Relying on new research into the effects of the built environment on outcomes, the planning team from the San Francisco Departments of Public Health and Public Works, the joint venture of Anshen+Allen Architects and Stantec Architecture, and the Center for Health Design created new buildings on Laguna Honda’s 62-acre campus.  

Central to the design was the intention to create choices for Laguna Honda’s residents, helping people who receive services to take an active role in directing their own care, including making decisions about basic activities of daily living, such as eating, sleeping or choosing when and where to enjoy recreation and privacy. 

In addition to creating choices, the buildings are also designed to foster a community atmosphere and to take advantage of the healing effects of Laguna Honda’s natural environment.  

Laguna Honda is California’s first green-certified hospital. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program awarded the hospital silver certification in June, 2010.  

The hospital’s buildings address environmental impacts in their design, construction, and operation across six LEED-designated categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process.

Laguna Honda’s financing package is unique for its use of $141 million in revenue from the city’s settlement of consumer protection lawsuits filed against the tobacco industry by former city attorney Louise Renne in the late 1990’s.     

In the 1999 municipal election, city voters directed that tobacco settlement revenue be used to build a new center for skilled nursing and rehabilitation.  The ballot measure, known as Proposition A, passed with 73% of the vote. 

General obligation bonds provided $323 million for the project, and the city’s sale of certificates of participation, a form of security, provided the remaining $120 million for a total cost of $584 million. 

Up to 45% of Laguna Honda’s capital costs are eligible to be paid for by federal dollars under California State Senate Bill 1128, authored by then-state Senator and now Congresswoman Jackie Speier.  The bill authorizes the city to receive partial federal reimbursement for construction costs associated with certain seismic upgrades related to health care.  

Central to the mission of Laguna Honda is the integration of the hospital campus into the civic life of the city.  

San Francisco enhances the beauty of its public spaces through the Art Enrichment Ordinance.  One of the first in the country, the ordinance provides that 2% of the total eligible construction costs of public works projects be allocated for public art.  

The Laguna Honda Replacement Program generated $3.9 million in art enrichment funds for a public art program that contributes to the quality of life at the hospital by helping to create an aesthetically pleasing environment and a sense of place and home. 

Eighteen artists were commissioned to create works to support the hospital’s clinical needs and therapeutic goals.  Sculptures, paintings and mixed-media works are installed throughout the campus to assist sensory stimulation, way-finding, encouragement of activity, interaction with nature and activation of memory.  

The works are wheelchair accessible and tactile so they can be enjoyed by residents with mobility and sight limitations.