LOS ANGELES—The design-build team of Hensel Phelps | HMC Architects | CO Architects has been selected to lead the design and construction of a new Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Replacement Program.

The program will consolidate medical services into new facilities on the 72-acre campus and ensure Harbor-UCLA Medical Center complies with Senate Bill 1953, which takes effect in 2030 and requires all California hospitals to be structurally resilient in the event of a major earthquake.

On Feb. 8th, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the $1.695-billion capital project for the medical center in West Carson, Calif.

“I’m excited to lead this design-build team of healthcare design and construction experts to deliver this magnificent, state-of-the-art facility,” Hensel Phelps Program Manager Sandra Ichiho, RA, LEED AP, said. “Through this project, the County will create hundreds of local jobs and millions of dollars in business opportunities for the local community.”

The project consists of new construction of a 468,000-square-foot acute care inpatient tower with 346 beds, a helicopter landing pad, and an 11,000-square-foot warehouse; a 403,000-square-foot outpatient treatment and support building and 381,000-square-foot above-grade parking structure; a 23,000-square-foot facilities and IT support building, and a new 24,000-square-foot central plant.

Consolidating inpatient and outpatient services into new buildings that optimize operational effectiveness, the medical center project reduces operation and maintenance costs, provides outpatient facilities that accommodate planned patient visits, implements the county’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development (LEED) requirements by incorporating sustainable design features, and creates a campus designed for the well-being of patients and staff.

“Adding a million square feet to an existing 70-year-old campus creates significant planning and cost challenges,” HMC Architects’ Healthcare Practice Leader Kirk Rose, AIA, DBIA, said. “Our design will optimize operational flow and throughput, arrange the program at a very efficient cost, and create a beautiful new outdoor space for community enjoyment.”

Targeting LEED Gold certification, the medical center upgrade will develop a modern campus that serves the community’s healthcare needs while also aiming to protect the environment in which it’s built.

“The new Harbor-UCLA Medical Center will consolidate the patient experience around a central park, providing easy wayfinding and access to both inpatient and outpatient services through this natural center,” CO Architects’ Principal Gina Chang, AIA, EDAC, said. “In the new facility, staff and caregivers will have a structure of team-based spaces that emphasize collaboration and the delivery of high-quality healthcare, as well as spaces that enable teaching in both clinical and educational environments.”

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IRVINE, Calif.—The University of California, Irvine, has awarded the UCI Medical Center Irvine project to the Hensel Phelps + CO Architects design-build team. Adjacent to the UCI academic campus, the new medical facilities will be a short walk or bike ride for researchers, students, and staff.

The new medical center embraces sustainable design and construction, incorporating recycled water in the central plant and for irrigation, green power, and the preservation of the San Joaquin Marsh Reserve. The marsh will provide unparalleled views to comfort patients and families while providing relaxing spaces for doctors, researchers, and staff.

The new medical center embraces UCI’s commitment to sustainable design and construction, incorporating recycled water in the central plant and for irrigation, green power, and the preservation of the San Joaquin Marsh Reserve. The marsh will provide unparalleled views to comfort patients and families while providing relaxing spaces for doctors, researchers, and staff.

The new sophisticated campus will include a 144-bed, 350,000-square-foot hospital, including an emergency department, inpatient bed services, operating rooms, pre/post observation beds, inpatient imaging, and support services. It will also have a 200,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center consisting of outpatient surgery and procedure rooms, diagnostic and imaging services, oncology treatment and infusion facilities, clinical exam rooms, a pharmacy, and support services. Additional features include a 35,000-square-foot central energy plant to serve the campus and a 1,340-space parking structure.

The site will feature multiple areas for gathering outdoors, including walkable pathways and numerous healing gardens, offering views to the campus and landscape features.

“The UCI Medical Center Irvine integrates multiple specialties and treatment programs with a commitment to creating a patient experience founded on improving healing through design in a unique environment located at the city’s edge, facing the San Joaquin nature reserve,” says Tom Chessum, FAIA, principal at CO Architects. “Our healthcare, interior design, laboratory planning, and health-sciences education architects are collaborating within the design and build team toward a unified project mission—to achieve UCI Health’s goals for discovery, teaching, and healing.”

The Hensel Phelps + CO Architects design-build team will design and construct the new project, anticipated to break ground in mid-2021. The parking structure will be complete in 2022, followed by the ambulatory surgery center and central energy plant in 2023. The hospital is expected to be completed in 2025.

“We’re committed to delivering the world-class UCI Medical Center Irvine as the southern Orange County community continues to grow,” said Damian Buessing, vice president and district manager at Hensel Phelps. “An important part of that commitment includes constructing this state-of-the-art hospital building efficiently and safely while maintaining the strong community relationships Hensel Phelps has in Orange County.”

The UCI Medical Center Irvine will contribute to the local economy by creating upward of 2,500 healthcare and construction jobs, attracting out-of-area healthcare professionals and patients to the region, and providing vendor and partnership opportunities for Orange County-based businesses.

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IRVINE, Calif.—Plans to build a world-class, acute care hospital on the northern edge of the University of California, Irvine academic campus advanced significantly on January 21, as the University of California Board of Regents granted approval of the project’s 144-bed acute care facility, ambulatory care center and cancer center.

The build will be headed by Hensel Phelps Construction Company with CO Architects handling the design aspects. The hospital joins the previously approved UCI Health Center for Advanced Care to create the new UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport, a full-service academic health complex that will bring a broad spectrum of the most advanced healthcare services to coastal and southern Orange County, including access to the hundreds of clinical trials underway at UCI Health. The medical center will connect with the UCI Health primary care network throughout Orange County, including its newest clinic in Newport Beach, creating the region’s only health system supported by one of the nation’s premier academic research institutions.

The new UCI Health medical campus will complement the flagship UCI Medical Center in Orange, home to Orange County’s principal tertiary-quaternary care center; only combined Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma and regional burn centers; and specialty care at the UCI Health Digestive Health Institute and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the county’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center.

“With today’s approval by the regents, UCI takes a giant leap toward fulfilling the visionary expansion of our campus and enhancing service to the community,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman. “Once this project is completed, the UCI healthcare system will be unparalleled in this region, with two advanced medical centers, nationally recognized research units conducting hundreds of clinical trials, and a network of community locations stretching to all corners of Orange County. In addition to the extraordinary healthcare provided at the medical center, the surrounding grounds of UCI Presidential Gateway will offer educational programs, academic research, art and beautiful nature trails. It will be a place to nurture health and lifelong wellbeing – truly advancing the three cornerstones of the university’s mission of teaching, research and public service.”

The new medical center will be the home of the Center for Children’s Health, wellness programs, urgent and emergency care, specialty disciplines, research and clinical trials, and lifesaving surgical and acute care. Construction is expected to begin later this year with the groundbreaking for the UCI Health Center for Advanced Care, a multicare facility that will house the Center for Children’s Health, medical offices and an urgent care operation.

The hospital will focus on key clinical programs such as oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and digestive health, and it will include a 24-hour emergency department. The first patients are expected in late 2022 in the UCI Health Center for Advanced Care, pending legal and regulatory approvals, and the hospital is set for completion in 2025. Costs for the complete project are expected to exceed $1 billion, funded by philanthropic donations, retained earnings and revenue from UCI Health operations. The project already has received philanthropic funding and will continue to seek further investment from community partners.

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PASADENA, Calif. — CO Architects was recently recognized by local and national organizations for two different major healthcare projects in California and Arizona at the Los Angeles Business Council’s (LABC) 48th Annual Architectural Awards.

One of the recipients of this award was the Shriners for Children Medical Center; a facility that combines a three-story building for surgery, clinical services, rehabilitation and healing landscapes.

Collaboratively designed by CO Architects and SRG Partnership, the facility was a part of an effort to replace and renovate its aging facilities as well as responding to the hospital’s new business model of focusing on outpatient services for young patients.

Now, Shriner’s new 74,800-square-foot center concentrates on outpatient services to better meet its mission of providing care to young patients.

The teams’ goal was to create a design that leverages evidence-based design strategies, the redevelopment of a suburban site, and an outward-facing building design that provides a positive emotional journey for patients and families.

The two-acre site is separated into a modern, medical building on the northern half of the property while rehabilitation gardens and outdoor gathering areas are situated in the southern part. The new medical facility is also half the size of its predecessor, yet can service three times the number of patients.

The design incorporates a garden forecourt and upper-story terraces to draw people outside to connect with nature and their surroundings.

The contemporary architecture of sweeping horizontal planes, cantilevers, and setbacks, along with region-sensitive landscape, is consistent with the modernist legacy of Pasadena.

Looking at the interior, CO Architects and SRG focused on color and shape, while avoiding childish clichés.

The interiors feature playful, colorful themes based on the ocean, forest, and sky with custom-designed murals depicting flora and fauna in colorful silhouettes run along the corridors, fostering a welcoming discovery on the way to waiting areas and treatment rooms, and working as positive distractions for the child patients. The center also touts vibrant furnishings arranged in various ways to accommodate families and visitors.

Furthermore, environmentally sensitive strategies helped form the architecture to improve patient comfort, encourage healing, and save energy and operating costs. Energy-efficient glazing, protective overhangs and highly efficient mechanical systems are designed to offset energy use.

“It was important to maximize natural light, not only for the healing factor, but also to avoid interiors that felt dark and sterile,” said Fabian Kremkus, AIA, LEED GA, design principal at CO Architects. “Rooms are configured so light is passed inward from perimeter spaces, while internal courtyards allow daylight to reach the center of the building.”

Kremkus continued, stating that in addition to the patient check-in, exam rooms, and x-ray areas on the ground floor – the team also integrated a low-dose imaging system and prosthetic limb manufacturing space.

In the main lobby, an interactive feature wall draws kids into the space and changes images with kinetic motion ignited by touch. LED lighting is used in all hallways and exam and x-ray rooms where patients can alter the color of the illumination, which provides a pleasant distraction from the clinical processes taking place.

The second floor features pre-operative and post-anesthesia care units that are both visually and acoustically private to maintain patient dignity. Within these spaces, patients can control room lighting, entertainment, and education systems, as well as nurse assistance needs, giving them greater autonomy and sense of control.

The third-floor medical library features a connection to the operating rooms via an electronic video integration system to view surgeries as they are happening. On the roof, light monitors with automated louvers provide shading when necessary from the bright summer sun to preserve energy. Additionally, large portions of the glazing on the south and east side feature integrated specular louvers to enhance daylighting and mitigate solar heat gain.

Construction on the center began in 2015 and wrapped up in 2017.

The design team also included Rios Clementi Hale Studios as the landscape architect and DPR Construction as the general contractor.

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