UCSF Presents Designs for Medical Center at Mission Bay

UCSF is one step closer to realizing its vision to create a state-of-the-art and environmentally sustainable medical center at Mission Bay after UC Regents reviewed preliminary exterior design plans at their meeting at UCLA on May 13. UCSF Medical Center officials presented the architectural designs for the proposed hospital complex at Mission Bay - to be located on 14.5 acres adjacent to the existing 43-acre campus - to the members of the Regents' Committee on Grounds and Buildings. The Regents reacted favorably to the design. Construction of the 289-bed, integrated hospital complex to serve children, women and cancer patients at Mission Bay will allow UCSF to fulfill three major goals:

• to comply with California seismic law for inpatient facilities;
• to grow inpatient and outpatient capacity at all clinical locations; and
• to realize its long-term vision to develop a second, major integrated clinical and research campus.

Upon completion of the first phase in 2014, the 869,000-gross-square-foot medical center would include a 183-bed children's hospital, a 70-bed cancer hospital for adult patients, a specialty women's hospital with a 36-bed birth center, ambulatory care services, central utilities plant, 500-plus parking spaces and support facilities. "Our architectural vision is to create timeless and transformative buildings, which express unique identities for children, women and cancer patients and operate efficiently as one," said Cindy Lima, executive director of administration and project director for the Mission Bay hospital. "'Transformative' describes a design that not only contributes to new ways of advancing health, such as translational research and patient safety, but also contributes to healing through connections to nature and sustainability." Design Features Lima noted that the exterior designs for the medical center are the result of extensive collaboration among physicians, staff, community members, city agencies, patient families, architects and others. The design for the hospital complex is consistent with the design of the existing research buildings at UCSF Mission Bay, using warm-tone exterior materials, repetition of punched windows, green-hued glass and light-filled atriums. "Departing from the grid-like layout of the campus, the medical center buildings are interconnected for the benefit of clinical operations and the convenience of patients," Lima said. Other features of the hospital complex design include rooftop gardens, a landscaped pedestrian walkway and the signature cube-shaped children's hospital, composed of glass, twisted slightly from its building frame to evoke a sense of movement. "The children's hospital, as the iconic symbol of the medical campus, seeks to express sophisticated whimsy and positively engage children," Lima said. Designs for the women's and cancer hospitals entrance also is based on light and transparency with a glass-filled, six-story structure framed by stone panels. Three double-story sky-lit lobbies will be visible from the outside and will allow those inside to connect with nature. The Third Street plaza entrance, to be located between the two hospital towers, will provide public space for gathering, outdoor dining and convenient access to a busy transit corridor. The Third Street entrance also will link directly to the public zone along Fourth Street through a public corridor. A 34,500-square-foot energy center, to be located on Third Street shielding an open service yard from public view, is designed to be engaging. Its two-story window will tilt out toward the street, revealing the indoor equipment and operations to passersby. "There, we hope to display real-time metrics reflecting our energy conservation," Lima noted. The configuration of the medical center responds to the urban setting and to community input by locating high-volume outpatient facilities to the north, away from the neighborhood. The hospitals will be built to the south, across from a public park. And the proposed helipad will be located at the north end of the site, minimizing the impact of noise on the neighborhood, Lima explained. Experienced Team In his introductory remarks to the Regents on May 13, Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center, talked about the team assembled for this ambitious project. "After an exhaustive selection process, we hired Anshen+Allen architects, the largest architectural firm dedicated to health care in the world," Laret said. "They have partnered with William McDonough+Partners, known worldwide for its leadership and expertise in sustainability." The Mission Bay medical center will incorporate and integrate the best green practices into the design, construction, operations and purchasing strategies. The target for construction is to achieve the gold rating by the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The experienced project team also includes seasoned construction project managers, a respected veteran of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and a construction management firm, as adviser, Laret said. "Our team has focused learning from the experiences of other hospital projects, including those in the UC system, in order to do everything possible to minimize the unexpected, control costs and deliver a high-quality project on time," he added. At UCSF, that team includes Lima, who has 21 years of experience at UCSF Medical Center, both as a hospital administrator and director of facilities planning and project management, and Stuart Eckblad, director of design and construction. He is a licensed architect with more than 30 years' experience in the planning, design and construction of new hospitals and outpatient facilities. Laret also requested and received Regental approval of an augmentation of $9 million for preliminary plan funding. "Recognizing the magnitude of this project at a time of unprecedented health care construction cost, we are being extremely careful to engage the most competent resources," he said. UCSF Medical Center officials are expected to return to the Regents in September to request approval of the budget and design for the project. They also will seek California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) approval for the Mission Bay medical complex in September. CEQA is a statute that requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible.

Mission Bay Medical Center Town Hall Meetings

Hear about the progress UCSF is making toward creating a new medical center at Mission Bay during town hall meetings to be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, at Mount Zion's Herbst Hall and Friday, May 23, at Cole Hall on the Parnassus campus. Related Links: UCSF Medical Center CEO Updates Regents on Mission Bay Hospital Project
UCSF Today, March 19, 2008 Facts About UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay
UCSF Today, March 29, 2007 UCSF Mission Bay Community and Governmental Relations