Prairie Ridge Integrated Behavioral Healthcare

Accord Architecture Company

Recognitions: People's Choice 2018

Project Description

The Prairie Ridge Integrated Behavioral Healthcare campus in Mason City, Iowa provides counseling and treatment to many north Iowa residents experiencing a difficult battle with addictions. This 25,000 square foot expansion of the existing main campus building includes a new inpatient care wing for women, wellness center, lab, and improved outpatient facilities. Accord Architecture’s design redefined the entrance both aesthetically as well as the patient registration function. With deep overhangs and strong horizontal lines, the new addition embraces Mason City’s Prairie School Architecture heritage. The focus of the new facility is on the patient’s experience and supplying the staff with proper spaces to achieve patient goals. Patient-focused spaces within the building provide comfort to people who are facing tough challenges in their life. This includes a variety of seating spaces with amenities such as soft seating, fireplaces, and back-lit wall signage displaying reassuring messages. Large meeting rooms with high ceilings and clerestory windows offer patients the ability to receive treatment in a group setting. Central islands with water-fall countertops in the two women’s inpatient kitchens provide a sense of community that allow patients to come together as part of their healing experience. Outside the building, a large prairie grass area provides patients with a place to walk and an environmentally responsible approach to landscape design. The new entry is strategically placed at the junction of the outpatient and inpatient program areas. This entry is adjacent to a large, stone wall that serves as an organizing spine between these two main program areas. Outpatient areas such as exam rooms, group meeting rooms, and private treatment offices are located on the north side of the spine while inpatient functions such as the existing men’s care area and the newly added women’s care area are located on the south side.