Healthcare Design - May 2015 - 60

The building uses a reclaimed water system for
toilet flushing and irrigation that satisfies 100 percent
of that particular demand. Using recycled water for
flushing, alone, will realize almost 262,000 gallons
of reduced potable water consumption annually, or
about 46 percent of all water used inside the building,
Regier says.
The team is actively pursuing LEED Platinum
designation for new construction, and the goal of net
zero is anticipated to be accomplished once the wind
turbine is installed and operational.
Campus creation
A 25-foot-tall aluminum butterfly sculpture marks the
entry to Kaiser Permanente's Antelope Valley campus,

tic landscape to encompass not just one small portion
of the landscape, but the entire medical campus,"
Carroll says. "Therapeutic design isn't just good for
patients; it can provide a healing and restorative environment for the entire community."
As for the building itself, the blue-green glass
curtain wall, although a solution to environmental challenges, provides a striking visual effect that also gives
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a nod to the area's natural assets. Running along it are
two-toned poppy and butterfly appliqués made from
a painted, semitransparent vinyl film. "The beauty of
these is they're large-scale (5 feet to 16 feet tall), but
they feel light and airy on the architecture," says Will
Ayers, a principal with Selbert Perkins Design (Los Angeles). The firm, in partnership with Exit (Philadelphia),
an experience design and strategy firm, conceived
and contributed public art, sculpture, and wayfinding
throughout the campus.
Inside look
From the moment the building is entered, ease of
navigation is a focus of the interiors. Occupational and
physical therapy, followed by imaging and orthopedics, are the first departments encountered after
reaching the reception area, to provide shorter travel
distances for user groups with ambulatory constraints,
Reyes-Cappelli says.
Seating is available in the first-floor outdoor courtyard for wait times. From there, patients can easily see
a large, illuminated LED board that displays identification numbers to indicate when it's time to go inside
for a blood draw or to pick up a prescription in the
pharmacy. Cement flooring was selected to create a
smooth and uninterrupted plane.
The interior color palette draws from the natural environment with notes of greens, yellows, and oranges.

Visitors are able to easily
identify the building entry
by its oversized signage fin,
which is boldly colored green,
matching Kaiser Permanente's
standard signage format for
medical office buildings. In
later phases, future buildings
planned for the campus will
have similar signage fins in
blue, indicating hospital, and
red, indicating emergency
services.

ASSASSI PRODUCTIONS

followed by a first glimpse of the distinctively designed
paths and landscaped grounds. "It helps bring life to
that community and that area," says Rashad Morton,
senior project manager with McCarthy Building Cos.
Inc. (Newport, Calif.), the commercial builder for the
project.
In fact, the campus is a key component to the project's success, with one of the provider's goals being
to serve the community at large, says John Kouletsis,
chief architect and vice president of strategy, planning,
and design for Kaiser Permanente. The provider's
architecture, particularly of the last 15 years, he adds,
emphasizes public connections and promotes healthy
lifestyles.
Part of how that emphasis was reflected on this
project was through the development of 12 acres of
the 44-acre medical campus, which features approximately 1.5 miles of looped trails that meander past or
connect to outdoor "rooms" including an amphitheater, play zone, café, and staff conference patio. The
design responds to an organizational belief that not
all healthcare activities take place inside a building,
Reyes-Cappelli says.
EPTDesign filled the grounds with native and
adaptive plants-both local and regional-including a
meadow of poppies (the state flower). Offering height
and shade are thornless mesquite trees with hanging
foliage; palo verde trees with distinctive green bark
and yellow flowers; and three large, sculpted berms
that deflect wind and direct water to rows of canopyforming cottonwood trees.
"Our vision was to extend the idea of the therapeu-

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Healthcare Design - May 2015

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