Engineering Dell Seton Medical Center

A high-performance healing environment that embraces the whole community

Dell Seton Medical Center, the new primary teaching hospital for Dell Medical School at The University of Texas, anchors a new healthcare innovation zone in the state capital, Austin.

The 517,000ft2 (45,990m2) facility is dedicated to meeting the medical challenges of the future, with a keen focus on wellness and illness prevention.

Location

Austin, USA

Client

Ascension Seton Healthcare Family

Architect

HKS, Inc.

Project status

Completed in 2017

Dell Seton also replaces the region’s trauma facilities formerly housed in University Medical Center Brackenridge. Ranking in the top 1% of all trauma centres in the US for best patient outcomes, our client’s aim is to improve its performance further through this entire update of its trauma unit.

Ensuring a successful future

The core clinical areas are larger and more numerous than those of its predecessor – Dell Seton has 13 operating rooms and 42 emergency beds – and the building has been designed with longevity in mind. The rooms and treatment facilities are expandable and adaptable, and our building services engineers have designed electrical and IT systems with future technological and medical advances in mind to create an infrastructure fit for the 21st century.

By minimising its impact on the environment, Dell Seton is making an important contribution to the health and wellbeing of the wider community, too. The Level 1 trauma centre achieved LEED Gold certification, thanks in part to features including 100 per cent outside air, heat recovery chillers, LED lighting, verdantly-planted internal courtyards accessible to patients, staff and visitors, and the provision of pedestrian and bike paths outside the building.

Combined with an efficient thermal building envelope, the energy efficient building services create projected annual energy savings of 23% (equating to $240,000 per year saved), compared with traditional systems.

Sustainability and wellness inform every aspect of the Dell Seton concept, creating a high-performance healing environment that extends well beyond the hospital’s walls.