Project Name: UChicago Medicine Crown Point

Location: Crown Point, Indiana, United States

Design Team: Perkins&Will

Project Area: 132,000 sq ft

Completion: 2024

Photography: Mark Herboth

Managing Principal: Brad Hinthorne

Senior Project Manager: Jennifer Riddle Curley

Design Principal: Erik Mott

Technical Principal: Mark Walsh

Interior Design Director: Lara Leskaj

Medical Planning Principal: Marie Hensen

Landscape Design Director: Leo Alvarez

General Contractor: Walsh Construction Group

Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Developer: PMB

Feature：

Project - Perkins&Will has unveiled a 132,000-square-foot medical facility in Crown Point, Indiana, that reimagines rural healthcare delivery through a sophisticated fusion of micro-hospital functionality and prairie-inspired aesthetics. The facility serves as University of Chicago Medicine's largest off-site center, addressing the critical need for specialized medical care in underserved communities while establishing a new paradigm for satellite healthcare architecture.

The design responds to a compelling statistic: 15 percent of Northwest Indiana residents were previously forced to travel outside their region for medical services. Challenging this status quo, the facility integrates eight short-stay inpatient beds, an emergency department, imaging services, and specialized treatment centers within a meticulously organized footprint that prioritizes operational efficiency without compromising patient experience.

The building's exterior articulates a distinct regional identity through its sophisticated use of precast concrete, deliberately echoing the textural qualities of Indiana limestone. This materiality creates an ever-changing facade as natural light plays across its surface throughout the day, establishing a dynamic dialogue with its prairie setting. The integration of native prairie grasses and accessible green spaces transforms the medical facility into a holistic healing environment that extends beyond its walls.

Inside, the two-story lobby serves as a central orienting element, where rift white oak and Indiana limestone create a warm, grounding presence. The interior design employs a nature-inspired wayfinding strategy, with different departments distinguished by color schemes and graphics that reference local flora and fauna, from wildflowers to butterflies. This culminates in thoughtful details like a wave-pattern screen in the radiation oncology waiting area and a cloud-like suspended art installation that connects the atrium's two levels, demonstrating how healthcare architecture can simultaneously serve functional requirements while creating spaces that promote healing through connection to place and nature.

Design Team – Perkins&Will, established in 1935 by Cornell University alumni Lawrence Perkins and Philip Will Jr., has evolved into one of the world's most influential architectural practices, renowned for its innovative approach to sustainable design and human-centric architecture. Now a subsidiary of the Dar Group since 1986, the firm has grown to encompass 2,600 professionals across its global network.

Under the leadership of key principals including Brad Hinthorne as Managing Principal and Erik Mott as Design Principal, the practice has consistently pushed the boundaries of architectural excellence. Their portfolio spans diverse typologies, from the groundbreaking Crow Island School, which earned the AIA Twenty-five Year Award, to contemporary landmarks like the Halifax Central Library and the sophisticated Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh.

The firm's commitment to sustainable architecture is evidenced by their industry-leading number of LEED-accredited professionals and over 100 LEED-certified projects. Their integrated design approach combines cutting-edge environmental strategies with context-responsive solutions, exemplified in projects like the LEED Gold-certified Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA. Through strategic acquisitions of practices like Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Jason F. McLennan's firm, Perkins&Will continues to strengthen its position at the forefront of sustainable and socially responsible architecture.