Chad Richison Hope Lodge: Connecting Community
Project
Overview
Project Name
American Cancer Society
Chad Richison Hope Lodge
Size
33,000 GSF
Market Sector
Multifamily in Oklahoma City, OK
Client
American Cancer Society
Teams
Miles Architecture
The facility is the first and only of its kind in Oklahoma to improve access to cancer care by providing free, temporary lodging for adults living with cancer whose best chance for a cure is far from home. – American Cancer Society of Oklahoma
Connection That Goes Beyond Technology Design
The American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Chad Richison Hope Lodge of Oklahoma City is responsible for providing a free place to stay for patients and caregivers as they face their battle with cancer. The ACS Hope Lodge’s mission goes beyond providing a space to stay—they look to deliver a comfortable environment to their guests within a community of support and emotional connection. In order to achieve this endeavor, The ACS partnered with Miles Architecture to deliver a pillar of support to the Oklahoma City community.
IP Design Group’s role was to create low-voltage technology and electronic security system solutions that provide guests with superior connectivity in a monitored and secure environment. Our team also worked to ensure the infrastructure solutions were dependable, easy to maintain, and capable of supporting future technology updates.
The Chad Richison Hope Lodge greets its guests with an inviting courtyard that leads to a wall of windows that usher guests into the reception area. The natural light, paired with the whimsical approach to unique landscaping elements of the courtyard, is designed to establish a tone of ease and comfort. The unique oval shape of the courtyard, lined with low-rise brick walls, creates a sense of privacy while giving the courtyard an open feel, beckoning patients to spend time in the fresh air.
The shared spaces, which include the communal kitchen, family rooms, an exercise area, and a dining hall,
are designed with warm colors, wooden elements, beige furniture, and the occasional splash of a complementary deep blue to create a dynamic and hospitable aesthetic. Suites feature earthy tones with warm light fixtures to provide a thematic continuation of warmth with the addition of a clean, white backsplash and tile in the bathrooms.
An Impactful Mission
All ACS Hope Lodges are funded through the generosity of donors across the United States. As such, construction and design prioritized an optimized use of the financial capital donated to the project while also ensuring the design was sustainable and energy-efficient to keep operational costs low.
“This structure’s sole purpose is to be a resource to the community by removing financial barriers for people who are battling cancer,” Samuel Haberman P.E., LC, a firm principal, explained, “It’s incredibly humbling and impactful to design a project that benefits the people that use the space who are going through a particularly vulnerable period of time.”
Despite budget limitations, the IP Design Group technical team was impressed by the client’s commitment to tenant safety and security. Jacob Butler RCDD, WiredScore AP, SmartScore AP, was a lead electronic security designer on the project and firmly believes that comprehensive electronic security systems are vital for tenant safety.
“The ACS takes the safety of their clients very seriously,” Jacob stated, “It was enriching and rewarding to provide electronic security design with a team that brings necessary relief and comfort to community members impacted by the hardships of cancer.”
Delivering Superior Design
IP Design Group was responsible for the structured cabling design and construction administration across the site as well as the electronic security, which included access control and video surveillance system design. The team also provided the site with the appropriate audiovisual rough-ins. Dalton Rabe RCDD, WiredScore AP, SmartScore AP, was a contributing technology systems designer on the project who noted that it was thanks to our firm’s highly knowledgeable team that the technology design came to fruition on time and within budget.
“From a design perspective, it was incredibly beneficial that the client had a clear vision for their low-voltage needs,” Dalton explained, “We had well-defined steps and objectives from schematic design through finished construction.”
In order to optimize the structure’s usable living space, the IP Design Group technology team crafted a singular, centralized telecommunications room that services the entire building. It was necessary for our team to be exceptionally strategic in the equipment room layout to ensure all of the telecommunications and network equipment could fit and be properly stored within a singular room.
Bearing in mind the owner’s objectives to create an easily maintainable space that fit budget constraints, the low-voltage team prioritized creating a straightforward telecommunications system design that was easy to construct and maintain.
Crafting a Healthy and
Safe Environment
The number of pillars dispersed throughout the courtyard made providing optimal line-of-sight for security cameras a challenge for our design team. Additionally, the client had communicated with our team that it was of vital importance to provide 360-degree site surveillance. In order to create a solution that satisfied the client and could be completed in pace with the project’s timeline, our team created streamlined designs utilizing example sites in more standardized spaces (suites, conference rooms, etc.) in order to generate more time to design customized solutions for unique spaces such as the courtyard.
“They allowed us more liberty to bring in the necessary technology that some of the unique spaces needed in order to provide a satisfactory level of surveillance,” Jacob stated, “We highly respect their commitment to tenant safety.”
A unique design standard implemented by the ACS on the site required our team to use products that are classified as “Red List Free” by the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge (LBC). The LBC Red List identifies common building components that contain volatile organic compounds and pose serious risks to the environment. Many of the tenants that utilize the ACS Hope Lodge facilities are undergoing treatments that weaken their immune systems and make them more susceptible to the adverse effects these compounds cause.
“As a team, we wanted to aid in their commitment to creating an environment that truly promotes healing and connectivity,” Jacob stated, “That means we were conscious of every product and manufacturer we work with to honor the intent of the building’s construction.”
A Lasting Impact
It is projected that the Chad Richison Hope Lodge will save 2,400 patients and caregivers nearly $2 million dollars in hospitality expenses a year. Providing a site that is connected and secure while offering a profound impact on the community makes the Chad Richison Hope Lodge a special project for the IP Design Group staff.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to create a space that people can use as a home away from home, an area to rest and recover as they undergo cancer treatment,” Samuel concluded, “Creating the best experience we can for people who are undergoing that kind of hardship is what community is all about.”
Learn more about the designers who contributed to the Chad Richison Hope Lodge and other impactful projects by checking out our project portfolio and taking a look at our team page.
