
Social heart: Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion by Foster + Partners
Client: Case Western Reserve University und Cleveland Clinic
Architects: Foster + Partners
Location: 9501 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106 (US)
The new Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University is the core element of the masterplan developed by Foster + Partners for Cleveland Clinic. The design unites the formerly separate medical education programmes offered by the university and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College in a multidisciplinary, four-storey building.
Norman Foster's plan for the health building particularly emphasises the spatial (and intellectual) flexibility required for responding to new lines of scientific enquiry; key elements of the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion accordingly consist of informal meeting and discussion spaces for fostering interaction and knowledge sharing. New virtual- and mixed-reality programmes complement the medical education and facilitate collaboration between the faculties.
The social heart of the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion consists of the central Delos M. Cosgrove Courtyard – a spacious, light-filled interior space made possible by a generous donation from Robert E. Rich Jr., immediate past chairman of Cleveland Clinic's Board of Directors, and his wife, Mindy.