Antelope Valley Medical Center, Replacement Hospital

Antelope Valley Medical Center Replacement Hospital was designed to meet the needs of the community it serves. The Hospital provides state of the future technology and delivers world class healthcare to the High Desert area in California. This project provides a total of 240 licensed beds including 40 ICU, 32 PCU, 86 Telemetry, 72 Med/Surg, and 10 Pediatrics beds.

The design is centered on the needs of the patient and their family. The building block for the inpatient unit originated from the singular most important component, the patient room. A unique room feature is the articulated alcove entrance, which provides space for direct nurse-patient observation, food and supply carts, and portable imaging equipment, without impacting the circulation. Articulated corridors provide flexibility to quickly turn med-surg rooms into isolation rooms in case of increased demand or a “surge demand as result of a pandemic”.



The buildings’ placement on the site simplifies and enriches the visitor’s way-finding; the building approach is through a landscaped parkway, focusing on the entrance. The lobby collects and gathers the circulation to the most frequently traveled areas, tall ceilings allow natural light to filter into the space via clerestory windows. A therapeutic garden is located on the roof, opening directly to the ICU floor and is accessible to all floors via elevators.



The most prominent space is the corner of the triangle, which is cantilevered and is translucent; it offers the best views of the surrounding areas. This area is dedicated to the caregivers in order to prioritize their well-being. The staff lounge is flanked by another important design element, the stairs, which are cladded in glass and float in the shaft, without structural attachment to the skin.

The key to designing this Replacement Hospital was to implement a rigorous approach to “Lean Design” in order to minimize gross building area and improve care quality. Innovative planning eliminated excessive non-programmed spaces such as circulation, infrastructure program duplication, which resulted in the elimination of waste and improved operational efficiencies by reducing walking distances. We believe “the most sustainable space is the one you don’t build”.