This 158,000-sq.-ft. Ambulatory Care Center has an eight-OR Surgical Center, Physicians’ Offices, Diagnostic Services, and an Education Center.

A unique goal was “to create a place where a young mother would enjoy coming when it was raining and gray instead of going to the mall. This would be the place where she would teach her child about healthy living.” The facility had to be inviting, open, airy, restful, and integrated; these were the key success factors essential to the building’s vernacular and served as the drivers for the ideas that shaped the building.

The site was congested, wedged between a parking structure, a steep hill, and the entry to the hospital. The parking structure was reinforced and expanded until it reached the top of the hill and created a second means of access, relieving congestion in the shared hospital drive. A tunnel became an exotic link from the hospital’s atrium.

Multiple access points created convenience for patients, physicians, and staff. Patient dignity was enhanced by placing the surgery center at the top, with arrival and departure occurring on the roof of the garage.

Physician convenience was achieved by direct dedicated parking in the garage. Staff move freely through the underground levels without passing near public areas.

The inviting, open, and airy environment was achieved by large expanses of glass, which capture the views of the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Rainier. High ceilings created spaciousness, and interior glass walls pulled this spaciousness into the core of the building.

Project category: New construction (completed August 2002)

Chief administrator: Steven E. Brown, Chief Executive Officer, (425) 899-1740

Firm: KMD Architects, (415) 399-4905

Design team: James R. Diaz, Principal; Mohinder Datta, Director; Harold Nesland, Project Manager; Christopher Rubright, Medical Planner; Christopher Griffes, Production Manager

Photography: Lara Swimmer Photography

Total building area (sq. ft.): 157,517

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $171

Total construction cost (excluding land): $27,000,000