Community Commons and Residence Hall

Dan J on November 17, 2023

The University of Denver’s Community Commons welcomes an increasingly diverse community and brings a critical mass of students and resources to the heart of the school’s urban campus. The project’s fluid shaping funnels and mixes students, capturing movement to and from the neighboring first-year residence hall with a variety of spaces for dining, socializing, and studying.

The Commons strengthens the campus identity and recognizes that less formal buildings appeal to today’s students. The building conveys a sense of openness and invitation through transparency and reinforces an sense of belonging by celebrating multiple cultures and bringing student-focused services together. Food service strategically unites the entire campus community while generous openings interconnect multi-levels creating a rich mosaic of spatial experience. A central canyon-like space, with a north-facing clerestory, brings in equitable access to daylight.

On the building’s exterior, patterned local copper is inspired by the geological context of local canyons. At the roof level, an unexpected pavilion with multi-use space is surrounded by the largest green roof on campus, with stunning 360-degree views of the complete campus and distant Rocky Mountains. High-performance systems and nature integrated design solutions reduce the building’s energy use by 49% below ASHRAE baseline.

Providence Saint John’s Health Center Master Plan

Dan J on November 17, 2023

The Providence Saint John’s South Campus Master Plan was developed through a programmatic assessment process within the framework of a Development Agreement established in 1998 between the City of Santa Monica and Saint John’s Health Center, an agreement crafted in the wake of the devastating Northridge Earthquake.

The Master Plan closely ties to the evolving character of the city’s fabric and promotes extensive community benefits and engagement. It responds to the changing forces driving population health, wellness and outpatient services and ultimately provides facilities for Cancer research, Ambulatory care, Support services, Education and Conference Center, Child & Family Development Center, visitor and patient housing, and multifamily housing. Surface parking is deliberately removed throughout the 10-acre site and replaced with thoughtful development and vibrant open spaces that will contribute positively to the City’s existing urban fabric. Subterranean parking will be added.

Two principles converge to make this re-conceptualized health center a forerunner for healthcare’s future:

  • To improve access/connectivity for health services and benefit all users, structures and services are zoned around patient and community needs.
  • The reactivated city fabric approach breaks superblock and traditional monolithic health center styles, engaging the vestigial city street grid as an organizing feature and catalyst.

LAC+USC Medical Center Campus Master Plan

Dan J on November 17, 2023

The 600-bed Los Angeles County – University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center is one of the largest public hospitals in the country. It has a long and storied history providing necessary health and medical services to the residents of greater Los Angeles and beyond. The LAC+USC Master Plan creates a framework for future growth that responds to the dynamic nature of healthcare delivery to meet the needs and demands of its constituents, its markets, and the developments of the healthcare industry. Significant public outreach was made to engage those communities who rely on LAC+USC programs and services.

The 25-year Master Plan takes a holistic view of the entire site to unify the campus; creates a sense of arrival; provides open spaces that promotes healthy lifestyles and wellness; and integrate strategic phasing that supports both the flexibility and clarity of the plan. The Master Plan celebrates the historic General Hospital as a hilltop beacon and leverages the site’s highly visible topography as a defining element. A series of linked open spaces weaves the campus together and provides connections that strengthen LAC+USC’s image and presence within the community, ultimately restoring the campus as a vibrant urban healthcare destination.

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