In his article titled “ Preserving Tradition, Ensuring the Future,” Johnson writes that designing a healthcare facility does not begin with medical planning alone; it should “include an understanding of place and cultural events, and how these events are experienced in the landscape. This cultural landscape is formed, in both urban and rural environments, from the perspectives of both history and current conditions.”
YUMC, Korea’s first-ever Western medical center, was established 121 years ago and has remained the country’s largest and most influential institution of its kind. Although the campus had served YUMC well, by the mid-1990s, changes in healthcare delivery and technology and an increased population had caused the campus to become physically constricted, less flexible, and inwardly focused. The buildings did not afford views to the mountains and the city beyond, nor did they create a comforting or inviting image of the future of healthcare delivery.
The Ellerbe Becket-designed Severance Hospital, completed in May 2005, is a world-class facility with an atmosphere that resembles a hotel more than a traditional hospital. The 1.6 million sf, 1,000-bed project was designed to serve the dynamic conditions of a healthcare facility in the 21st century. When design began, the client asked that the new Severance Hospital reflect an environment of well being, incorporate cutting-edge technology, and be worthy of drawing visitors from all over the world. The client hoped that when people visited, they would be moved to tell others.
Author Johnson is a gifted and collaborative design architect who has been associated with Ellerbe Becket for half of his 30-year career. In his tenure with the firm, he has led design for some of Ellerbe Becket’s most notable projects, including Target Plaza South, 900 Nicollet mixed use and Samsung Medical Center Cancer Center in Seoul. He currently is working on Dubai Healthcare City University Teaching Hospital in the United Arab Emirates.
Throughout his career, the majority of Johnson’s work has been focused in urban areas or within a campus environment. For the past four years he has taught graduate-level design studios at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design focused on designing within the urban context, and has served as a visiting design critic and lecturer at universities across the country.
An innovator since its founding in 1909, Ellerbe Becket is a leader in architecture, interiors, engineering and the construction industry with office locations worldwide.
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