Cedars Sinai Marina Del Rey Breaks Ground with Rudolph & Sletten as General Contractor

The healthcare landscape is constantly evolving, and the need for modern, resilient facilities has never been more critical. In Marina del Rey, a significant transformation is underway as Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital receives a complete overhaul. This ambitious project, spearheaded by HDR as the architect, involves building a brand-new, state-of-the-art hospital that will replace the existing 50-year-old structure. This undertaking is largely driven by California's stringent seismic safety requirements, which mandate that acute care hospitals either be retrofitted or replaced by 2030.

A New Presence in a Vibrant Community

Located on Mindanao Way, this will be the first new hospital built for Cedars-Sinai away from its main medical center campus. The 320,000-square-foot, nine-story facility and energy center will completely replace the existing hospital on Lincoln Boulevard, significantly expanding the hospital's capabilities, particularly in surgery.

Previous planning efforts for this site faced challenges in addressing key aspirations for Cedars-Sinai, including capacity, branding, and wayfinding. HDR's design team not only identified the most feasible building site—immediately adjacent to the original structure—but also solved the most significant challenge: sequencing the new construction around the operational continuity of the existing hospital. Throughout this complex process, HDR partnered closely with Cedars-Sinai to integrate operational efficiency and affordability with a vision of care tailored to this multi-faceted community.

A Sea Change for Healing: Design Inspired by Place

The hospital's design aims to create a soothing, healing environment, imbuing the site with a sense of calm and nurturing energy. The very architecture conceives of healing as a journey. The subtle patterning of the exterior skin invokes the waves of the nearby Marina del Rey, connecting the building to its vibrant coastal surroundings.

The patient experience is a collage of metaphors—the sea and the wave, the ship and the journey—that guide individuals from the lobby to the outpatient treatment areas, acute-care services, and ultimately to the patient rooms. Significant visitor and patient amenities are also thoughtfully placed on an upper floor: dining and meditation spaces offer access to an outdoor garden terrace with calming views of the horizon and the sea. Large windows throughout the facility will fill the interiors with natural light, making the hospital easier to navigate and providing patients on higher floors with views of the marina and surrounding hills, fostering a soothing and healing atmosphere.

Bolstering Capacity and Services

Scheduled to open in 2026, with construction having begun in October 2021, the new hospital will remain fully operational until the new facility is ready, at which point the old structure will be demolished. Key features of the new hospital include:

• Height and Size: A nine-story building, approximately 190 feet tall, encompassing about 258,500 square feet.

• Expanded Patient Capacity: The facility will initially provide 96 patient beds, with the capacity to expand to a total of 160 patient beds (a 20% increase from the original 133 beds).

• Enhanced Services:

  • An expanded Emergency Department with 28 exam rooms.

  • More private patient rooms (increasing from 68 to 160).

  • State-of-the-art operating rooms (increasing from 6 to 10).

  • Dedicated cardiac catheterization and gastroenterology labs.

  • New interventional procedure suites to treat complex needs like strokes and other image-guided interventions.

• Support Facilities: A new two-story energy center building and improved parking, offering 392 automobile spaces (292 on-site, 100 off-site) plus bicycle parking. During construction, temporary mobile imaging trailers (MRI and CT) are on-site to maintain services.

  
  

The new facility also aims to provide an enhanced work environment for staff, with more space, calm areas, and new technology to support high-quality care. This project represents a significant investment in healthcare infrastructure for the Marina del Rey community, promising advanced medical services in a modern, accessible, and healing environment while adhering to crucial safety standards.