HDR and Herzog & de Meuron have been selected by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to design the new hospital of the historic and internationally renowned UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, a home to both inpatient and outpatient services. The hospital is part of UCSF’s academic medical center, which also includes a top-ranked research enterprise and graduate schools in the health sciences.

The design team of HDR and Herzog & de Meuron is uniquely positioned to realize UCSF’s vision for the hospital for the future as “The Healing Habitat,” a holistic healthcare environment that fosters wellness and recovery by combining efficient facilities with human experiences, connected to nature and the community.

Located prominently between Mount Sutro and Golden Gate Park, the new hospital at UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center will play an important role in the city and surrounding community. HDR, as architect of record, and Herzog & de Meuron, as lead designer, will work with UCSF to create a gateway between nature and the urban context around it – a facility that encourages people to rethink the role of the hospital within their daily lives and the community. 

HDR’s global architecture practice includes a deep bench of healthcare design projects delivered via a collaborative design process that elevates compassionate care. We understand the challenges of designing large-scale urban hospital projects that respect the cultural significance of their sites. We also recognize the importance of designing a hospital whose mission is expressed in its architecture. We design with empathy to both perspectives, and have a deep portfolio of projects that are celebrated by neighborhood communities. In San Francisco, HDR has been a member of the community for decades and has designed a number of public and private healthcare facilities in the area including the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California. 

Herzog & de Meuron, an internationally recognized practice, will bring its wide range of experience on hospitals and projects within similarly complex urban environments, to create a new medical center that will combine healing, research, nature and culture. The office is familiar with the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area region: the de Young Museum, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is visible from the hospital site.