After careful consideration, Board of Directors at Augusta University Health is pleased to announce it has chosen SmithGroup and TVS as the architects to design the long-awaited Columbia County hospital.
Based in Washington, D.C., SmithGroup is a network of 15 offices across the United States and China with a team of 1,200 people whose expertise can be leveraged as needed to ensure the right people are chosen for a given project. Their engineering and designs span multiple facility types, including 20 greenfield hospitals. It is the sixth largest healthcare architecture firm, according to Modern Healthcare magazine.
The firm’s handiwork is evident to anyone who visits the Augusta University medical campus, as SmithGroup designed the master plan for what is now the health sciences campus. Today that campus features student dorms, the student center and the newly completed College of Science and Mathematics. As it will for Columbia County’s new hospital, the master plan accounted for assets, facilities and programs as well as parking and common space, looking beyond building design to planning for an outstanding patient, visitor and staff experience.
TVS, based in Atlanta, counts the Georgia Aquarium and Mercedes Benz stadium in its roster, but has a wealth of experience in creating healthcare spaces that are designed for the patient, staff and visitor experience. Additional projects include Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Wellstar Health System across multiple Georgia locations.
The integrated SmithGroup/TVS team will be led by SmithGroup Principal-in-Charge Cindy Beckham, whose expertise centers on holistic design and creating positive patient spaces, and overseen by Channing McLeod, Principal at TVS, who brings 28 years of experience in complex healthcare and laboratory design.
Together, this integrated design team will develop an innovative healing environment inside and out that is an extension of the patient and family-centered care proudly provided by Augusta University Health.
“We are building this hospital for generations. Architect selection is a cornerstone of creating a hospital that will make Columbia County proud,” said AU Health CEO Katrina Keefer. “This is a generational investment in Columbia County and we look forward to the campus being a place of healing for our community.”
The Columbia County hospital is expected to open to the community in 2025.
