ARB approves Medsquare ambulatory surgery center, asks for further coordination of rooftop elements

The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board voted July 6 to approve a certificate of appropriateness for ARB 2026-10, the Medsquare ambulatory surgery center in Peter Jefferson Place, subject to the conditions listed in the staff report and with a staff-consideration that rooftop elements be further coordinated.

Staff told the board the project had previously received a preliminary review in December and that the current submittal addressed many earlier comments. Key changes included a reduced-length ambulance drop-off canopy, adjustments to windows and canopies, submitted material samples and a lighting plan; staff recommended approval with revisions noted in the staff report.

An architectural designer from BA Walpert explained the project must meet the stricter architectural standards for Parcel D in Peter Jefferson Place and said roof hierarchy and multiple roof forms were intended to reduce scale and express program organization. The applicant described materials as red brick with white tonal ranges, ACM panels, light-gray Packclad roofing and fiber-cement screening to conceal rooftop mechanical units.

Board members asked specifically whether roof forms read as coherent from the entrance corridor and whether rooftop screening would adequately hide RTUs. The applicant said rooftop RTUs were centered and would be screened by fiber-cement panels and that the team had reduced the ambulance canopy to improve human scale. Public commenter Shannon Drake (Walbert) described the negotiation with planned-development reviewers and explained why the design team "ultimately ended up with shed roofs instead of a gabled roof or a pitched roof," and suggested tonal or pitch tweaks to improve roof hierarchy.

The board discussed language in the staff report asking the applicant to "consider revising the design of rooftop elements to increase coordination." Members were split about whether that consideration should be elevated to a required revision or left to staff, and the majority left the staff wording as a consideration so the applicant could propose adjustments to staff without returning to the board unless substantial changes were needed.

The motion to approve passed by roll call among members present: Mr. Henningson (yes), Mr. Mitsuno (yes) and Mr. Vanderworth (yes); Mr. Stoner and Mr. Hancock were absent. Conditions require the applicant to implement the staff recommendations for lighting and materials, confirm the rooftop screening heights are adequate to conceal mechanical units, and provide any updated visualizations or material samples requested by staff.

The board’s decision moves the project forward to implementation steps subject to staff verification of the listed conditions.