BayCare Health System – Corporate Headquarters

A vibrant, community health-focused organization, BayCare Health System’s existing administrative functions were spread across several leased properties. The organization desired a new campus that would not only centralize all employees and support a more efficient and collaborative workspace, but would also emphasize the organization’s mission and core values. In addition, they required a space that could accommodate training for all BayCare Health System employees. Gresham Smith was selected to design two three-story office buildings totaling 150,000 square feet each.

Gresham Smith developed a workplace strategy for the consolidation, which provided an informed road map and design criteria that aligned with organizational goals. The main lobby space conveys a sense of quality, openness and purpose balanced with warmth and convenience. The office floors balance private, focus spaces with collaborative workspaces. A round 6,500-square-foot dining hall provides a connection between the office buildings and doubles as a special event venue. In addition, a 50,000-square-foot training facility serves as the main site for medical-personnel training.

The building’s exterior is a highly functional design meant to convey a reliable institutional sense, yet informed by the need to react and interact with the environment. On the east and west walls, three-story vertical fins protect employees from low morning and afternoon sun. Facades with more southern exposure are protected by horizontal sunshades. Strategies such as these combined with daylight harvesting and a chilled water central plant result in buildings that are more than 60 percent more efficient than the average Tampa building.

BayCare Health System’s new corporate offices represent a marriage of pragmatic design and aspirational character that supports the corporation’s vision and its attitude toward community health.