A New Foundation for the Future of Johns Hopkins Medicine

The new clinical buildings—the Cardiovascular and Critical Care Tower on the left and the Children’s Tower on the right—form a new entrance to The Johns Hopkins Hospital. All glass and brick, the buildings represent a distinct departure from the historic, 1889 Victorian façade. Joined on the lower levels, separating into two towers, they form an imposing presence on Orleans Street.

To temper all that mass, the architects used glass extensively. Multitoned glass, part clear and part frosted, on the Critical Care Tower evokes a high-tech, contemporary feeling. The “ice-cube” effect dissolves, though, into the curved façade of the Children’s Tower, where panels of colored glass produce a playful effect.

Inside there’s plenty to like, not just for patients and visitors, but also for faculty, staff and students. Two very large conference/education rooms. Plenty of call rooms and small conference rooms for resident training. A light-filled canteen with fabulous city views exclusively for staff. Well-situated staff lounges, locker rooms, storage rooms and med rooms. Actual daylight. Less noise. Elevators that come promptly when they’re called and speed from floor to floor. Big blocks of space for back-of-the-house operations, including a state-of-the-art, automated towline to transport materials underground over long distances.

Wireless telecommunications make this a “hot spot” for Internet access, voice communications and electronic charting. A special, hospital-wide guest wireless network is just for patients and visitors.

Architects sought to simplify the experience of arriving at Hopkins Hospital by locating key entrances—to the Children’s Hospital, pediatric and adult EDs, and Critical Care Tower—in one entry circle. The challenge was to design an entry circle big enough to accommodate as many as six cars a minute during peak hours, yet evoke the character and calm of the circle in front of the Billings Administration Building. To do it, planners created a circle so big that all of Billings could fit inside. They elevated the circle about six feet above busy Orleans Street, then landscaped it with trees to create a sort of internal boulevard. Two glass-enclosed pedestrian bridges over Orleans Street link to the Orleans Garage and the new pediatric outpatient facility.

Click thumbnails for detail • Renderings by Perkins + Will Architects
		Front door to the Johns Hopkins Hospital
		Healing Garden
		Waiting for a Ride
		In the Backyard: Phipps
		Children’s Tower
		Looking North on Orleans