Southcentral Foundation Nuka System of Care is the whole health care system created, managed and owned by Alaska Native people to achieve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness.  The Nuka Institute, for which MCH provided full-scope acoustical and AV services, resides in this  59,000sf building which opened in Spring, 2016.  

Of special acoustical concern was the need to provide comfortable and quiet spaces for indigenous peoples arriving from extremely remote regions, and that also provided extreme sound isolation between therapy rooms.  The native design elements foster the spiritual and physical healing process and even incorporate unique and highly effective acoustical features to control reverberation and enhance the unamplified spoken word throughout the kiva-like assembly /training/therapy space.

Audiovisual systems provide extensive capability to reach out to remote locations via multiple conferencing technologies, as well as the ability to present and educate on site with sophisticated audio and video presentation and recording capabilities. Facility-wide scheduling systems aid in the management of all of this activity, and are integrated within the larger media systems topology.  In addition to the fully mediated high-end presentation theater, are multiple divisible spaces, a series of smaller therapy spaces, classrooms, a simulation suite, and a number of smaller writing instruction and meeting spaces.  

Reference:         Deanna Nafzger, Architect