TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER EYP, a leading architecture and engineering firm creating memorable designs that enhance people’s lives and communities, today announced that it has broken ground on its most recent project to uplift the patient and care provider experience for the Houston Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. The $1.4 billion Centennial Tower continues the hospital’s iconic architectural identity and advances its mission to deliver the best clinical care, leading-edge technology, and exceptional patient experience within a healing-focused environment that supports the region’s evolving health needs. Centennial Tower resulted from a decades-long journey to renew and expand Houston Methodist’s aging patient facilities. As part of the effort, EYP developed a long-range campus master plan that started with the Research Institute and Outpatient Center completed in 2010 and the 22-story Walter Tower opened in 2018. At 29 stories, the new Centennial Tower will add 382 private in-patient beds, an expanded emergency department, and advanced neuro- and cardiovascular- surgical capabilities.
“After successfully completing Walter Tower, we engaged EYP to design Centennial Tower to serve the needs of our area’s growing patient population,” said Sean Menogan, senior vice president of construction, facilities design, and real estate, Houston Methodist. “With a new emergency department that’s nearly double in size, and larger, enhanced imaging services, and approximately 400 additional patient beds, the new state-of- the-art building will deliver outstanding patient service and operational efficiency. We value EYP’s leadership and effective management through each phase of this complex project.” Connecting to existing Houston Methodist buildings on multiple levels for better care integration and more efficient operations, the curvilinear shape of the tower will provide spectacular views from every patient room. The diagnostic and treatment platform will include 19 operating rooms, imaging, and interventional radiology co-located to consolidate and lessen patient movement. In addition, a green roof on level 14 offers an outdoor space for respite and rejuvenation. “Centennial Tower will be a landmark building that reinforces the identity and presence of Houston Methodist within the Texas Medical Center,” stated Tushar
Gupta, FAIA, NCARB, managing principal and design principal at EYP. “With a contemporary and empathetic design throughout, the building will create a healing environment welcoming patients and caregivers as the new front door of the campus.” Serving as the architect of record for the new building, EYP managed master planning, programming, architecture, medical planning, environmental graphic design, and exterior and interior design. Centennial Tower is scheduled to open in 2027. EYP is celebrating 50 years as a people-first, interdisciplinary design firm specializing in higher education, healthcare, government, and science & technology. Our integrated teams offer planning and design, high-performance engineering, environmental graphics, preservation and modernization, interiors and workplace, sustainable landscaping, and rapid response projects to tackle your pressing challenges. And together, we begin every project by asking, “What’s Possible?” EYP has interdisciplinary offices in 11 cities across the United States and projects in more than 100 countries.
1. Continue to hire a more diverse workforce. They’re putting this out there in their marketing and on their website. They also work with a local organization that helps new immigrants find work. 2. Build resilience to get through the coming recession. Currently, the company is solid and has a good backlog of work – about two years – but it will continue to build on that to ensure a secure future. 3. Continue to improve building practices to maximize build efficiency. To meet this end, they will continue to focus on maximizing the utilization of carbon sequestering materials – that’s an important part of the company’s ethos. Currently, the firm reviews its balance sheet and job profitability each quarter and adjusts practices accordingly when it makes sense. All indications are that Juniper will grow robustly, but that’s not primarily what they’re after. They’re more about creating a quality day in/day out work life for their employees, a satisfying client experience, and leaving a design and sustainability legacy that future generations of Mainers will be inspired by. “That’s what gets us to the office every day,” Thompson says.
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policy. They pay 100 percent of an employee’s health insurance and offer a simple IRA with a 3 percent match. There’s a tool allowance for carpenters and they also adhere to FMLA and parental time off even though they’re below the company size threshold. “We’re a small company, so we try to have regular conversations with everyone to make sure they’re happy and talk with them about their goals, ideas, and whatever else they want to bring up.” FOCUSED ON THREE. Thompson says there are many challenges to meet ahead including the serious labor shortage that everyone seems to be dealing with, but right now, the founders have several short- and long-term goals, and they’ve narrowed their focus to three:
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THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 19, 2022, ISSUE 1457
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