Sustainable, Healthy Spaces Revive a Community Health System
Design Team: HGA
Location: Astera Health Replacement Hospital, Wadena, MN, USA
Market: Health & Wellness
Products: Xorel Meteor, Xorel Kaleidoscope, Xorel Bloom Emboss, Aerial, Facet, Medley Stripe
End Use: Wallcovering
Photography: Brandon Stengel
Astera Health, formerly Tri-County Health Care, is a private, non-profit healthcare system based in Wadena, MN, offering services such as primary health, surgery, cancer care, diagnostic imaging, obstetrics, orthopedics and rehabilitation. The objective of the new 125,000 SF replacement hospital was to bring a new, state-of-the-art facility to the community of Wadena and the greater Otter Tail county, and to advance their high quality care service offering.
For design firm HGA, it was critical that this facility make a statement in the community, be a place that people remember and want to come back to, and ultimately welcome a new generation. Their design goal was to create a keystone/signature facility that provides a calming and welcoming experience for patients and families, integrates intuitive wayfinding strategies, and amplifies the Astera brand.
“As a designer, I’ve always had positive experiences with Carnegie and feel confident in specifying. The materials have a great sustainability story, contribute to a healthy indoor environment, and provide pops of color and moments of joy. Whenever I’ve had questions regarding product or performance, I always get answers in a timely manner and in all my years of specifying the product, I’ve never once had a dissatisfied client or maintenance concerns.”
- Sophie Kjeldgaard, CID, IIDA, WELL AP, LEED Green Associate, Interior Designer, HGA
HGA used a variety of Carnegie products for wallcovering solutions, as part of a larger strategy to create healthy, sustainable spaces. Carnegie has always been at the forefront of offering PVC-free products that are durable, easy to clean, and can withstand the wear-and-tear inherent in healthcare spaces. The availability of Health Product Declarations to evaluate each product is another reason that healthcare designers prioritize Carnegie product selections over others.
The wallcovering selections provided the calming and welcoming environment that was desired for the facility, bringing in memorable textures and patterns and highlighting the Astera Health brand. A large facility with a variety of wall surfaces needs to creatively add interest and aid in wayfinding, which the wallcoverings were able to achieve.