Project category: New construction (completed December 2002)

Chief administrator: Richard Becker, MD, Chief Executive Officer, (202) 715-4000

Firms: HKS, Inc., (214) 969-5599; Tobey + Davis, (703) 318-5000

Design team: Don Pyskacek, Assistant Vice-President, Design and Construction (Universal Health Services, Inc.); Noel Barrick, Principal; David Prusha, Project Manager (HKS, Inc.); Judy Reed, Design Consultant (Design Studio, Inc.); Rick Rome, Principal-in-Charge, MEP Engineers (CCRD Partners)

Photography: Barry Halkin; Ed LaCasse

Total building area (sq. ft.): 458,278

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $209

Total construction cost (excluding land): $96,000,000

When built in 1948, The George Washington University Hospital was the most modern hospital in the nation’s capitol. Today, a replacement 371-bed, $96 million hospital carries on that tradition of quality healthcare with an expanded emphasis on technology and patient care. The new replacement hospital is the premier healthcare facility for Washington, DC, serving our President and Congress when in session.

The hospital—known worldwide for clinical expertise in cancer, labor and delivery, heart disease, surgery and minimally invasive surgery, emergency medicine and disaster preparedness, neurologic care, and orthopedics—is dedicated to providing diagnostic treatment and ambulatory care services with Centers of Excellence in cardiovascular research/treatment. The facility was built via a partnership between Universal Health Services, Inc., the nation’s third-largest hospital management company, and The George Washington University.

The seven-story, 400,000-square-foot replacement hospital is designed to blend with the existing neighborhood in scale, materials, and detailing. The building engages its surroundings, enhancing key elements of the neighborhood. A human scale and lively presence are created at the street level.

A sweeping curve of modulated curtain wall with an arcade and projecting canopies creates a welcoming relationship to the Metro, as well as signifying entrance and identity to the building. At the plaza level, a lively outdoor dining space with extensive landscaping is provided. An elegant fence comprised of brick piers and ornamental metal physically separates dining from circulation near the Metro and creates an interesting urban interplay of spaces.