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Lisa Lister

The Architecture of Soccer

May 23, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

The MLS season is underway, and the professional soccer league continues to expand and grow in popularity in the US. Along with the addition of teams has come the addition of new stadiums that seek to add vitality, and financial benefit to their surrounding communities.

These new soccer facilities are state of the art stadiums that are setting new standards in this country. Geodis Park in Nashville, Q2 Stadium in Austin, and the Miami Freedom Park in FL, all reflect design that promotes environmentally conscious and sustainable gathering. The 100% privately funded Miami Freedom Park includes 130 acres of environmental remediation, a 25,000 seat MLS stadium, and public park space accessible by sidewalks and public transportation. Q2, the corporate sponsor for Austin FC quotes their stadium mission as “the first ever stadium sponsors, we’re committed to providing a healthy, inclusive and super-charged experience for everyone.” The stadium which incorporates reduced indoor water use, maximizes energy efficiency, and supports public transit and walkability, was awarded LEED Gold from the US Green Building Council. Nashville’s Geodis Park which opened in May 2022 is the largest US soccer specific stadium with seating for 30,000 fans. A result of a public – private partnership, the stadium is built on the historic Nashville Fairgrounds.

As soccer continues to gain in popularity in the US, new proposals are in the works that we can look to for inspiration in the coming years. JL Architects is a firm that never stops learning, growing, and seeking inspiration from everything around us.

Enjoying a soccer game and getting design inspiration is a win-win for our JL team!

-Franklin Rodriguez, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Informational Tagged With: architects, architecture, Soccer, soccer stadiums

Designing for the Urgent Care Market

March 20, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Urgent Care has grown into a massive industry with no signs of slowing growth. They are in development in urban centers, large towns, and even small towns across America. They provide a convenient and needed service to the local community, help bridge the gaps in primary care, and cost the patient less than a trip to the emergency room.

An urgent care may be a ground up facility, a retrofit of all kinds of buildings, or an inline space in a shopping center. No matter the space, it must accommodate the needs of its patients. There must be an understanding of the demographic you are trying to provide care for and the level of care your facility will offer.

The design of an urgent care must portray a welcome and calming environment, it must appear clean and efficient to its patients, and it must fit in with the local built environment. Often, it must reflect the Urgent Care brand so that is easily recognizable. Giving thought to appropriate color, lighting, flooring, and furnishings can increase the comfort level of the patient that is often there under stressful situations. Creating a brand identity for your urgent care assures the patient that they are part of a caring network of medical professionals.

JL Architects has worked with many medical professionals and clients to design a multitude of different health care facilities. We understand the needs of patients, the professionals that serve them, and the importance of brand recognition. Let us know if we can help with your next Urgent Care project!

-Joseph Kaye, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Commercial Tagged With: architect, architects, architecture, commercial architect, healthcare, healthcare architect, Urgent Care

See the World Through Architectural Eyes

March 6, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

As we grow and develop within the field of architecture, we start to notice the little details of a structure.

Traveling allows you to see different cultures and beliefs within both the simplicity and complexity of architecture. We are not always born into regions where there is a variation of architecture and cultures, so it is important to try to be open to the possibility to experiencing those certain things. While it is not always financially feasible to travel everywhere in the world, I highly encourage to take the time and find a way to open your eyes to the architecture around you and admire it, not only for what it is, but for what it took to create it.

This experience will not only allow you to experience things that not everyone gets to see, but it allows you to build on your knowledge of other regions and designing for those regions.

-Franklin Rodriguez, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Informational Tagged With: architects, architectural design, architecture

Urgent Care Medicine – Dramatic Growth & Impactful Trend in 2023 Health Care

February 27, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Urgent care medicine growth is one of the most dramatic and impactful trends that will shape health care in 2023. Health care stakeholders must prepare for key changes as health care becomes even more inaccessible for rural patients and additional retail entities are entering into the clinic space.

Booming Urgent Care Growth
Urgent care is booming due to patient demand, convenience, and costs. Urgent care centers are the major place to go for care for faster, easier, cheaper care – especially on weekends or evenings when their primary-care physicians do not have office hours. Only 29% of primary care doctors have after-hours coverage.

Urgent Care centers are a significant asset for patients as the wait time to see a provider is typically half an hour or less, compared to a multi-hour wait time in many Emergency Departments (ED). Urgent care centers also offer imaging and other services not found in retail outlets. Employers, insurers and other payers also benefit from urgent-care centers, which charge only a fraction of what an ED visit would cost. And employees can get back to work sooner instead of spending half the day in the ED.

Health Care for Millennials
Urgent care is transforming how people, especially Millennials, utilize health care. These facilities can gain a larger share of patients as their popularity grows. Urgent cares are now being referred to as “the Starbucks of the health care world” because they are appearing all over the map. Non-acute health care organizations can benefit by partnering with them.

Urgent care centers offer advantages over primary care providers, such as not requiring an appointment and being open late and on weekends. The centers can be a point of entry into health care for Millennials. Many Millennials do not have a primary care physician, so they go to urgent care instead because they can show up without an appointment.

Millennials are considered relatively healthy and have only one or two health emergencies a year. Millennials make up 25% of all visits to urgent care clinics, according to a 2019 Harmony Healthcare IT survey.

Health Care for Older Patients & Rural Areas
Older patient groups also report that they do not always turn to a primary care physician for care. The National Center for Health Statistics stated that 21.4% of patients over age 65 used urgent care facilities and that 11% had no primary care physician in 2019.

Rural areas in particular are benefiting from the rise in urgent care clinics. A report by FAIR Health, a nonprofit that studies insurance claims, found that from 2007 to 2017 there was a 2,308 % increase in insurance claims for procedures done in rural urgent care facilities compared to a 1,675 % increase in urban areas.

Predictions for Extraordinary Growth in Urgent Care Medicine
The extended hours and immediate availability of care at urgent care centers provides convenience for patients. The specialty of Urgent Care Medicine will continue to grow as the public becomes more aware that urgent care is a better choice over the emergency room for their immediate, non-life-threatening healthcare needs.

The urgent care centers industry in the U.S. is expected to reach $45.9 billion in 2022 according to IBISWorld. One reason for urgent care center popularity is because people like the ability to walk in without an appointment and receive immediate treatment. A national network of health care providers indicates that the average “door-to-door” time in urgent care centers, or the time from the moment a patient enters the facility to when they leave, is around 55 to 79 minutes.

The urgent care centers are similar to walk-in retail clinics, but they are able to treat more serious conditions that are non-life threatening. For example, urgent care centers can treat fractures and wounds, conduct blood tests and take X-rays. Health care systems can expand their business and realize new benefits by working with an urgent care center.

Retail health clinics are predicted to work to double their share of the primary care market in 2023. Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens and CVS are well-established in the retail health clinic space, but more retail companies will join their ranks next year.

More Americans are expected to go to retail health clinics for primary care, especially since hospitals are failing to meet their patient experience expectations amid resource constraints.

Urgent care centers also have been considered an underused resource for occupational medicine because they provide care for occupational injuries, checkups and return to work clearances. Health care providers can capitalize on urgent care industry trends to grow their business by partnering with a health care system that has these centers in its network.

Urgent care clinics handle about 89 million patient visits each year, or more than 29 % of all primary care visits in the country, and nearly 15 % of all outpatient physician visits.

Patients seeking medical care do not want to wait. Urgent care clinics have longer hours and walk-in appointments that fulfill their need in a way traditional physicians’ offices cannot always accomplish.

Urgent care clinics are sometimes referred to as Medical Retail or “Medtail” because they blend retail elements such as ground-floor locations that provide easier access, and the ability to schedule same-day appointments using an online calendar program. A customer-first approach, oriented to service and technology, is energizing growth.

Closing Thought
The following quote provides a valuable insight for the continued growth of urgent care medicine.

“This is the age of the patient as a consumer, where fast and convenient is never fast and convenient enough,” says Richard Park, MD, CEO and co-founder of CityMD, a group of urgent care clinics in New Jersey, New York, and Washington state.

-Glenn Ebersole, Director of Business Development

Filed Under: Commercial Tagged With: architects, architecture, commercial architect, Health Care, Heath Care Architect, Urgent Care

Office Communication

February 22, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

An important concept within architecture is the push for clear and consistent communication in the office.

How:
As an architect you must look towards being fluent in direct communication within your office. Learning to discuss your ideas with others makes the process of creating the project more efficient and stable. Not only is communicating ideas important but being able to have an environment where all co-workers can communicate is vital for the workplace. Building the environment of healthy communication with co-workers helps increase productivity as well as knowledge. Many offices focus on the enclosed cubicles design for their spaces, but it is evident that a more open design of the office space allows for both greater growth and communication.

Here at JLA, we are focused on developing and proper communication within our office and with that we have an open studio design workspace that allows for that to happen. Our office is very close, and we are able to ask questions and talk effectively while working on projects small or big.

Why does this matter?
Being able to do amazing things as a designer is almost useless if you can not communicate your ideas properly to those you work with or even clients. The best teams succeed within this profession and although there may be great individual ideas, the best team with the most effective practices will grow.

-Franklin Rodriguez

Filed Under: Informational Tagged With: architect, Communication

The Importance of Site Surveys

February 13, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

When starting a project, the first step is to schedule a site survey to view the space, take measurements, locate all necessary mechanical equipment, and identify as-built conditions. We have a variety of survey equipment that we will use.

Methods:
When starting a survey, we will walk through the space to make sure we have access to the entire building we need to survey. We then draw the space to create a plan for recording our measurements on. Once we have a plan then it is time to get the most important measurements. The overall measurements will help us the most when making sure every dimension lines up. Once that is completed and all other dimensions add up, we will scan and take pictures of the space for future reference.

Hidden Conditions:
One of the difficulties with site surveys is showing hidden conditions. Sometimes there are furred out walls that hide columns, important utilities and even sections of the space. When drawing we mark down potential conditions that could cause issues.

Tools we Use:
We have several tools from simple tape measures to more complex 3D scanning capabilities. When we do on-site surveys, we use a combination of techniques to make sure we are accurate in all measurements. The Disto laser is our preferred tool to get measurements of space. We also use the Matterport scanner to capture both a 360-degree image and a point cloud which helps us show every angle of the surveyed space.

In summary, surveying allows us to gather all necessary information from the current building site to efficiently and accurately create a newly designed space that will work within the confines of the As- Built space! Reach out to JL Architects to learn how we can help you with re-purposing your building.

-Alex Schleicher, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Commercial, Technology Tagged With: architects, architecture, Matterport, point could, site survey

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