James Brasuell reports on the results of a competition sponsored by healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente aiming to transform healthcare design in California by breaking from traditionally sterile and isolating hospital environments.
Kaiser Permanente, which has been at the forefront of healthcare innovation since its founding in the 1930s and 40s, recently announced San Bruno, California–based Aditazz and Portland-based Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch (M+NLB), with the New York office of Perkins+Will (P+W) as the winners of its "Small Hospital, Big Idea" competition.
Intended to re-imagine the role and design of 60- to 120-bed hospitals in small communities, "The winners' designs united hospitals with their communities and encouraged healthy activity. M+NLB/P+W's concept envisioned a hospital that transitions from a "sick care" to a "total health" environment, with outdoor plazas and public spaces. The team's wellness pavilion is a highly glazed public concourse located above a rehabilitated desert landscape, creating a "beacon" of healthy civic and community behavior," explains Brasuell.
Read the full story: Game Changer
Review: New Oakland Hospital a Case Study in Urban Design Failure
John King describes a new, 7.6-acre hospital campus in the heart of Oakland, California as accessible only by car or ambulance—in other words, "enough to make you sick."
California Ballot Measures Would Aid the Mentally Ill and Drug-Addicted Homeless
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed in March a two-part ballot initiative to tackle homelessness, focusing on mental illness and substance abuse, which would provide 10,000 beds in new, voluntary treatment facilities—but one funding source is controversial.
Omicron Breaks Another Pandemic Record: Hospitalizations
The highly infectious Omicron variant is contributing to a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. The record set in last winter's surge fell on Tuesday as hospitals suffer from massive labor shortages caused by the variant.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Chicago voters approve permanent festival grounds, penalty for vacant property owners
Currently, major summer and fall festivals take over public parks for weeks at a time, drawing criticism from nearby residents
NYC votes to cut outdoor dining red tape, speed up permitting
New York City also voted to allow the Department of Transportation to begin work on urgent projects before notifying elected officials.
California appears to reject Prop. 45
The proposition would have expanded the projects that qualify for a streamlined environmental review, effectively paring down the California Environmental Quality Act.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority