The new campus building for the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine has opened in Bentonville, Arkansas. Situated on the 134-acre Crystal Bridges Campus, near the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the 154,000-square-foot facility was designed by Arkansas-based Polk Stanley Wilcox with landscape design by New York studio OSD. Archinect first reported on the design team’s appointment via a competition in July 2022.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
The scheme draws inspiration from the region’s natural limestone bluff shelters. A dramatic cantilevered structure, formed from two-story-deep steel trusses projecting over 80 feet, creates a distinctive front canopy. The building’s glass exterior is punctuated by 8,000 square feet of perforated brass sunshades that manage heat and light while reflecting the surrounding forest.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
Inside, the four-story facility includes a medical Library, simulation center, clinical skills center, anatomy lab, and a collaborative makerspace. Amenities also include a wellness studio, gym, quiet space, and student lounge. Public areas including the lobby, art gallery, and café will open on November 3, with an inaugural exhibition titled GoodMedicine: The Power of Indigenous Art, curated by the Art Bridges Foundation.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
The surrounding landscape holds 550 new trees and 140,000 native plants, along with trails, outdoor classrooms, healing gardens, and a 215-foot water feature. The building’s two-acre rooftop park, currently the largest in the region, ascends 70 feet to an overlook of the Ozark hills.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
Image credit: Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
“Creatively embodying the principles of whole health, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine is designed to transform the future of medical education, transcending traditional boundaries between art, architecture, nature and wellness,” said Wesley Walls, Design Principal with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects. “The building emerges from the landscape as a link between nature and community, its unique form and materials creating an academic environment purposefully designed to challenge convention and foster innovation in advancing a new health care model for the 21st century.”