WHR Architects Expands Healthcare Presence into New York James Case, AIA, LEED AP, EDAC to Lead Healthcare Practice

01/16/2015 | WHR Architects

WHR Architects, one of the nation’s leading healthcare architectural practices, has announced the opening of a new office in New York City. This strategic decision was based on WHR’s dynamic growth and its recent merger with EYP, a recognized leader in the design of facilities for higher education and government. WHR will expand and grow operations to better serve existing and new clients in the tri-state area.

The office’s healthcare design efforts will be led by James Case, AIA, LEED AP, a firm principal and senior medical planner with a long history of successful project delivery in the region. “Jim’s collaborative approach and his exceptional technical and local regulatory knowledge have earned him wide respect among his clients and colleagues. His long-held belief in the power of design to positively influence the patient experience makes him an ideal addition to the WHR team,” says David Watkins, FAIA, Founding Principal of WHR and Healthcare Sector Leader.

WHR has had a long-standing, ongoing presence in the northeast with clients in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Current work includes projects for the Meridian Health System in New Jersey at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, and Riverview Medical Center. In Connecticut WHR has designed a major ground-up expansion and modernization of Stamford Hospital, which is currently under construction. WHR recently completed a state-of-the-art research and clinical Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, for the New York Medical College at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY.

EYP has also successfully worked with healthcare and medical research institutions in the region, including the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and the Colleges of Nursing, Dentistry & Bioengineering Institute at NYU, the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brookhaven National Laboratories, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, CUNY Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education and the White Plains Hospital.

Case has developed long-term, hands-on relationships with many prestigious healthcare and health science institutions in New York City and the surrounding region over the past 23 years, where he has provided a wide range of design services, from master planning to new construction and renovations.  “I began my healthcare design career as a Facilities Administrator for the North Shore-LIJ Health System. This experience has afforded me tremendous insight regarding healthcare providers’ priorities and decision drivers,” says Case. “Understanding their challenges and processes makes the work of our architects, planners and interior designers more effective and supportive of our clients’ goals.”

“With our growing number of clients in the region, the time is right for WHR to establish a presence in New York City,” said Watkins. “With Jim Case leading our team, we are pleased to be able to offer a heightened and more localized understanding of healthcare facility design to our clients in the area.”

ABOUT WHR:
WHR, based in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in Dallas, Raleigh, New York City and Copenhagen, Denmark, is a full-service architecture and interior design firm, currently ranked No. 1 in healthcare renovation and the 13th largest healthcare practice in the United States. The firm’s commitment to critical thinking is balanced by an ingrained empathy that results in both improved project outcomes and positive working experiences for their clients. With over 170 people firm-wide, the 35-yearold firm is working on projects worldwide for top­tier public and private education and medical institutions. WHR is one of EYP’s practice groups. For more information about WHR Architects, visit http://www.whrarchitects.com.   

ABOUT EYP:
EYP is a renowned global provider of high-performance building design, research, and consulting services to higher education, government, healthcare, and corporate clients. Ranked #1 in sustainability and fifth overall on Architect magazine’s prestigious Architect 50, the company provides seamless project delivery with access to the award-winning expertise and resources of its family of practice groups, which includes sustainable design leader EYP Architecture & Engineering; WHR Architects, healthcare design specialists; and The Weidt Group, building energy performance specialists. More than 530 professionals in architecture, engineering, energy, and interior design collaborate across 15 offices in the United States and Europe to deliver expertise-driven design. For more information, visit http://eypaedesign.com/.