Cerner: Continuous Campus

Kansas City, KS

This project manages healthcare data and computer systems. Technology and Biology, integral to its use, are reflected throughout the design. The building consists of two, eight-story office towers representing technology, sitting on a one-story biology base. The base is a testing ground for the future of healthcare systems. Associates benefit from a cafeteria, fitness center, pharmacy, and health clinic. Clients benefit from globally connected conference rooms and lounges for training and a crisis center to assist when systems are implemented or natural disaster strikes. Exterior materials for the base are native prairie limestone and glass. The interior wall surrounding the intimate courtyard is clad in wood reclaimed from the site. The reclaimed wood forms a continuous wall used for way-finding, linking all the first-floor programs. The courtyard is an outside room formed by native plantings and trees.

The office towers shelter the courtyard from the surrounding sprawl. They are wrapped in a high-performance rain screen system; clad in wheat, textured stainless steel, with a 40/60 glass-to-solid ratio. The office floors are open and wireless, allowing associates to collaborate anywhere, ushering in a new paradigm for the digital workplace.