Foster + Partners' new Samson Health Pavilion celebrated its opening with a dedication ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio. Designed as part of the Health Education Campus at Case Western Reserve University, the project features an overhead canopy that leads to a grand internal courtyard. The pavilion was made as an investment in the future of health education for Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic.
The dedication ceremony included remarks from Tom Mihaljevic, Cleveland Clinic President and CEO; Delos (Toby) Cosgrove, former Cleveland Clinic President and CEO; Barbara R. Snyder, President of CWRU, and Norman Foster. The project was designed to combine spaces for students from medical, nursing and dental schools under one roof, encouraging relationships between disciplines to raise the quality of care. The multidisciplinary project stands as a four-story building that was designed to take cues from its context.
Norman Foster said that: “Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University are leading institutions. The ambitions for the new health pavilion demanded the flexibility to accommodate emerging lines of scientific enquiry and newer technologies. The growing interdisciplinary nature of education and research requires more informal meeting and debating spaces - we have designed a building that encourages collaboration and builds a platform for practical learning and knowledge sharing.”
Each school is arranged around a large internal courtyard while sharing a series of layered spaces. In turn, flexible spaces allow room for future growth. The different faculties share teaching spaces, admin areas, lecture halls, recreational areas and technical teaching facilities as well as improved building services, storage and amenities such as cafeterias and personnel support. The 80-foot-high central Delos M. Cosgrove courtyard is the social heart of the pavilion. The space is meant for informal work meetings and chance encounters.
Foster + Partners also designed bespoke furniture pieces for the library, meeting rooms, deans’ suites and other working spaces in collaboration with the clinic. The new pavilion allows students from the dental, nursing and medical schools to learn together and collaborate using a combination of the latest digital technology and shared social spaces, reinforcing the building’s purpose to create better healthcare for all.
News via Foster + Partners
