The existing site uses a single entrance to accommodate all vehicular traffic - emergency, service, and public. To reach the emergency department, ambulances must drive through the entire lot to reach the drop-off. The site is also covered in numerous old-growth trees, making extensive demolition neither cost-effective nor sustainable. It also worth noting that to users, the foliage is a mere backdrop rather than an engaged player.
The new site rectifies these issues, looks at existing utilization, and seeks a more harmonious relationship with nature. The north entrance serves emergency and service vehicles exclusively, with strategically placed drop-off zones for both kinds. Public vehicles enter through the south, with drop-offs serving the existing hospital, surgery center, and clinic building. Existing lots are optimized and new ones are placed atop the baseball diamonds.
Pedestrians can move quickly and organically across the site. Planting areas allow for beautification and bioswales, further mitigating the potential hazards of a tsunami. Such zones are placed between pathways and roads, reducing dangerous interactions between people and cars. Finally, the site retains old growth trees, allowing the existing condition to be clearly visible to people on the ground, on the skydeck, and within the facility.
