2025 Southwest Best Projects
Award of Merit, Health Care: Phoenix Children's Hospital Arrowhead Campus
Phoenix Children’s Hospital Arrowhead Campus
Ariz.
Award of Merit
Submitted by Kitchell
Owner Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Lead Design / Structural Engineer HKS
Construction Manager Kitchell
Civil Engineer Dibble Corp.
MEP Engineer WSP
Landscape Architect TRUEFORM Landscape Architecture Studio
Food Service Designer Ricca
Key Subcontractors Bel-Aire Mechanical; Integrated Masonry; Graywolf Integrated Construction; K.T. Fabrication; MGC; MKB Construction; Red Commercial Flooring; Sound-Crete
Co-locating multiple medical specialties on the campus expanded the rapidly growing West Valley region’s access to world-class pediatric health care. The 180,000-sq-ft hospital features nearly 50 inpatient beds, operating and minor procedure rooms, a 24/7 emergency department and a laboratory with advanced imaging capabilities.
To complement the new facilities, an abandoned citrus orchard was transitioned into a healing garden that blends biophilic design with purposeful construction to create a calming, immersive space to support patients, families and staff.
Bringing the project from concept to reality required navigating a host of complex issues. The team collaborated with permit agencies to revise stormwater retention plans and site entry configurations to accommodate a neighboring city-owned well project that overlapped with the campus site. To integrate a 1,200-sq-ft central utility plant less than 80 ft from a residential neighborhood, 2-in.-thick acoustic treatments applied to 24-ft-high masonry walls help dampen mechanical sound.
A mid-construction change in owner leadership brought updated design priorities that were incorporated into the project with minimal disruption to overall progress. These and other creative and collaborative approaches helped deliver the $132-million project on schedule and within budget.
