UPMC Mercy Pavilion | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA | 2023

Architects: HOK
Lead Architects: William K. Hellmuth
Associate Architects: IKM Architecture
General Contractors: Mascaro Construction Company, LP.and Barton Malow Company, a Joint Venture
Client: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Photographers: Alan Karchmer and Jeffrey Totaro

Sited on the Mercy Campus in Pittsburgh's Uptown neighborhood, the new Mercy Pavilion allows clinicians, researchers, educators, and industry partners to come together to accelerate the process of translating research into innovative treatments for visually impaired patients. Bringing these groups together under one roof allows UPMC to provide a “one-stop-shop” for patients, as well as attract the best healthcare professionals, researchers, faculty members, and students.
HOK's team collaborated on the design of the building with noted French scientist José-Alain Sahel, MD, chair of the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine's Department of Ophthalmology, and renowned rehabilitation physician Gwendolyn Sowa, MD, PhD, chair of Physical Medicine + Rehabilitation and director of UPMC's Rehabilitation Institute. In addition to collaborating with UPMC, HOK partnered with consultant Chris Downey, one of the world's few blind architects.

Around the building, the landscape acts as an extension of the existing Mercy Hospital and Mercy Park. A linear connection allows Mercy Drive to continue into the new facility and creates a grand drop-off plaza that links old and new while defining the ‘front door.’ Inside, a multistory atrium contributes to the uplifting welcome and fosters interaction between medical professionals and the local community. The interior welcomes blind and low-vision visitors with physical cues to help them navigate the space. The design includes lighting strategies that rely on contrast and brightness, sound as a wayfinding tool, and materials and textures that aid people with canes. Primary treatment spaces are on the first four floors. The Center for Rehabilitation on the fourth floor comprises rehab clinics, an education and conference center, as well as labs for clinical trials and testing.

Patients can access this Center through the east atrium or through a direct bridge connection from the parking garage. An innovative, low-vision clinic-gym hybrid anchors the program. This interactive healing center arranges exam rooms and therapy stations around a central gym. The fourth-floor conference center draws together clinicians and researchers in a central collaboration area. This center serves as a transitional space between the clinical and research programs, opening to both the lower and upper atriums. HOK designed this lower portion of the building with flexibility to accommodate a future bed tower. A roof terrace on the fourth floor contains two different program spaces separated by a living wall. The north terrace extends the conference center outside, while the southern terrace incorporates a sensory garden with intimate spaces that encourage patients and visitors to experience the healing power of nature. Training ramps and stairs in this healing garden give patients a safe environment to train for real-life experiences. Ophthalmology administrative offices clinical research suites, and shell space reserved for corporate partners are on floors five and six. Floors seven to nine are dedicated to research, with flexible labs and shared core facilities offering direct connections to offices and meeting rooms.

To encourage interdisciplinary research, HOK designed a highly flexible clinical module. As its individual programs and needs change, UPMC will be able to quickly and easily modify the modules. The design intentionally brings daylight deep into the researchers' workspaces and labs, which are linked by meeting areas. An Innovation Hub and different collaboration spaces between clinical and research environments allow external partners to work with UPMC staff to develop new treatments and devices for the visually impaired.