Jackson County Health Department

The program called for the project to be placed on a site previously occupied by a manufacturing facility, damaged from a prior tornado event. Existing parking and site lighting could not be altered to any significant degree. Program requirements also mandated a one-story building.
 
Numerous plan configurations were studied. The primary goal of this process was to determine those arrangements most suitable for simplifying way-finding. The final plan organizes the various departments around an exterior courtyard. An interior public “street” fronts on three sides of this courtyard and offers direct access to the waiting areas of departments requiring the greatest public interface. Departments where this interface was deemed negligible are placed outboard. The formality implied by the existing entrance drive was eschewed in favor of a more relaxed entrance sequence. A multipurpose space was carefully positioned on site to provide a clearly defined forecourt and lend improved scale to the entrance sequence. The russet color chosen for the metal walls and roof panels recalls the rust laden metal roofs of many of the older buildings found in the immediate area.
 
Architecturally, the design re-presents building elements evident in the rural agricultural structures that dot the local and regional landscape. The aggregational characteristics that define many of these structures are reinterpreted in a contemporary expression. The results of this “Critical Regionalist “ approach have been embraced by the surrounding communities.
 
The building was configured to allow maximum use of day lighting. A light colored metal roof and wall siding was utilized to reduce unwanted heat gain. Lighting controls are provided for large spaces, public areas and exterior lighting. Lighting is controlled by occupancy sensors in offices and other smaller spaces. Lighting in unoccupied spaces, such as storage and mechanical rooms, are controlled by timed switches.