Skanska has topped out all buildings at the new Cordilleras Mental Health Centre it is building south of San Francisco for client San Mateo County in California.
Skanska says the 77,610-sq-ft campus, designed by architect CannonDesign, will be the state’s first mental health facility to achieve net zero-energy when complete in late 2024.
It will consist of four, single-story rehabilitation centres, each accommodating 16 clients, as well as a three-story co-housing building for 57 residents.
It replaces a tuberculosis hospital that was built in 1952 and adapted for psychiatric healthcare in 1978.
“More than 51 million Americans – approximately one in five adults – live with mental illness,” said Lindsay Corotis, a vice president of Skanska USA Building.
“As healthcare builders and designers, we can directly combat the stigma around seeking care in what was traditionally seen as cold, sterile treatment environments, as we expect to see increased demand for behavioral health facilities.
“San Mateo County’s Cordilleras Mental Health Centre aims to challenge this notion head-on by incorporating nature and sustainability as fundamental to its design, and to the healing process.”
