Robert Marshall Building Clinic

2013

Tazlina, Alaska

Copper River Native Association

The Robert Marshall Building Clinic, which is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certified, provides the Copper River Native Association with a modern, centralized health facility to serve the various communities in the Copper River region.

The 35,000-square-foot facility features the following amenities:

Six open and two closed dental rooms
A dental laboratory
Six medical exam rooms
An isolation exam room with a shower/anteroom
A procedure room
A pharmacy
Telemedicine capabilities
Radiology
A behavioral health area with staff offices

The primary building is a single-story, steel-braced, framed structure with a concrete foundation and slab-on-grade. Heavy, timber-canopy trusses with a cantilever-column support system were designed for the exterior of the main entrance and the covered drop-off area.

Because of the clinic’s remote location and extreme winter temperatures, the lighting, ventilation, water-well, and heating systems were designed with sustainability and maintainability in mind. The design also saves significant energy through a system that recovers heat from the building’s exhaust to preheat the incoming outside air. An internal, below-grade water storage tank and electric fire pump were provided for fire protection. Fluorescent and LED lighting luminaires were used for interior lighting, while the exterior lighting was exclusively LED.

Digital controls, including vacancy sensors that turn off lights when spaces are not occupied, were used throughout the building. A clerestory lighting system provides “daylight” to the central spine of the building during the long, dark, winter days. Low-voltage systems include a nurse call/duress system; high-speed telecommunications fiber service and Category 6 telecommunications throughout the facility; a fire alarm system; digital information signage; and access controls. The facility is supplied with a standby generator system to provide electricity and allow for continued operation during power-supply outages.