After being devastated by the Northridge Earthquake, Phase 1 of the St. John’s Health Center renovation has restored the facility as a premier healthcare provider in Southern California. St. John’s was severally damaged by the 6.7 earthquake, resulting in closure of the hospital for nine months, and requiring the demolition of an entire wing. The North Pavilion addition for the private Catholic hospital adds 154 beds for critical care, labor and delivery, neonatal intensive care and general surgeries. The addition cost nearly $400 million.
The North Pavilion is built upon a base isolation system, which will let the structure withstand a quake twice the size of the Northridge event of 1994. A combination of below ground rubber plates, steel and lead rest between support columns and allow the building to sway under seismic forces.
The design program for the North Pavilion called for a more relaxed atmosphere than typical of traditional hospitals. To accommodate this design objective, patient rooms are located on the perimeter of the structure with wide windows overlooking the facility’s lush landscape of trees and gardens, with the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains as a backdrop. The extensive window areas provide patient comfort by warming the interior quarters with an abundance of natural light, creating a facility less dependent on florescent luminance and reducing energy consumption. The glass facade systems feature enhanced acoustic properties, control of direct solar penetration, glare resistance, and special coatings to improve thermal performance and filter harmful solar rays.