Like many comprehensive pediatric hospitals across the United States, Nationwide Children’s Hospital lacked space to train its workforce and secure an ever-increasing amount of data — key elements to support evolution and growth. Co-locating training and conference facilities with discreetly housed data storage has become a key strategy to address these challenges, bringing diverse teams together in a centralized location, while balancing transparency, security, and real estate costs.

The design team devised a unique single structure that would address both of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s challenges, leveraging cross-disciplinary research and innovative planning to create this first-of-its-kind, data-enabled learning hub at the nexus of the campus. A medical simulation lab and conference center anchor the building’s lower floors, connecting to a central campus plaza and inviting people inside. The data center, strategically situated on the upper floors, is securely concealed behind the unifying fritted facade that creates a cohesive presence to the entire building.

The reimagined building, positioned in proximity to Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s numerous research and healthcare facilities, transforms a would-be insular structure into a connected, multidisciplinary learning hub. The balance of porosity and privacy underscores the dynamism of design, simultaneously activating a central campus plaza downstairs while obscuring the data center above.