Mayo Clinic, Diagnostic Building

The Diagnostic Building was constructed in response to a dramatic increase in the number of patients seeking treatment at Mayo Clinic after World War II. When phase 1 of the project was completed in 1953-1954, it was the largest building project undertaken by Mayo to date.

Ellerbe designers, in collaboration with clinic committees, reviewed the operational systems used in existing clinic buildings and developed a plan that offered convenience and comfort for patients. Their design featured systems for the efficient scheduling and routing of patients, physicians and medical records, and a physical layout that enabled convenient consultation among physicians.

A contemporary of icons of modern architecture such as Lever House in New York City, the building exterior features an early example of the use of a curtainwall system, comprised of aluminum, glass and Georgia marble.

Floors twelve through twenty were added in 1969 for a total gross building area of more than a million square feet. For more than half a century the Mayo Diagnostic Building has exhibited the flexibility to accommodate changing procedure and treatment spaces with increased technological sophistication, while maintaining the integrity of the original organization, circulation and control concepts.

Also notable is the building's integration of art and architecture. The Ellerbe firm had long professed a tradition of programmatically and structurally integrated ornament in architecture, as exemplified by the 1928 Mayo Plummer Building. Ellerbe hoped to convey some of the same humanistic elements to the design of the Diagnostic Building, albeit a much more modern structure. This project marked the beginning of Ellerbe’s formal ‘Art with Architecture’ program. The Diagnostic Building features gardens, fountains and sculpture outside the lobby, as well as ample natural light into the lobby. The ‘Man and Freedom’ sculpture was installed on the building’s exterior (it has since been moved to the atrium of the Gonda Building), and specially commissioned 8-foot x 32-foot murals were installed on each medical floor. This project was, in a sense, the beginning of Mayo’s formal art program, which today prominently displays the work of internationally-recognized artists and craftspeople throughout its facilities.