PROJECT SPOTLIGHT | BJC HEALTHCARE

Some construction projects add a building.

Others require rethinking how an entire campus works.

At the Washington University Medical Campus, BJC HealthCare’s long-running Campus Renewal Project is entering another important stage as work continues through late 2026 around Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Plaza West Tower and the surrounding patient-arrival areas.

The 16-story Plaza West Tower opened in October 2025 with 224 private inpatient rooms and 56 private intensive care rooms for heart and vascular patients.

But the tower itself is only part of the story.

Current work is transforming the experience around Barnes-Jewish Plaza, including the garage lobby and pedestrian bridge, patient drop-off areas and street- and main-level lobbies.

That makes the project a useful example of where healthcare construction is heading: beyond adding square footage and toward improving how complex facilities function for the people using them.

Building Around an Operating Hospital

Healthcare construction presents a challenge unlike most commercial projects.

The facility does not simply close while construction occurs.

Patients continue arriving. Physicians and nurses continue working. Deliveries must continue. Emergency access must remain available. Building systems must operate reliably, and construction activity has to coexist with an environment where disruption can have significant consequences.

That requires careful planning around:

  • Construction phasing
  • Infection prevention and containment
  • Temporary circulation routes
  • Utility shutdowns and tie-ins
  • Noise and vibration
  • Patient and visitor access
  • Emergency operations
  • Communication among the owner, designers, contractors and clinical teams

On a dense medical campus, every construction decision can affect another part of the operation.

The Patient Experience Is Becoming a Design Requirement

Another lesson from BJC’s campus renewal is that healthcare design is increasingly about more than clinical space.

Arrival matters.

Wayfinding matters.

Parking matters.

The distance between a vehicle and a patient room matters.

So do waiting areas, pedestrian connections, privacy and the experience of families navigating an unfamiliar campus during what may already be a stressful day.

BJC describes improving the patient and family experience as a central goal of the overall campus renewal effort.

That represents an important shift for AEC teams.

Performance is no longer measured solely by whether a healthcare facility contains the right departments and equipment. Owners are also examining how architecture, engineering and construction influence the entire experience of receiving care.

Renovation Is Part of the Future

The project also demonstrates another reality facing institutional owners across St. Louis: transformation does not always mean replacing existing buildings.

Large campuses represent decades of capital investment.

The challenge is often determining how new construction can work alongside renovations and existing infrastructure to extend the useful life of an entire campus.

That requires teams capable of understanding existing conditions, sequencing work carefully and integrating new systems into facilities that may have been built during very different eras.

A Major St. Louis Construction Market

Healthcare remains one of the sectors driving significant construction activity in the St. Louis region.

And projects like BJC’s Campus Renewal demonstrate why.

Healthcare facilities are becoming more technologically sophisticated while owners simultaneously face changing patient expectations, aging infrastructure and the need to keep critical operations running throughout construction.

For the AEC industry, those conditions create opportunities, but they also raise the standard for project delivery.

The successful healthcare project is no longer simply the one that opens on time.

It is the one that improves how the entire facility works.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Owner: BJC HealthCare
Location: Washington University Medical Campus
Current Phase: Barnes-Jewish Plaza West Tower and Plaza Tower renovations
Plaza West Tower: 16 stories
Patient Rooms: 224 private inpatient rooms
ICU Rooms: 56 private rooms
Current Campus Work: Patient arrival, garage lobby, pedestrian bridge, drop-off and lobby improvements
Current Work Continuing: Through late 2026