1986-1990 | UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

A series of waiting rooms are stacked in a wing of the hospital, looking out to Mount Rainier in the distance and to a grassy area immediately below, surrounded by pine trees.  In this grassy clearing there appears to be a segmented organic reflection pressed into the turf, bordered by a screen and wood lattice structure.  The first view of the project from above is intended to draw the visitor outside of the enclosed capsule a hospital often becomes.  Going down to ground level it is possible to walk up to the edge of the concrete pads embedded in the grass where a  narrow steel edge contains the reflections made by rain water. Curving metal bands cut into the turf surface repeat this sense of an imprint in the ground.  A wooden walkway and seating pavilion shielded by a mounded bank of planting offer a protected area.   Layered walls of wire mesh emphasize and support the enclosure, filtering the view of the surroundings as if through a haze.  The difference between the detached view from above and the experience of moving through the space is made discernible.