The new Trauma and Critical Care Building forms the centerpiece of the Community Regional Medical Center’s 10-year redevelopment initiative, master planned by RTKL. This Level 1 trauma center handles 120,000 emergency room visits annually and houses one of five burn centers in the state of California. In total, the emergency department is as large as a football field—and the ER waiting room alone is bigger than the entire emergency department had been in the existing hospital.

The new six-story, 350,000-square-foot building includes 58 intensive care beds, 10 intensive care burn treatment beds, a special burn unit operating room, 12 additional operating rooms, and two roof-top helicopter landing pads. Adjacent to the main structure, service docks and a high-tech cook-chill kitchen occupy subterranean levels under a landscaped parking lot.

A cylindrical-shaped atrium lobby rises the full height of the facility and provides an easily identifiable entrance icon. The materials palette includes stone, tile, maple ceilings, and brick walls, all of which creates both a warm atmosphere and reflects the hospital’s commitment to a durable, functional, and attractive facility. Views look out to a healing garden and the downtown skyline beyond.

Design elements unite the new building with the existing 10-story hospital, establishing an innovative image for the entire campus. RTKL linked the two buildings with Roman brickwork that matches existing masonry. The architect also used exterior lighting to highlight façade details, soaring canopies, and a cantilevered penthouse roof. Louvered metal screens attached to the exterior façade shield windows from the intense desert sun and soaring summer temperatures.