St. Joseph’s Hospital

This was the first of Goldberg's hospital designs to employ the advantages of a "shell" wall construction. A massive two-story support building served as a base for the nine-story bed tower, which was divided into four quadrants. The 260-bed facility was the first hospital where BGA implemented their growing understanding of the needs and workings of the medical community. Each floor was comprised of four villages with ten beds each, clustered around a nursing station. The village system ensured that no nurse would be out of a five-foot reach of any patient.

Made of reinforced concrete and supported by flared concrete columns, the shell walls provided strength. Because the reinforced concrete floor slabs were carried by the shell walls, no interior columns were needed. The structure was also designed to be earthquake resistant.

QUOTE: "The 13-story St. Joseph's Hospital in Tacoma Washington, is an eye-catching and extremely complex design. The three-dimensionally curved column capitals and the undulating shell surface could have been costly and troublesome. And Tacoma is in a seismic area. But things went smoothly because reinforced concrete was the material of choice. "
- from Concrete Reinforcing Steel advertisement