The Riverview Health Centre is a community hospital located in the Riverview neighborhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba. At the time of construction, the Centre was designed and constructed to the best health care design standards and they continue to take pride in their Patient Focused Care approach. The existing facility includes a number of wings that house a 60 bed Alzheimer Care building, a 228 bed PCH, and 129 bed Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Care building.

The Lean Programming process for the Alzheimer’s Centre of Excellence built on the traditional Functional Programming processes and documentation. Looking at existing data, we analyzed each user group’s processes against the required programmed space to determine opportunities for reducing waste. At each stage of analysis the team employed process flow analysis and spaghetti diagrams to map out the processes taking place within the current care model. This allowed all user groups, in tandem, to identify areas or events that could be streamlined or reworked and areas of duplication and inefficiencies. We looked at creating flexible areas that could be conductive to multiple uses, like the pavilion’s “activities-on-the-move” zones, the recreational kitchen and open recreational. In many instances, space planning and millwork design were augmented after each iteration to save time and labour within the programmed area.

The renovation affected the core functions within the units including the medication room, kitchen, dining, and living space – all planned to function together as a cluster within the ‘lean’ programming to reduce movement and labour. The resident rooms remain essentially as-is with modest modifications to the washroom, closets, lighting, and electrical/data outlets.

The project includes the renovation of the two existing 60 bed Alzheimer buildings and the construction of a single storey pavilion that connects the two existing building wings.

The primary focus of the renovation revolves around the wing’s core functions including the nurse/team centre, medication room, kitchen, and dining/living spaces. Reorganizing of the resident wings from a single large common area zone into multiple intimate zones creates family sized groups. The wings will have a residential aesthetic and each resident room door will have a photograph of the resident’s house door installed to assist the residents with finding their room.

The single storey pavilion connects the existing wings on the main floor providing a continuous loop for residents to wander while creating an internal courtyard accessible to the staff and residents. The courtyard area has been designed to include a wandering path, benches, a water feature, a covered seating area, and vegetation, creating a therapeutic environment. The pavilion is complete with a recreational kitchen, a recreational laundry area, a flexible open space, a therapeutic snoezelen room, accessible washrooms, and interchangeable activity spaces located throughout the facility. These activities include but are not limited to a doll nursery, a furnished office desk, a stationary fitness bike, and a decommissioned car.

Project Profile:

Client: Riverview Health Centre
New Building Area: 632m²
Renovation Area: 1497m²
Construction Completion: 2019
Construction Cost: $8.5M

Consultant Team:

Architectural: Verne Reimer Architecture Incorporated
Interior Designers: Rodych Integrated Design Inc.
Structural Engineers: Crosier Kilgour & Partners Ltd.
Mechanical Engineers: SMS Engineering Ltd.
Electrical Engineers: SMS Engineering Ltd.
Quantity Surveyors: Bockstael Construction Limited
General Contractor: Bockstael Construction Limited