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Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital

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1980, Caudill Rowlett Scott
  • Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital (Alison K. Hoagland)

Modern and high tech, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital is both responsive and alien to its surroundings. It is located in a remote town on the lower Kuskokwim River that was founded by Moravian missionaries and has evolved into a regional hub. Completed in 1980, the large one-story, steel-framed building is clad with bright yellow prefabricated panels accented with blue. Architects Caudill Rowlett Scott accommodated the permafrost by elevating the building on legs that are on H-shaped thermopiles, incorporating copper tubes of freon that passively extract heat from the tundra through convection. The elevation of the building also enables snow to blow under the building, rather than drifting around it. Rounded corners increase the aerodynamics or at least seem to visually. A dramatic, enclosed handicapped ramp at the primary entrance and hooded stairways on all sides of the building provide access to the bright interior. The fifty-bed hospital is oriented around a central concourse, which includes an open waiting room and courtyards to provide natural light.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Alison K. Hoagland
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Data

Citation

Alison K. Hoagland, "Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital", [Kongiganak, Alaska], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AK-01-WE021.

Print Source

Buildings of Alaska, Alison K. Hoagland. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 275-275.

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