More than 200 projects competing in categories ranging from education and health care to housing and commercial office space vied for this year’s Architectural Awards. Juries representing a cross section of industry experts selected the winners, recognizing the entire team of architects, contractors, project managers and developers who collaborated to create and build their visionary project.

A winner in the Under Construction category, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, located in Downey, Calif., is one of the nation’s leading hospitals for rehabilitative medicine. The existing complex, which has been in operation since 1888, is owned and operated by the county of Los Angeles. It is located on the northern part of a 212-acre historic campus, to the southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. Drawing inspiration from the rich history of Rancho Los Amigos and a historic mission-style building on-site, the structures encircle a central plaza defining the heart of the campus, according to a statement by Taylor Design. An iconic tower references this architectural language, while emphasizing the campus’ central core and providing wayfinding cues.

Conceptually, the team referenced the weaving therapy that became synonymous with Rancho Los Amigos around the turn of the century, according to Taylor Design. The award-winning project, which is currently under construction, encompasses several structures including: renovation and extension to the existing Inpatient Hospital, a new Outpatient Building, and a new Wellness and Aquatics Center; all blending seamlessly into one cohesive campus.

The project, which broke ground in August 2015, is split into two phases. Phase I, which includes the Wellness & Aquatic Therapy Center, will be completed in August 2016. Additional Phase I work, which is scheduled for completion in 2018, entails the hospital extension and renovation, medical outpatient building, warehouse, and site and infrastructure improvements. Phase II, which includes construction of the outpatient facilities and renovations to research and administrative buildings, is scheduled to complete in 2020. The estimated cost of the project is $418 million. The estimate for Phase I alone is $210 million.

“It is a great honor to receive this recognition. We’re proud of the contribution we’ve made to the architectural landscape of Los Angeles with this outstanding campus. Taylor Design, SmithGroupJJR and McCarthy Building Companies have worked together with the Los Angeles Department of Public Works to honor the incredible legacy of Rancho Los Amigos,” said Taylor Design President D. Randy Regier, in a statement. “From the beginning, our team’s work was focused on the patient journey. This emphasis informed the planning and design to create an environment that supports the incredible level of patient care being delivered within this historic and important community health care campus.”

The team includes Executive Architect Taylor Design; Contractor McCarthy Building Companies Inc.; Design Architect SmithGroupJJR; Building Owner Los Angeles Department of Public Works; and Rancho Los Amigos.

“The winners of this year’s Architectural Awards demonstrate how exceptional architectural designs can inspire our community and invigorate our city while also addressing critical policy needs,” said Mary Leslie, president of the Los Angeles Business Council.

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Irvine, Calif.-based Taylor Design served as the architect on the project, while St. Louis-headquartered McCarthy Building Companies served as the general contractor and Pasadena, Calif.-based EPTDESIGN as the landscape architect. The three-story, 136,000-square-foot facility was designed to serve the area’s growing population, with 66 clinicians in more than 20 specialties.

The building was designed to maximize natural lighting and feature eco-friendly materials, while its landscaping and emphasis on health programming outside were also key components in making the project more eco-friendly. One major aspect from a landscape standpoint was the berms (or raised pieces of land) created to help ease the area’s high winds. In fact, there are many techniques a landscape design service can use in harsh desert climates from elevation to irrigation. The end result was the creation of a unique landscape outside the facility.

“The berms became a defining part of the landscape – some are 9-feet high,” said Stephen Carroll, principal for EPTDESIGN. “They are quite large in the landscape and allowed us to create different spaces on the site that we could program in a variety of ways. They were definitely a key part of the site and were not only part of the design language, but also a strategy for climate protection.”

The landscape design concept focuses on three different typologies related to mind, body and spirit. The body aspect has to do with physical activity and included physical therapy gardens, a kid’s play zone and a walking zone that Kaiser calls Thrive Walk. The mind component includes an amphitheater designed for health education events as well as conference terraces that can be used for staff meetings. The spirit sector encompasses the spiritual gardens. The landscape was created using plenty of regional materials, including boulders and decomposed granite that were locally sourced, according to Carroll. It was a project that was to provide a homely yet, relaxing environment for staff and visitors, and a local service similar to castle rock landscape design were chosen to bring this ambitious project to life. A project like this shows the value that using the talents of experts in landscaping can bring – a professional’s experience is not to be overlooked when trying to create a great outdoor space. If, for example, you’re looking for services pertaining to Landscape design in Canberra, somewhere like Christies Landscape may be the ideal company to get in touch with but the internet is a good resource for finding companies local to you if you live elsewhere. Whether you have any ideas, a grand design, or not, it’s well worth seeing what they can do for you in breathing life into an outside space in need of some love.

A large part of the landscape surrounding the facility encourages community involvement. For instance, Kaiser encourages local residents to walk the Thrive Walk, which features markers to show the distance they’ve gone. Kaiser also hosts farmer’s markets on many of its campuses across the nation, and has designated farmer’s market space at the Lancaster facility.

A challenge for the landscape team was figuring out how to irrigate the site. With only 7 inches of rain annually and the cost to recycle graywater being quite expensive, the team decided to source water from a nearby, reclaimed-water source. “The site was essentially doing the same as if we captured our own water on site, so that’s why we ultimately decided to use this local reclaimed water source,” Carroll said.

The client’s initial goal was to achieve net-zero energy, according to Carroll. It would have been possible with the addition of a wind turbine to be used as an energy source; however, the city has yet to be able to get that started.

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The OPC2 building will be a six-story, 89,000-square-foot outpatient center that will adjoin the existing outpatient center with clinics for cardiology, rehabilitation, neurology and other subspecialties. Turner Construction is serving as the general contractor on the new outpatient center, while HDR Inc. and Taylor Design are working together on the project design. All three have local offices in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Design features for the new facility include colorful glass panels that combine with playful detailing to establish the western gateway for the hospital campus, according to Doug Nelson, executive director of facilities development and construction for the hospital. Warm, natural materials and the use of daylighting create a healing, rejuvenating environment. For instance, aluminum canopies along the southern face of the building shade the glass, while bouncing light into the building’s core.

The facility’s tilted glass wall also engages with subway passengers passing the facility, while colored boxes along the exterior surface create cozy windowsills with views of the street activities below. An outdoor therapy patio provides patients with a direct connection to the outdoors.

Art also played a key role in the design, Nelson said. The flowing lines in the flooring mimic a colorful, local mural called Temescal Flows. A wide pedestrian entry concourse features community-based art that welcomes all outpatient visitors while also linking outpatient care lobbies to the existing structured parking and to the main hospital campus to the south.

Designed as a LEED for Healthcare Silver facility, this is the first building block in the hospital’s campus transition plan. The facility will use 38.4 percent less energy than the average building of its kind and will reduce water usage by 35 percent. The project team also selected low-emitting building materials for optimal indoor air quality and sustainability.

Nelson said that the project team faced some initial challenges with relocating the existing building at 52nd street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. “Focusing on the community and trying to meet the construction demands while mitigating any impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods continues to present some challenges,” he said.

Schedule and cost also continues to be a discussion of potential risk, according to Nelson, and components of the structure such as the exterior wall systems with the unique glass mosaic of many colors and accents will require special attention.

The entire $500 million Master Plan project also includes a rebuilding of the main hospital that will increase the number of patient beds to 210 on site; create individual patient rooms; and add new surgical, diagnostic and treatment rooms as well as support services and clinics. A large part of creating the Master Plan came through public outreach that engaged stakeholders within the community, neighborhood and the hospital, to create a unified vision for the campus. This vision has helped create consensus and support, and celebrates the greatness of all children. The vision for the Master Plan is “An Amazing Journey,” and it has inspired the design team as well as the community to push further and create something that will better serve the needs of patients, families and our community.

“We are thrilled to begin the next chapter in UCSF Benioff Oakland’s amazing journey,” said Bertram Lubin, MD, president and chief executive officer of UCSF Benioff Oakland, in a statement. “For over 100 years, the hospital has strived to provide the best medical care for our patients, and our Master Plan project will enhance the hospital’s ability to focus on family-centered care with new, modern, and seismically compliant buildings and technology.”

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The design-build team of Petra Integrated Construction Strategies (Petra ICS), based in La Palma, Calif.; Taylor Design, based in Fitch Irvine, Calif.; and St. Louis-based McCarthy, attributes the fast and efficient process to collaborative delivery and progressive construction technology.

Located on the northern side of the St. Jude Medical Center campus, the St. Jude Medical Center Northwest Tower replaces an existing tower. The four-story, 200,000-square-foot acute care building offers 120 beds and 14 operating rooms that feature minimally invasive and robotic surgeries.

“Two primary uses with different requirements are components of the Northwest Tower addition. These include technologically cutting-edge surgical suites as well as spaces for patient care, healing and recovery,” said Neal Rinella, Taylor Design’s principal-in-charge, in a statement.

The project also included a 14,000-square-foot central utility plant and a new bridge to connect the tower’s fourth floor to the hospital.

Seven months of major construction work took place before building the new tower. Crews had to perform utility work and tear down an existing medical records building and parking garage. Construction efforts also included new surface parking and street improvements. In collaboration with International Parking Design of Irvine, Calif., McCarthy added 215 parking spaces to an existing 455-car parking structure that was built in 2004.

“The Northwest Tower displays design function, as well as incorporates evidence-based strategies for patient services to reduce stress, length of stay and enhance communication between caregivers and patients. These strategies not only provide an optimal care environment for healing, but also support St. Jude Medical Center’s commitment to patient dignity, the human spirit and creating healthy communities,” Rinella said in a statement.

To meet the challenging demands of the project, the construction and design team used virtual construction and design technology. For example, building information modeling (BIM) 3D, 4D and 5D were used to tie the model to constructability, cost and schedule. This form of delivery approach and technology helped to decrease the total project cost by 10 percent and helped complete the project under the original budget. The project team was also able to complete construction in five months.

Other technological features help with the patient experience, including computers for medical use in every patient room and advanced information systems allowing immediate clinical collaboration.

There is also a neurosurgery suite with an intra-operative MRI integrated with systems from BrainLab, a German medical technology company. Additionally, the tower features a cardiovascular hybrid room with a robotic C-arm, a cardiovascular suite, dedicated orthopedic rooms and integrated general surgery suites.

“Our team has worked together on other projects, but this has been the most collaborative design and construction effort that Petra ICS/St. Joseph Health System has achieved over the duration of our existence,” said Jim Bostic, vice president of operations for Petra ICS, in a statement. “It is a model project for best practices in the use of virtual design and construction and the implementation of the design to construction process.”

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