The Laguna Honda Hospital project involved the complete renovation and new construction of a residential care facility with 750 new beds. Fougeron Architecture was an Associate Architect while Anshen & Allen was Architect of Record.
Our internal directive was to provide every patient with access to outdoor space and to develop individual ‘household’ groupings that would create a family-like environment within this large institution. A desire to re-inhabit the existing buildings through innovative infill structures was investigated as a direct metaphor for the rehabilitation of their
current population.
Heavy involvement early in the design process resulted in a site organization that provides the maximum utilization of the grounds while allowing for a phased construction. A dynamic ‘Esplanade’ link building which houses the community functions of cafe, barber, general store and viewing terraces connects the existing buildings to the new facilities. These new buildings are placed to maximize views while reducing the required grading of an extremely sloped site.