HOK chosen to design Waterloo Eye Institute
The University of Waterloo has selected HOK to oversee the design of the new Waterloo Eye Institute at the university’s School of Optometry & Vision Science.
The two-storey, 67,000-square foot building will be a combination of existing and new facilities at the school’s existing building. It aims to become Canada’s leading eye and vision care centre.
“With this state-of-the-art facility, we will be able to produce research of global impact, meet the growing demand for specialty eye care and deliver world-class optometric education,” said Dr. Stanley Woo, director, Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science.
The Institute will re-create clinical patient care spaces and blend patient care with areas for education and innovation. Specialty patient care services include primary care and pediatric clinics, ocular health and contact lens clinics, low vision rehabilitation and research clinics, teleoptometry centers, an ambulatory ophthalmology surgical center and research facilities dedicated to ocular imaging research and biomedical science.
“We look forward to bringing our expertise to serve such an innovative Canadian university and the broader community,” said Arash Farbahi, HOK’s principal-in-charge of the project. “We will collaborate with School of Optometry & Vision Science Director Dr. Stanley Woo and the entire university community to design a new Eye Institute that will have a positive impact on patient care and wellness, both locally and nationally. The next generation of clinicians and researchers will train here.”
Within the next 25 years, the annual cost of vision loss in Canada is expected to double to CAD$30 billion as the nation’s population grows older. Many of the leading causes of vision loss—including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration—are age-related.
The new clinic will be the largest eye and vision care centre in the Region of Waterloo. It will provide comprehensive eye and vision care for residents. Local wait times for cataract surgery are at an all-time high, and as many as 65 percent of eye procedures like retinal surgery are currently performed outside the community.
HOK’s design team includes consultant Chris Downey, an architect who lost his sight following an operation to remove a benign brain tumor. He will help ensure the new facility works equally well for patients, visitors, staff and students, and has previously worked on projects for the Duke University Hospital’s Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina, and the UPMC Vision and Rehabilitative Tower at UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Construction is expected to begin next spring.