Design team selected for new mental health, addiction crisis center: NBBJ to lead architect, engineering and design services
Oct. 5, 2021
The development of the new Franklin County Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Center took an additional step forward with the selection of NBBJ as team lead for architecture, engineering and design services related to the project.
Led by the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH), the crisis center is a community-wide project and a community-wide investment to address the growing need for mental health and addiction crisis services. The center will offer a no-wrong-door philosophy to ensure that anyone who arrives at the center receives or gets connected to services.
NBBJ has assembled a design team, which includes architecture+, a renowned leader in the design of behavioral healthcare facilities; Dynamix, a local and statewide leader in building systems engineering; HAWA, who partnered with NBBJ and architecture+ on the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion at Nationwide Children’s Hospital; Korda to add expertise in civil and structural engineering; and iScience to provide medical equipment planning.
“This design team will best position our efforts to thoughtfully and efficiently deliver the crisis center to our community on time and on budget. Through their work in central Ohio and across the country, these firms have demonstrated an understanding of the unique requirements of mental health and crisis care facilities,” said Erika Clark Jones, ADAMH CEO.
Groundbreaking for the new crisis center is planned for 2022 on a 3.046-acre parcel of land owned by ADAMH, located south of Harmon Avenue, east of South Souder Avenue, and north of Buchanan Drive. The $50 million capital project has received private and public sector support, including capital investments from the state, county and city and the adult hospital systems in Franklin County.
“NBBJ and architecture+ are excited to partner with ADAMH and Franklin County to design this transformative project for the community we live in. This important work is made even more relevant as we all struggle through the effects of the pandemic and its psychological impacts on all of us. Ultimately this project is about creating better mental health outcomes for patients, supportive care environments for staff, and a critical facility for central Ohio,” said A.J. Montero, partner in charge of NBBJ’s Columbus office.