As Nevada’s largest not-for-profit healthcare provider, Renown Health operates two acute care hospitals, a children’s hospital, a medical group, and a network of urgent care facilities. With such an extensive portfolio of facilities supporting a diverse range of needs, Renown put extra thought into material selections when it was ready to update its major facilities.
They contracted with the design firm Perkins&Will to renovate the Renown Healthcare Tower and assist with creating design standards that would guide future facilities.
“People may not realize it, but there is a heavy scientific component to healthcare design,” says Samantha Koblitz, Renown’s Project Manager of Interiors. “Any designer can bring materials together to look good, but in healthcare, they must function first and foremost.”
Perkins&Will soon selected nora® rubber flooring as one of the brand’s primary materials for its ability to marry design and function.
No More Wax On, Wax Off
The need for no-wax flooring was a significant driver in selecting nora.
“nora floors are incredibly low maintenance, which is important in the healthcare setting, where room turnover is a key metric for measuring efficiency,” explains Holly Ewing, Senior Interior Project Designer at Perkins&Will.
“Healthcare never stops, and neither can we,” says Koblitz. “Facilities need to be operational at any time, especially hospitals. The downtime needed to wax and maintain other flooring materials was a drain on time, resources and revenue.”
nora rubber was selected as the flooring for the bulk of Renown’s patient and provider areas, including the ORs, nurses’ stations, hallways and patient rooms. Using nora rubber allows stains and fluids to be easily cleaned with an approved cleaner and a mop, while tougher messes, like bone cement used during surgery, can be scraped off without harming the product.
Dynamic Product for Dynamic Needs
It’s no secret there are a lot of must-haves in healthcare spaces. Not only does a facility need to consider patient needs, but providers, staff and families as well.
“The remarkable thing about nora is that it can cater to a multitude of different needs through one singular product,” says Nicki Hellem, Senior Interior Project Manager at Perkins&Will.
“It provides underfoot comfort to our OR teams, who often stand for hours. Slip resistance and a more pliant texture bring added safety against slips and falls for patients and staff. Additionally, the range of colors allowed us to use the flooring as a method for wayfinding, making it easier for patient families to find their way around the facility, and the acoustic properties of nora lessen ambient noise and create a more relaxing, healing environment for patients and their loved ones,” Koblitz says.
A Lasting Investment
Healthcare facilities take a significant beating over time. Materials that lack durability can cost more in the long run through constant replacement and lost revenue from restricted operations. However, nora rubber flooring can last for decades, often outliving the buildings it’s installed in, which makes for a much more cost-effective solution in the long term.
“I’d been pushing for rubber flooring for years without success,” says Koblitz. “We explored every other possible option, from poured silicate to LVT – nothing fits our complex needs as well as nora does. When Perkins&Will also advocated for selecting rubber, I knew we could make it work this time.”
Cultivating Buy-In
“Design is nothing without buy-in,” explains Ewing. “If your end-users don’t like a product, it doesn’t matter how good or pretty it is. It won’t succeed.”
“We had multiple users involved in the design process from the very beginning,” explains Koblitz. “And the final test of that involvement was the mock-up model.” Perkins&Will worked with Renown’s design team to create a full-scale mock-up of all the materials being considered in the final project design.
“We invited them to come take a look and test things out. We told them not to hold back, get as rough as necessary and really test the material limits. People were stomping and throwing samples onto the ground. It was wild,” Hellem explains. With the hands-on experience of the mock-up, those who will experience the facility most often could walk away confident in the choices being made for the project.
Future-Proof Design
The first phase of the Renown Tower project finished in June of 2023 with two floors of brand-new intensive care units (ICUs). “In the end, it was a hit all around,” says Koblitz. “And the issues we have run into, because every project experiences issues, have been a breeze to handle thanks to the attention and care of our Interface field reps. We’ve even decided to go back and redo some of our previous renovations with nora.”
Thanks to the user-focused approach by Renown and the Perkins&Will team, the healthcare provider can move forward with guidelines that help set the tone for the future of their brand, as well as the quality of their care.