WHR Architects, one of the nation’s leading healthcare architectural practices, has expanded its healthcare presence in North Carolina, establishing an office in Raleigh. While WHR has been working with clients in the region since 2009, the strategic decision was based on increased demand for healthcare services in North Carolina, as well as WHR’s dynamic growth and its recent merger with EYP, a recognized leader in the design of facilities for higher education and government.
Charles H. Griffin, WHR’s senior principal who has been actively engaged with REX Healthcare on the new North Carolina Heart and Vascular Hospital, will lead the healthcare practice. “Our involvement in the region has shown us that there is an exceptional opportunity to combine our national experience with North Carolina’s accomplished healthcare organizations and leaders to meet the needs of the market. We look forward to collaborating with the finest minds in the Research Triangle and beyond,” he said.
The healthcare studio leaders for the Raleigh office are Michelle McNutt AIA, LEED AP BD+C, senior project architect, and Terence McCabe AIA, CSI, LEED AP, senior project manager. Together, they oversee all WHR healthcare projects in North Carolina. McNutt and McCabe bring two decades of experience working with leading North Carolina healthcare and research institutions including Duke University Medical Center, East Carolina University, Morehead Memorial Hospital, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Randolph Hospital, REX Healthcare, Sampson Regional Medical Center, Triangle Physician Network, UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine, UNC Healthcare, and multiple UNC Hospitals.
In keeping with WHR’s approach to delivering the highest levels of expertise on projects wherever they are located, additional WHR specialists will work with the Raleigh team. Mark Vaughan AIA, ACHA, a nationally known senior medical planner who has worked extensively with REX Healthcare alongside Charles Griffin, will be the senior medical planning resource for the Raleigh office.
“Our new healthcare office allows us to provide focused healthcare design solutions responsively throughout North Carolina and the southeast,” said David Watkins, FAIA, founding principal of WHR. “We see an increased demand for specialized healthcare expertise and are already building a team in Raleigh that can deliver the high level of service our clients deserve.”
WHR’s recent national healthcare and research project experience includes work with CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, N.M.; Stamford Hospital’s New Hospital in Stamford, Conn.; Jersey Shore University Medical Center Cancer Center in Neptune, N.J.; Children's Medical Center Dallas; Houston Methodist Hospital’s North Campus expansion; and Memorial Hermann Hospital’s Texas Trauma Institute in the Texas Medical Center. Internationally, WHR is working on the Bispebjerg New Hospital Laboratory and Logistics Building in Copenhagen, Denmark.
