Care, Research and Education Coalesce to Improve Patient Outcomes

The research facility at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital allows for the expansion and creation of a home for clinical research efforts of The Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consortium, to improve the way biomedical research impacts patient outcomes. The facility serves as the “town center” for academic activities on campus, helping transform the hospital from a regional pediatric referral center to a leading pediatric academic health system focused on research, teaching, and patient care.

Built on a site adjacent to the hospital, the facility houses research laboratories and academic offices that unite treatment, education, research, and advocacy for four of Johns Hopkins All Children Hospital’s key institutes: neurosciences, cancer, cardiology, and neonatology. Medical education, including graduate medical education and nursing programs, are also hosted in the building.

The building form is inspired by its purpose: creating spaces that facilitate collaboration to further discoveries that treat, prevent, and cure pediatric diseases.  Office and laboratory space to the north and south flank a collaborative core that runs horizontally and vertically through the building. This core exerts a “gravitational pull” that generates a greater sense of community both in the building and the campus overall.

Key features include:

• Each floor includes a unique combination of working and educational environments within the collaborative core – creating destinations for researchers, educators, and fellows to gather, collaborate and learn.
• An advanced medical simulation center allows medical professionals, home care providers and home caregivers to practice techniques and run through various scenarios, helping to improve patient safety.
• An expanded biorepository and a state-of-the-art biomarker discovery center support pediatric precision medicine initiatives.
• High-performance glazing wraps the education, collaboration, and office areas providing natural daylight and views, while DNA-inspired fenestration wraps the lab area, minimising openings on the south façade.
• Public spaces at the ground level activate the streetscape and express the social aspect of the building.
• Given its location a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico and within the hurricane storm surge line, the building’s core facilities and mechanical and emergency power functions are placed above the second level so they stay operational in the event of a major storm.
• Building orientation, energy and water reduction strategies, and high-performing materials are additional strategies used to help withstand harsh climate conditions.