Healthcare Design - August 2021 - 50

AWARD OF MERIT
NATURE LOVER
MarinHealth Medical Center: Oak Pavilion takes
full advantage of the natural beauty of its site to
innovate access to views and outdoor space
By Jennifer Kovacs Silvis
AN EFFORT TO comply with updated seismic standards from the state
of California, the MarinHealth Medical Center: Oak Pavilion is a
265,000-square-foot hospital replacement housing new inpatient,
diagnostic, interventional, and emergency services. Community
members of Greenbrae, Calif., requested that the new building not detract
from the natural landscape surrounding it, inspiring a biophilic design
inside and out. On the interior, patient rooms, waiting areas, and staff
lounges are all organized around exceptional views, while the exterior
features numerous gardens. Additionally, solariums are provided on every
nursing unit, an indoor/outdoor space that allows patients direct access
to fresh air. The project was submitted to the Design Showcase by Perkins
Eastman. Here, project lead Jason Haim, principal and executive director
at Perkins Eastman (Los Angeles), shares insight on some of the design
solutions most celebrated by the jury.
Healthcare Design: The community expressed the desire for a building
that blends into the natural landscape. How did you approach the
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AU GUST 2021
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
A sunken garden
inspired by nearby
Mount Tamalpais is
one of many outdoor
spaces building
users can access
and serves as an
organizing element
for interior waiting
rooms that open up to
the space on multiple
levels.
design to ensure the structure was almost obscured
on the site?
Jason Haim: The project is nestled into a sloping
site, allowing the building to look smaller
than it actually is. The four-story above-grade
construction bottoms out at the west elevation,
but the south and east elevations are excavated
from the hillside that runs up to an existing fivestory
wing of the facility. This existing wing is
dramatically linked to the lower level of the Oak
Pavilion with a terraced garden, filled with boulders
and flora local to Northern California. This
garden steps up 40 feet from the public waiting
rooms, linking the new wing of the project to an
existing wing of the healthcare center.
Stacking greenery over the building and using
reflective glass curtain walls obscure the project
within the natural landscape, rather than
building over it-which is very important to the
community of Marin County. The parking areas
surrounding the Oak Pavilion were also dropped
down a few feet to allow the ground floor plate to
have views out to the riparian area across [the
street] and to Mount Tamalpais instead of viewing
the front of parked cars.
The project utilized faux rock retaining walls
and a tremendous amount of local tree species
and ground cover to help the building fit into its
natural context. Roof gardens cover the majority
of low-level roofs to help provide pleasant views
for patients but also for residents who look down
on Marin Medical Center from above.
The outdoor solariums are a standout feature.
Where did the idea come from?
We wanted a way for the community to be immersed
in nature and remain connected to the
beauty of Marin County, even when they are
at the hospital. With what we know about how
nature contributes to wellness and our desire
to create an architecture that exemplifies wellness-literally
and figuratively-the solariums
were a perfect architectural solution to a deep
human desire to be connected to the landscape,
to nature, to context.
Inside, the biophilic response is continued
throughout. How did this goal influence the
way interiors are organized?
We wanted patients, families, and staff to have
access to natural light and views as much as
possible, for a variety of important reasons.
We know that access to natural light and natural
landscapes contributes to feelings of greater
wellness among both patients and staff.
The project enables users to know where
© TIM GRIFFITH COURTESY PERKINS EASTMAN
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - August 2021

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