Project Category – New Construction (completed May 2001)

Facility Contact – Lise L. Luttgens, Senior Vice-President and CEO, (323) 669-2301

Firm – Lee, Burkhart, Liu, Inc., (310) 829-2249

Design Team – Ken Lee, Principal; Ken Liu, AIA, Principal; Ed Gaul, Associate; Curtis Bywater, Senior Associate (Lee, Burkhart, Liu); Patricia Ford, IIDA, President (Ford Design)

Patient/Bed Capacity – N/A

Total Building Area (sq. ft.) – 105,000

Total Land Area (acres) – N/A

Total Cost – $50,000,000


Located on Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood area, this new two-story, 105,000-sq.-ft. project contains a new Surgery Center, new Main Entry and Plaza, and new Central Plant at the basement level of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. It is the cornerstone of a phased redevelopment of the 100-year-old institution that will update its presence and civic quality as a significant landmark in Los Angeles.

The building serves as the new main entry to the institution. The first floor houses the public functions of admitting, gift shop, access to dining, blood donor area, preoperative scheduling and main lobby waiting area.

The new pedestrian concourse, which organizes circulation and all public functions, achieves intrinsic wayfinding through architectural elements and universal iconography geared to children and a multicultural patient population.

The second floor is entirely clinically oriented and contains 14 new specialty and general operating rooms, each equipped with state-of-the-art, ceiling-mounted columns with articulating arms to accommodate surgical lights, monitors, anesthetic equipment/support, medical gases, power and audio/telecommunication systems. The PACU and OR support functions are also provided on this floor.

Disney Imagineering staff also contributed to the interior design and embellished design concepts to capitalize on the architectural drama of the first-floor concourse. Interactive video displays, designed for children, are available in the waiting area, as are passive play areas and reading niches staffed by volunteers. The dramatic two-story concourse is accented by a skylight and a 260-foot mural depicting popular scenes of Southern California. The mural is composed of separate panels, each hand-colored by students of local high schools.