TOUR: UCLA Outpatient Surgery & Oncology Center

Photo Credit: Tom Bonner, Art Gray, Undine Prohl

Tour: UCLA Outpatient Surgery & Oncology Center

Information regarding the tour will be emailed directly to registrants 24 hours before the event.

Please Note:

The tour will begin with a presentation across the street from the UCLA Outpatient Surgery and Oncology Center on the First Floor AUDITORIUM:  1250 16TH STREET, SANTA MONICA, CA 90404

Tour Organizer: Michael Folonis, FAIA

Tours led by: Michael Folonis, FAIA & Rudy Gonzalez

The Outpatient Surgery and Oncology Center in Santa Monica expresses the continuation of early California Modernist sensibilities and incorporates extensive sustainable, green-building strategies. The design concept asserts that a more natural and less clinical environment promotes healing in patients and alert, productive behavior in doctors, staff, and students.

Primary design considerations include the creation of a distinctive and articulated massing, the maximal inclusion of natural day lighting and ventilation throughout the building, and a strong indoor-outdoor connection. The project achieves LEED Gold Certification for New Construction and is the first Outpatient Surgery and Oncology Center in the nation to achieve this rating.

To promote patient healing and staff productivity, the design is infused with features to accomplish a natural, light-filled environment with a strong indoor-outdoor connection. Every opportunity to bring sunlight deep into the building core is explored. This design strategy is enhanced by providing access to landscaping visually through sight lines from the building common areas and waiting rooms. Accessible entryways to exterior landscaping and the landscaping elements brought into the building physically connect the spaces with the outdoors. The vertical massing of the building allows an increased setback from the street to incorporate more landscaping on the streetscape.

The 3-story building links two distinct wings via a central full-height, expansive lobby filled with light. The lobby is enclosed with a full–height, mullion-free glazing system and covered in a fritted glass skylight, allows light to flood the central common area of the building. Patient and guest waiting rooms along the first floor of the building connect to ground-level exterior patio gardens, allowing visitors and guests to sit indoors or outdoors. These landscape and seating areas help accentuate the front plaza.

Michael Folonis, FAIA

Michael W. Folonis, FAIA, is known for his thoughtful, dedicated approach to regional modernist design. His clients select him because they want a signature building design that is simultaneously efficient, elegant, sustainable and responsive to our Southern California landscape. He approaches his work with a generous spirit of inquiry, infusing each project with an awareness of environmental responsibility, context, theory, function, and the maximal use of form, materials and natural light.

Mr. Folonis has over 30 years of experience in design, programming, construction and management and founded his own firm, Michael W. Folonis Architects, in 1983. Mr. Folonis leads every project from conceptual design through full realization. His broad base of experience ranges from mixed-use, multi-family residential, medical, commercial, and single-family projects. He also has extensive experience in the restoration of historically significant Modernist architecture. His office establishes itself as one of the leading innovative architectural firms in Los Angeles. His work received more than 50 design awards from the National, State and Los Angeles chapters of the AIA, the Society of American Registered Architects, the Westside Urban Forum, the Southern California Development Forum, the Los Angeles Business Council. His architectural work is published nationally and internationally, and exhibited in Japan, France, Italy, and Germany.

Rudy Gonzalez

With nearly two decades at Michael W. Folonis Architects, Rudy brings a thoughtful, people-centered approach to every project, blending design sensitivity with technical expertise. His work spans residential, mixed-use, and healthcare projects, where he guides teams from concept through construction with an emphasis on collaboration and craft.

Rudy contributed to the design and development of the UCLA Outpatient Surgery and Oncology Center, working closely with the client and design team to create a facility that prioritizes comfort, clarity, and the user experience. A long-standing member of the firm, he continues to mentor younger designers and help shape MW.FA’s culture of design excellence.

Building Credits:

Architect: Michael Folonis Architects

Restrictions:

No photos allowed!

Evaluate how the project’s design extends early California Modernist principles through adaptive reuse concepts, balancing contemporary healthcare needs with sustainable and contextual design responses.

Identify design and building system strategies that maximize natural daylighting to improve patient healing, enhance staff productivity, and reduce energy use while maintaining visual comfort and thermal performance.

Examine how integrated mechanical, electrical, and envelope systems support LEED Gold certification by enhancing indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and occupant comfort in a healthcare environment.

Demonstrate how thoughtful building design—including massing, spatial organization, and material selection—creates a less clinical, more natural environment that promotes physical and psychological well-being.

Explore how site design and landscaping establish seamless indoor-outdoor connections, encourage user interaction with nature, and contribute to the overall environmental and social sustainability of the facility.

Parking:

There is metered parking on Wilshire Blvd.

Ride-share or Public Transportation is also encouraged.