A Multi-use Laboratory Facility: Program uses include: four floors of clinical laboratory space, blood bank, pharmacy, administrative offices, ground floor retail, hospital auditorium and primary loading dock for the entire hospital. Most importantly, it needed to provide a transitional space between the hospital, adjacent 2,000 car garage, clinical laboratories and the public realm.

A Complex Urban/University Intersection: The site is located at the threshold between a University and Hospital/School of Medicine in the center of the city. The project provides a vital nexus between the various functions of the University campus, the Hospital, and the City, currently divided by a state highway – two-lane arteries on either side of the site. Situated between both ends of the institutional campus – the Central Campus and the Medical Campus, the building bridges the gap between these two neighborhoods through linkages such as a skybridge, tunnel and below-grade access.

An Environment to Nourish Well-being: By organizing the building around an atrium, the facility is anchored to the site and actively engages the community. The polychrome of the exterior façade gives way to a calm interior that features a light-filled garden atrium. Accessible and inviting, the internal garden will provide welcome respite year-round offering a soothing transition between all program elements, particularly for the patients. The atrium functions as a point of orientation and reference, framing vistas to the Harbor and Park. Further, it enables visual communication and intentionally fosters interaction among the resident researchers, medical staff, patients, and visitors. The facility, which utilizes state-of-the-art laboratory technology, is inherently flexible to incorporate future fit-outs that adapt to changing user needs, and employs innovative strategies for sustainable design.