Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences (COHS)
Advancing Integrative Health
UC Irvine’s mission “to become a global model for integrative health” served as the guiding vision for the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences Building (COHS) and the Sue & Bill Gross Nursing and Health Sciences Hall. This transformative project, delivered through a Design-Build partnership with HED, SLAM, and Hathaway Dinwiddie, represents a milestone in UCI’s commitment to holistic health, wellness, and innovation in education and patient care.
The design draws directly from the relationship between health, nature, and the built environment. By blending access to natural light, outdoor spaces, and collaborative interiors, the project creates an environment that streamlines operations while enriching the experiences of students, faculty, clinicians, and patients. Every aspect of the design reflects UCI’s integrative approach to mind, body, and spirit.
Three guiding concepts: Heart, Home, and Integrator defined the design vision.
Heart: The Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences Building features a distinctive two-story lobby with a living wall, creating an inspiring entry and sense of community for patients, students, and clinicians.
Home: In the Sue & Bill Gross Nursing and Health Sciences Hall, a student lounge opens onto a quiet outdoor space for respite, directly adjacent to teaching labs where students spend much of their day. Indoor and outdoor shaded study areas provide spaces for individual and group work, reinforcing the idea of the building as a home for the nursing community.
Integrator: Both buildings connect to a central courtyard, anchored by an auditorium that doubles as a gateway to campus and a resource for university-wide events. Outdoor pre-function spaces and roof terraces extend activity into the landscape, while a glass bridge connects wings, creating opportunities for collaboration and informal encounters among researchers, faculty, clinicians, and administrators.
Distinct signature spaces reinforce the identity of each program, from the Simulation Center and Nursing Student Lounge in the Sue & Bill Gross Hall to the flexible research neighborhoods in the Samueli Building. These neighborhoods are organized along a central “main street” corridor, designed to promote collaboration, share resources, and scale with future growth. Across the complex, outdoor gardens and terraces provide opportunities for healing, contemplation, and connection to nature.
Recognized nationally, the project has received multiple awards, including the USGBC-LA Sustainable Innovation Award for Health and Wellbeing, as well as three honors from the Design-Build Institute of America, including Excellence in Healthcare Facilities.
More than just new facilities, the Health Sciences Complex embodies UC Irvine’s vision for advancing integrative health. It provides signature environments for research, education, and care that connect people to one another, to their community, and to the healing powers of nature. Together, the Samueli College and Gross Nursing Hall serve as both a campus gateway and a global model for the future of healthcare.
“A flagship building (for Integrative Health) to not only the nation, but to the world to show how to operationalize and bring this concept to life.”
