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Although most of Soderstrom Architects‘ work is in the West, principal Brad Dehle said his firm’s long-term involvement with a rural hospital in Alaska presented design challenges he wouldn’t face in the Lower 48.

For example, Dehle said, extreme snow and ice must be considered in design of everything from mechanical systems to the parking lot.

鈥淎laska can be an extreme environment and can have temperatures that swing from 70 degrees to 30 below,鈥� he said. 鈥淒esigning for a 120-degree temperature swing in a six-month time can be a real challenge.鈥�

Soderstrom Architects’ relationship with Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, began in 2003, when the firm developed a master plan for expansion of the 49-bed facility, Dehle said. In the years since, the firm has designed an acute care and surgery wing, a $12 million renovation to emergency and food services, a 90,000-square-foot specialty clinics addition and a new oncology unit. Currently, the firm is designing an expansion of the radiology department.

In addition to a harsh climate, Soldotna has an extremely diverse population. Fewer than 10,000 people reside in the town, but it is 鈥渓ike a melting pot, Dehle said. As a result, interior design required a sensitive touch.

鈥淭here are Alaska natives, Russians, Mexicans, Chinese and people with a lot of different backgrounds and beliefs,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople moved there to stick to their core ideals. (We had) understanding of that and how we were designing for it and we tried to be sensitive.鈥�

For example, he said, some hospitals use animal or plant symbols as signage to designate floor levels, but not the Central Peninsula Hospital.

鈥淲e don’t have those things associated with animal and fauna because of cultural sensitivity,鈥� he said.

Soldotna, about 150 miles southeast of Anchorage, is in a rural area where people 鈥済et around by waypoints鈥� rather than reading signs, he said. Also, some residents can’t read English. So, color or material changes are used to designate certain areas to allow staff to say, for example, 鈥淟ook for the blue door,鈥� Dehle said.

鈥淲e use colors, patterns or even the architecture itself and may have soffits or ceiling changes,鈥� he said, to help patients make intuitive choices about direction.

鈥淚n the check-in area, we made it colorful and open and brightly lit so it draws the eye to it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes a visual connection to a person rather than trying to find their way around through signs.鈥�

Alaska’s amount of daylight also is a 鈥渞eally critical鈥� factor in the design, Dehle said.

鈥淏ecause half of the year it’s dark and the other half it’s so light you have to control for daylight 20 hours a day, and being able to control that but also introducing as much daylight as possible,鈥� he said.

Some Alaskans experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Dehle added.

鈥淧eople get depression, and our design tries to incorporate a lot of daylighting and also deal with energy efficiency,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he melding of those things isn’t always the easiest thing for an architect.鈥�

Dehle noted that he has made many trips to Alaska as part of the work to expand the hospital.

鈥淚’ve probably spent two years of my life in Alaska working for the client on-site,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s definitely a time commitment 鈥� a lot of travel and thousands of airline miles.鈥�

Design Beyond Borders is a 91视频 feature offering a look at the projects outside of Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91视频 architecture and engineering reporter Beverly Corbell at 503-802-7224 or [email protected].