Pedersen and Viñoly Pair for Health Care

The projects will add a total of 704 new hospital beds to the Silicon Valley city.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM

View of Promenade, Stanford Hospital

As it has so often in this electoral season, health care overtook the discourse at an event in Palo Alto, California last week. But it was development, not politics, which rallied supporters for the unveiling of William Pedersen and Rafael Viñoly's expansion of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford Hospital. At a joint reception in a downtown hotel, the medical institutions revealed display models and renderings for the projects, which will add 704 new hospital beds in the heart of Silicon Valley.


Lobby View, Stanford Hospital

The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital will address a growing need for specialized pediatric and obstetric care by adding a 104-bed addition, designed by Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox. His concept centers on an "Explorer's Pavilion" that places information and patient services at the front door, with a garden-lined public trail that leads families to their destinations. Single-patient rooms are envisioned as "nests" that allow families to stay in the patient's room, along with "tree houses" that view the garden.


Level Three Corridor and Roof Garden, Stanford Hospital

"As waves emanate from a stone tossed into a tranquil pool, our design is influenced by nature radiating from a healing garden placed between architecture, which represents the present and the future," says Pedersen.


Forecourt Entry, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Rafael Viñoly Architects designed a new 600-bed hospital from the ground up for Stanford University's hospital, one of the nation's leading medical centers. Considering that medical and technological advances frequently originate there, Viñoly’s plans feature modular pavilions that will adapt to future innovations. Light-filled corridors that view the area's foothills figure prominently, while gardens and outdoor courtyards are utilized extensively to promote healing through nature. A sloped courtyard will organize public circulation on lower levels, and accessible roof gardens surround a public floor that offers amenities for visitors and staff.


Ground Floor Lobby,Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

"We are challenging outdated conventions in hospital design to establish a new architectural identity for Stanford Hospital that will allow it to continue to provide outstanding care for its community, as well as innovate and develop treatments that will benefit communities the world over," says Viñoly.

Renderings courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects and KPF.