This project is a nine-story, 265,000 square foot inpatient tower replacement. The facility includes 144 beds, pharmacy, laboratory, auditorium, chapel, cafeteria, computer center, central processing, warehouse, administrative office, and boardroom.

The Patient Tower replaced the existing complex of acute patient care buildings on the same campus. Construction had to be carefully phased to create space for the new Tower. Buildings had to be demolished in stages so that new facilities would be available for displaced patients and services at each phase of construction.

The project was designed and submitted for plan check on a very accelerated schedule of 2 1/2 months. The new Tower is the core of the new St. Francis Medical Center, and, visible from the 105 freeway, it serves as a new regional landmark in the city of Lynwood. This central pivotal presence is established with the prismatic, cascading atrium - held by the two main elevator blocks sheathed in opaque reflective glass. The transparent atrium skin rises from a broad base and diminishes vertically and inward horizontally to a pyramid top. This translucent illuminated element reflects the image of cathedrals of the past, and identifies the complex as a marker seen throughout the city of Lynwood. This vertical tower is a beacon to the community at night and along with the external stair enclosures serves to provide wayfinding to visitors and patients.