Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital began construction earlier this year on a 28,000-square-foot emergency department addition and renovation that will incorporate a bold new 24-hour entry for both the pediatric and adjacent adult emergency departments. The expansion includes 24,000 square feet of new construction, most of it allocated for pediatric care. Construction cost is $18.6 million, with completion targeted for March 2013. The second level of the entry will cantilever 15 feet above the streetscape at the ground floor entry.

Covered in a “skin” of bright red, it will become a major new entrance for the hospital. “The color is appropriate not only because it symbolizes emergency care, but because its boldness will help people who may be under stress find their way more quickly,” said Pierce McVey, design principal with Mahlum, an architectural firm that has worked on Sacred Heart projects for the past 20 years.