The integrated team of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., Taylor Design and SmithGroupJJR celebrated the momentous occasion of the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the Don Knabe Wellness Center and Plaza located at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey—the nation’s leading rehabilitation hospital specializing in the care of patients with disabilities caused by brain and spinal cord injury. The 12,000-square-foot wellness center marks the first completed structure under Rancho Los Amigos’ $418 million renovation and expansion project. 

The world-class team of architects, designers and contractors collaborated to create Rancho Los Amigos’ new wellness center with state-of-the-art design and construction in under one year, three months ahead of schedule. While the new facility is equipped with a therapy swimming pool that has an underwater treadmill, weight-lifting room, dance studio, cardio and yoga room, the Rancho Los Amigos community is more appreciative of what this wellness center symbolizes—a place where miracles happen and hope is revitalized. Aimed to increase both the patients’ and community’s accessibility to advanced rehabilitative technologies and wellness practices, this center was proudly recognized by state legislators and was officially dedicated and named after Donald R. Knabe, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, serving the Fourth District.

“We are overjoyed to have been a part of such a substantial and important project for the Los Angeles community, and we are honored to have been granted the opportunity to bring Los Angeles County’s vision for the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center to life,” said Jim Mynott, Vice President of Integrated Design Delivery at McCarthy Building Companies Inc. “McCarthy, Taylor Design and SmithGroupJJR worked closely together with Rancho Los Amigos—a team made up of the nation’s distinguished medical practitioners—to not only renovate, but assist the hospital as they further enhance their physical therapy capacities to patients and the community.”

“We’re proud of the contribution we’ve made to the architectural landscape of Los Angeles with this outstanding campus. Taylor Design, SmithGroupJJR and McCarthy Construction, along with the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, worked together to honor the incredible legacy of Rancho Los Amigos,” said Taylor Design President D. Randy Regier. “From the beginning, our team was focused on the patient journey. This emphasis informed the planning and design to create an environment that supports the incredible level of patient care being delivered within this historic and important community healthcare campus.”

“We work our whole careers to find the opportunities that the County presented us. To do good work for an institution that does such great work for the community is the ultimate satisfaction,” said David King, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C Design Director for SmithGroupJJR. “We are thrilled to have contributed to the Rancho legacy and their continued support for both patients and the community.”

The entire 21-acre renovation of Rancho Los Amigos will also include seismic and other facility upgrades in phase two of construction and is anticipated to be completed by 2020. Additional information about Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation can be found at https://dhs.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/dhs/rancho.

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For more information Taylor Design, visit www.WeAreTaylor.com.

For more about SmithGroupJJR, visit www.smithgroupjjr.com