Saint Mary’s Health Network – West Campus

In order to address various patient and campus needs, Saint Mary’s Health Network asked Mascari Dinh Architects to develop a strategic plan and campus master plan for the 5 acre site of the Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada. New components of the master plan included the 215,000 square foot, six story Saint Mary’s Center for Health, a 1,090 car, seven-level parking structure and a 42,000 square foot, above-grade plaza that provides proximate accessible parking below. The result was the “West Campus.”

The Regional Medical Center’s downtown location demanded an urban design solution. The principal concept for the plan was to create a “quad” in the middle of the campus. Buildings are organized around the quad allowing for the creation of a landscaped plaza. The plaza becomes the campus focal point providing a place for people to gather for events or retreat in private, as well as providing vistas from the surrounding buildings.

To separate pedestrians from vehicles, the plaza was elevated. Staff and patients can walk from the parking structure to the hospital, or to the medical office building, at the second floor level passing by lawns, a fountain and art. Stairs and a water feature become the backdrop to the hospital’s main entrance.

Other design requirements included the creation of a traditional university campus feel, “wellness” design, patient convenience, connectivity, and architectural references to the Medical Center’s historic 1930’s hospital facade and to create the “front door” for the future West Tower Hospital Expansion.