Affiliated Hospitals

Affiliated Hospitals was a master plan concept for the consolidation of several older Harvard University hospitals. The original plan proposed a radical form for the bed towers--three monolithic cloverleaf shaped concrete shell structures supported by delicate concrete piers. Bands of elliptical windows gave the façade a rich texture. The towers would be perched atop a massive three-story building which would link all the buildings.

As the plans progressed the design was dramatically altered and arguably the built project lacked the potency of the original design concept. The resulting design of the Brigham and Women's Hospital was dominated by a four-lobed, sixteen-story, 680-bed tower and a three-story ambulatory care building. Both buildings rise up from a two-level base structure which contained the laboratory and other support services. Each floor in the patient tower was divided into four patient "villages" or clusters organized around a central core which provided support services. At the heart of each cluster was the nurse's station. The organization of the structure reflected the influence of numerous studies conducted as part of the planning for the project which demonstrated the pivotal role of the nurse in patient healing. The nurse/patient relationship was at the center of this and all subsequent BGA hospital designs.