Emory Executive Park Musculoskeletal Institute (EMSK)

Project highlights: Emory Executive Park Musculoskeletal Institute (EMSK)

• Architecture firm:  HKS
• Owner:  Emory Healthcare / Dr. Scott D. Boden
• Location:  Atlanta
• Category:  E
• Project site:  Brownfield
• Building program type(s):  Healthcare - outpatient - general

Located in Emory’s Executive Park innovation district in Brookhaven, Georgia, this new $90 million building marries visionary design, stewardship, and restoration to create a new wellness hub and a destination for patients with special medical conditions. Emory Executive Park Musculoskeletal Institute (EMSK) gathers patients, clinicians, and researchers under the roof of one of the nation’s most technologically advanced and intelligent healthcare buildings.

The building’s genesis stretches back to 1991 when the Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare system moved its Emory Orthopedics & Spine Center from its main campus to provide a more convenient and patient-friendly experience. Immediately successful, the center quickly outgrew its 19,000-square-foot space and moved into a newly renovated and much larger building in 2004. Continued success prompted Emory to plan and develop the 180,000-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified EMSK to expand the clinical footprint and operating and procedure rooms. The project broke ground in 2019 and opened in 2021.

Relying on an evidence-based approach to provide the best patient and staff experience while also improving operational efficiency, the project’s interdisciplinary team conducted a current-state analysis at Emory’s facilities and evaluated design options with mockup scenarios. Rigorous research in the earliest phases of the design process yielded several innovative solutions, such as clinic modules with open workrooms that foster collaboration and the operating rooms’ angled tables. 

EMSK seamlessly integrates clinical spaces with translational research while embodying a commitment to beauty, functionality, and a restorative environment. From the outset, the team recognized how a healthy building, where clean air and natural elements offer comfort, benefits the healing process. Physiological forms are integrated into the architecture and landscape, including interior elements that evoke neural ganglion and soft bone cells and an exterior curtain wall reminiscent of human bone structure. The forms educate visitors and patients while offering moments of delight and distraction.

Since opening, EMSK has become the cornerstone of its innovation park site, setting the stage for additional developments. Its location near Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the synergy between both institutions underscores the park’s foundation—where the past meets the future of healthcare. The project’s reach also stretches into the adjacent Brookhaven community, fostering a diverse and walkable environment by establishing a pedestrian and bicycling network that connects the park to major city centers and regional trails.

EMSK has become the “go-to” place for musculoskeletal care in its community, evidenced by the trust it has earned from every major Atlanta professional sports team, a rare phenomenon for a single healthcare system.