Shortly before Mental Health Awareness Month in May, development and construction firm Skanska announced the topping out of California’s first behavioral health facility—and the largest in the nation—to target net zero energy. Located in Redwood City, San Mateo County, Calif., the 77,610-sf Cordilleras Health System Replacement Project is slated for completion in late 2024.
The campus will comprise four single-story mental health rehabilitation centers, each accommodating 16 clients, as well as a three-story co-housing building for 57 residents. With CannonDesign as the design architect, the buildings are arrayed around a central open space with sheltered outdoor seating, community gardens, and recreation areas. Cordilleras also will provide administration, medical, dining, and maintenance services, plus other staff and visitor services.
The project will generate onsite power by installing solar panels on the buildings’ roofs and the parking areas, offsetting the energy usage onsite. Through a design and modeling process, the project team was able to minimize the site’s power usage while maintaining occupant comfort. Cordilleras is targeting a Silver LEED certification and has the potential to achieve Gold.
Located on a wooded hillside south of San Francisco, Cordilleras preserves the existing natural environment and features biophilic design to support therapeutic healing. As a resilient facility, Cordilleras will be able to continue operations in the event of a natural catastrophe.
“More than 51 million Americans—approximately one in five adults—live with mental illness. As healthcare builders and designers, we can directly combat the stigma around seeking care in what was traditionally seen as cold, sterile treatment environments, as we expect to see increased demand for behavioral health facilities,” Lindsay Corotis, vice president/account manager, Skanska USA Building, said in a statement.
The original facility was constructed as a tuberculosis hospital in 1952 and adapted for behavioral health in 1978.
On the Building Team:
Owner: San Mateo County
Design architect and architect of record: CannonDesign
MEP engineer: CannonDesign
Structural engineer: KPFF
Construction: Skanska USA Building
Related Stories
| Apr 24, 2013
Los Angeles may add cool roofs to its building code
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants cool roofs added to the city’s building code. He is also asking the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to create incentives that make it financially attractive for homeowners to install cool roofs.
| Apr 10, 2013
ASHRAE publishes second edition to HVAC manual for healthcare facilities
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has published a second edition of its “HVAC Design Manual for Hospitals and Clinics.”
| Apr 2, 2013
6 lobby design tips
If you do hotels, schools, student unions, office buildings, performing arts centers, transportation facilities, or any structure with a lobby, here are six principles from healthcare lobby design that make for happier users—and more satisfied owners.
| Apr 2, 2013
4 hospital lobbies provide a healthy perspective
A carefully considered entry zone can put patients at ease while sending a powerful branding message for your healthcare client. Our experts show how to do it through four project case studies.
| Mar 29, 2013
Cuningham Group acquires NTD's healthcare practice, expands into key markets
The international design firm Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. has announced that NTD Healthcare has the joined the company in a strategic expansion. A practice of NTD Architecture, NTD Healthcare joins Cuningham Group with three principals: Wayne Hunter, AIA, NCARB, ACHA and Phillip T. Soule, III, AIA, ACHA in San Diego, along with Maha Abou-Haidar, AIA in Phoenix.
| Mar 14, 2013
25 cities with the most Energy Star certified buildings
Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago top EPA's list of the U.S. cities with the greatest number of Energy Star certified buildings in 2012.
| Mar 6, 2013
Hospital project pioneers BIM/VDC-based integrated project delivery
The Marlborough (Mass.) Hospital Cancer Pavilion is one of the first healthcare projects to use BIM/VDC-based integrated project delivery.
| Mar 4, 2013
German healthcare design specialist TMK Architekten joins HDR Architecture
TMK Architekten • Ingenieure, one of Germany’s leading healthcare architecture firms, announced today that it is joining forces with HDR Architecture, the world’s No. 1 healthcare and science + technology design firm. The merged company will conduct business as HDR TMK, and will be the hub for the firm’s healthcare and science + technology design programs in Europe.
