The Blood Connection Anderson

TBC Mission and Radium

The Blood Connection has a mission to, “support our healthcare partners with adequate, safe, cost effective blood supplies and service.”

The Blood Connection originally commissioned Radium Architecture to design three new donor centers in South Carolina and North Carolina. Since then, Radium has helped with the design of the first donor center location in Virginia.

Since 2017, Radium has worked with The Blood Connection on 18 different projects. These projects vary from new builds, renovations, additions and upgrading equipment in labs.

The Donor Centers

The Blood Connection acknowledges that giving blood can be an intimidating experience and it is essential that the donor centers are welcoming and calming to the donor. To achieve a design that welcomes and calms the donor, Radium incorporates an open and light-filled environment for the donor rooms in these centers.

Radium works closely with the Blood Connection team to keep the design on brand as their vision and mission evolves.

Through the years working with The Blood Connection, our design for the space changes a little with each one.

TBC takes the feedback that they receive from the people occupying the space daily and gives it to the design team to see what can change at the next location to accommodate some of the concerns or continue to use elements that work really well for them.

The program for each center varies, but most centers consist of Reception and nurse station lobby.

• Screening rooms
• Donor room- typically consisting of 8-10 beds
• Rejuvenation area
• Back of house
  • Blood storage
  • Offices
  • Bus support
  • Supply storage
  • Staff areas (break room)

In each center, it is critical that the staff have eyes on the donors at all times. Radium has worked with TBC to create a space that is open, giving the staff the clear sightlines to all donors from the time they have completed their screening to the time they leave the center post donation.

• From an architectural perspective, Radium achieved this with minimizing the need for walls in the donor space and having the nurse station ellipse shaped and centrally located.
• The open space consists of the lobby, donor beds, nurse station and rejuvenation station so the staff can keep an eye on all donors. This is especially important because people react differently to donating.

It is important that the space looks and feels the way that TBC envisions it, but it is equally if not more important that the space performs the way that it needs to as well

• They have specific mechanical and electrical needs that require coordination that is administered by Radium.
• They need space for lab equipment, blood storage, supply storage, ice machines, etc. this requires the attention of the architect and engineers working together to make sure that all of the needs are met for the client.

Bloodmobiles and their support space

Not only does TBC have many donation centers across South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, they also serve these communities with traveling bloodmobiles.

• These bloodmobiles allow them to travel to blood drives and service areas where they do not have a donor center.
• The bloodmobiles service the community and return back to a donor center at the end of the day for blood storage and bus recharging.
• It is important that the donor centers have the ‘back of house’ area that holds the supplies and blood for the buses. As well as having charging stations for the buses in the parking lots. Radium helps to ensure that there is the appropriate support space for the buses at the donor centers.

Conclusion

The Blood Connection is a valuable client for Radium, and we have enjoyed watching their vision evolve and their mission grow significantly through the years working with them.