The Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a new institutional and architectural icon for Penn Medicine’s academic medical campus, was designed and constructed over six years by the integrated project delivery team PennFIRST, which included HDR, Foster + Partners, BR+A, L.F. Driscoll and Balfour Beatty in partnership with Penn Medicine’s clinical and facilities experts. The Pavilion is a blueprint for the “hospital of the future,” focused on patient experience and comfort and providing the most advanced medical care in the world while also being the largest healthcare facility in the world to achieve USGBC LEED Gold v4 Healthcare.

To achieve an enduring facility to evolve with advances in care delivery, the design distinguishes the inherent elements that define the building’s use and identity: the public base, dual elevator cores, and vertical glass gestures at the nose of the building. Articulating these elements enhances the user’s understanding of the building and their place within it. In contrast, the ephemeral elements that are likely to change over time — headwalls, furnishings and equipment — are designed to easily adapt, be replaced or removed, enabling a longer facility lifespan. The building is sustainable, efficient, uplifting, sensitive to its surroundings, and responds to the needs of people. Main arrival spaces are bright, warm and welcoming, with daylight and views that orient patients, visitors, and staff. Light bounces inward and outward, creating an iconic exterior lantern effect. By prioritizing light and views the design of the building embraces a holistic view towards the wellbeing of the people inside.

From the inside of the clinical floors, framed views to the exterior guide users along their path, providing a sense of place within the building and its context. These views orient visitors as they arrive on the floors, and create destination spaces at the ends of the building that serve as respite for families and staff. The materials in these spaces correspond to the context of the view outside, creating a true outside-in relationship and further tying the building to its context.

Points of arrival, whether at the front door or when arriving on an inpatient floor, are oriented by natural light and views, that radiate both inward and outward, creating a unique expression on the building’s exterior. The finishes in arrival spaces are light, warm, and welcoming, simultaneously drawing people in and projecting warmth out. Like a hotel, these spaces have approachable staff stations, assuring visitors as they navigate the building. Simple, thoughtful design and detailing reinforces the larger scale and transient nature of arrival spaces, distinguishing them from smaller, intimate spaces. Lighting throughout the building is indirect to obscure the source and provide a more positive human experience. In circulation spaces, light is a wayfinding device, highlighting paths of travel and creating rhythms that reinforce spatial hierarchy and break down the length of the corridors. Finishes in circulation spaces are richer and deeper, evoking a hospitality-mindset of quiet corridors and providing a clear contrast for the directional light elements. Destination spaces utilize light to enhance the user experience, defining spatial scale and providing control of the interior environment. Finishes and detailing within these spaces are richer and smaller scale, providing a sense of personal scale and variation of textures.

Public spaces at the base of the building are fully glazed, creating continuity between the interior and exterior environment. Large pieces of art, including a glass sculpture from renowned artist Maya Lin and vibrant murals from Philadelphia-based artist Odili Donald Odita, are an extension of the landscape and can be viewed and enjoyed from the street level. The design of the Pavilion also draws attention to the Penn Museum, a true gem in Philadelphia’s rich history, and home to many amazing and priceless artifacts.

Utilizing new techniques in computational design, full-scale mockups of an entire inpatient unit to test the design with users, new project delivery methods, prefabrication at an unprecedented scale, and a collective mindset of innovation, this team delivered an academic medical facility that is designed and built to last a century and will flex and adapt to healthcare changes while remaining resilient in the face of new challenges.