Contract - October 2015 - 75

PHOTOGRAPHY: SEAN AIRHART/NBBJ (OPPOSITE, MIDDLE LEFT); BRUCE DAMONTE (ALL OTHERS)

A pendant fixture by LightArt
"Bringing the outside in" is not typically a concept associated
hangs above the reception
with healthcare design. That may change with the arrival
desk (top right), which
of
more medical facilities such as the Sutter Health/Palo Alto
is wrapped with Richlite
paneling with a CNC-milled
Medical Foundation (PAMF) clinic in the San Francisco Bay
pattern. Some waiting areas
Area. Designed by global firm NBBJ, the 198,000-square-foot
are bright and airy (above),
San Carlos Center emphasizes the beauty of the natural
while those for the diagnostic
imaging clinic (above right)-
world, providing a sense of well-being right from the entrance.
where patients often sit in
It's likely the only medical center in the world to have
robes and drink bad-tasting
a
45-foot-long, live-edge bench-a single continuous slice
liquids for imaging purposes-
are dimly lit and hung with
from the trunk of a native Claro walnut tree.
dark curtains. A custom
"We were trying to create an environment that exudes
45-foot-long, live-edge bench
healing
for people," says Josie Briggs, a senior associate at NBBJ.
(opposite, top two) lines
one side of the glass-walled
"The design celebrates natural light and honest materials."
corridor, which overlooks
PAMF needed a new facility to serve a rapidly
gardens (opposite, bottom).
growing
population along the San Francisco Peninsula,
Redwood-lined overhangs
(opposite, middle right)
and it commissioned NBBJ to design a medical complex that
warmly greet patients
would accommodate 100 physicians. The facility occupies
and visitors.

a prominent 18-acre property that separates downtown
San Carlos from the area's main freeway. PAMF asked the
designers to find an architectural style for the four-level
clinic that would speak to the local community. The result

is contemporary yet warm and non-institutional, thanks
to influences that include California Mission style, evident
in the center's tan Santa Barbara stucco finish, and mountain
lodges, recalled by the redwood-lined overhangs and cleft-cut
sandstone walls.
"First and foremost, we wanted to give patients the
feeling that they'd come to the right place. We wanted to make
it comfortable and not threatening," says David Jury, PAMF's
vice president of support services and facilities development.

Transparency and natural touches
The building emphasizes transparency throughout, with
significant natural light that also aids in wayfinding. The
parking garage has a lofty, glassed-in staircase that encourages
patients to use the stairs and allows them to easily determine
where they need to go. The expansive 3,570-square-foot
reception area and adjoining 1,130-car garage were designed
to also serve a hospital building, postponed to a later phase
of construction. The lobby's back wall is covered in massive,
end-block reclaimed Douglas fir, allowing the space to feel
more like a hospitality interior. Around the corner, the wood

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Contract - October 2015

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