On Friday I swung by Buffalo General Hospital after receiving an email from a BRO reader regarding the building. When I think about the hospital (design and condition wise), I have mixed emotions. First off, I think that the hospital has both good and bad design attributes, depending on which angle the building is viewed. When looking from certain angles, there are some retro modern elements that have withstood the test of time. Then, there are other perspectives that are pretty plain Jane. Thinking about Buff Gen, if one side (the tall dark brown side under the new sign ) was skinned with glass, the entire image of the building would be transformed, and would fit in better with the rest of the modern buildings that surround it.
The BRO reader felt that there were some opportunities at hand, that might be considered, when it comes to updating the look of the hospital. This is what he had to say:
“I’ve worked on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for over 11 years and since my first day on the job in 2004, I have seen multiple new buildings constructed, old buildings brought back to life and an overall change in the landscape. I feel lucky to be part of this renaissance that is happening every day around me. That being said, I can’t help but notice the giant turd of a building people call Buffalo General. It’s probably BNMC’s tallest building and one of the first structures people notice when visiting the Campus. In my opinion, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s nice that they have made improvements, such as the new LED signage and the newly renovated valet area, but the overall facade of the building is seriously outdated. The ugly stained concrete and faded brown exterior could use some modernization. I’m thinking this could be as easy as painting over the brown in a dark grey and painting the concrete in a white or light shade of grey. I see that they have already covered the ugly brown in a dark grey in the new valet area. This leads me to believe they might have plans to do this for the rest of the building, but so far I have seen no new work occurring. With all the nice shiny new buildings popping up around Buffalo General, one would think that they’d want to keep up and bring their building to the next level.