Project category: Remodel/Renovation (completed June 2006)

Chief administrator: Larry Harrison, MHS, Chief Executive, (858) 678-7000

Firm: TAYLOR, (949) 574-1325

Design team: Architecture and Interior Design, TAYLOR; Mechanical and Plumbing Engineering, DCGA, Inc.; Electrical Engineering, FBA Engineering; General Contractor, Turner Construction

Photography: Ryan Beck Photography

Total building area (sq. ft.): 98,802

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $142

Total construction cost (excluding land): $14,000,000


The Scripps Clinic Carmel Valley is a medical office building and ambulatory surgery center for a leading healthcare provider in the San Diego area. Located in an affluent patient service area, this tenant improvement project encompasses five levels of a contemporary office building and includes a digital imaging center, internal medicine, family practice, OB/GYN, pediatrics, allergy, dermatology, orthopedics, cardiology, rheumatology, and lab services.

The ambulatory surgery center has two operating rooms, two GI labs, and 16 recovery bays. The recovery bays are located on the perimeter of the floor and feature clerestory windows that provide abundant daylighting and outdoor views. Nurses’ stations were also strategically placed at the end of each floor to further maximize the building’s large windows.

Offices and waiting rooms were designed to provide as much natural daylighting and as many outdoor views as possible. Most offer clerestory windows that transmit light deep into the interior corridors. In areas where there was no access to exterior daylight, frosted storefront windows and clerestory perimeter glass filters were used to allow light to permeate into those areas. Architectural cove lighting further emulates natural lighting.

The inspiration for the interior design palette was drawn from the building’s contemporary design and the site’s natural coastal bluff location. The team used modern light fixtures and custom translucent panels blended with natural colors and materials to create the ideal blend of nature and healthcare in a warm, relaxed healing environment.