The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, at the eastern edge of Beverly Hills, opened a hospital extension in 2013. The new Advanced Health Science Pavilion (AHSP), including its interior, was designed by HOK. The new building has 820,000 square feet of floor space, contains laboratories, clinical facilities and seminar and meeting rooms, and forms part of the hospital campus. 

A striking feature of the AHSP building interior is its two-story lobby, with plenty of natural light and lined with sandstone and wood. To give each section of the building its own identity, HOK assigned a unique color palette and individual furnishings to each of the eight floors.

”Everyone is trying to make hospitals as appealing as hotels or spas,” says Clay Pendergrast, HOK interior designer. “One way of avoiding sterility is to have as little healthcare furniture as possible. The client wanted furnishings that were impressive, comfortable, and would stand the test of time, while being hygienic and easy to maintain.

A generous budget and the diversity of the program allowed us to specify high-end Danish designs, including Carl Hansen & Son’s leather wing chairs and compact bench seating.”

All upholsteries and frame finishes for the Carl Hansen seating were tested by the hospital’s facilities department for durability and maintainability, including resistance to staining. The hospital’s infection control department examined all of the upholsteries to confirm that they were anti-microbial. All of the upholsteries have to be easily cleanable with bleach and maintain their original appearance.

”I specified the CH402 and CH403 for spaces such as the Waiting Rooms and the Pharmacy in which maximum seating density and optimal comfort are required. The arms of the CH403 provide the sense of separation between visitors that is desired when the Waiting Room is filled to capacity. The CH402 and CH403 also offer the opportunity for diverse upholsteries to differentiate the Waiting Rooms on the color coded floors of the hospital. With their linked seating frames, the CH402 and CH403 create low “walls” which subdivide the large Waiting Rooms and create an interesting contrast to the loose lounge seating groups around them.

I specified the Wing Chairs for the lounge groupings that are located outside of the Conference Center and Boardroom because this is a more formal, upscale area and the Wing Chairs size in groupings of four creates a veritable room for discussions offering a modicum of visual privacy. Some of the Board Members are in their 70’s and 80’s and need a comfortable lounge chair that is easy to get in and out of. The arms of the Wing Chair provide sturdy anchors´ for these senior citizens.