Rafael Viñoly Architects headed up the New Stanford Hospital as a model for the present and future of healthcare in Stanford, California.

Stanford University aspired for its new facility to transform the patient and provider experience and to have the capacity to adapt to the future of human care. The program called for 360 private bedrooms; diagnostic and treatment facilities; an emergency department; wellness and training facilities; and public spaces incorporating healing gardens, amenities, and a robust art program.

The Hospital reimagines the traditional healing environment: the omnipresence of nature and daylight throughout the facility underpins a holistic approach to healing the mind, body, and spirit, and seamlessly blends with state-of-the-art technology. The building draws upon the Campus’ iconic courtyards, preserving a low profile and creates a pedestrian link with the existing campus. It is also responsive through its unorthodox stacking of clinical functions which permit clear visual connections and foster interdisciplinary synergies for which the University is well known.

Lower-level floor plates house spaces with highly technical demands and facilitate treatment by co-locating departments, eliminating long patient transport routes. At upper floors, housing acute and intensive care units, building planning modules are concentrated into 120-foot square floors permitting daylight to extend deep within each floor plate, benefiting not only patients but also caregivers and families spending long hours in the facility.

Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects
Contractor: ClarkConstruction, McCarthy
Photography: Will Pryce, Brad Feinknopf, Bruce Damonte