Pasadena, California, USA
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health care providers in North America, wanted to do something new – to create a school in downtown Pasadena to train its own physicians, unfettered by the traditional pedagogy of academic medical centers.
Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign was responsible to design an entire campus within a building, due to the tight urban site, and in order to succeed Yazdani Studio’s design team needed to think about the typology in a new way.
The project was recently awarded a 2021 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The 80,000 sf building houses simulation, flex classrooms, cafeteria, lecture hall, computer center, small group learning, collaboration zones, outdoor recreation areas, and rooftop gardens that postulate “the school of medicine as a laboratory.”
This approach redefines medical education, preparing a new generation of physicians to influence positive change within Kaiser Permanente’s Health Care System.
With this facility, Kaiser Permanente has the opportunity to advance its unique culture, teach its own future doctors, pioneer groundbreaking educational paradigms, promote a hands-on learning environment characterized by a collaborative approach to caregiving, and strengthen its dedication to the communities they serve.
Project: Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Architects: Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign
Lead Architects: Mehrdad Yazdani
Senior Designer: Craig Booth
Project Management: Michael Smith
Engineering: Erin McConahey
Landscape Architect: Calvin Abe
Interior Designer: Nadine Quirmbach
Client: Kaiser Permanente
Contractor: PCL Construction
Photographers: Christopher Barrett
