Jefferson Health’s Honickman Center, Philadelphia: 2025 Design Showcase Honorable Mention
Jefferson Health’s 612,000-square-foot Honickman Center creates an architectural statement with a striking façade design and inclusive design strategies
While setting out to create a new, consolidated home for outpatient and specialty care services, owner Jefferson Health also wanted to bring a new landmark building to the Philadelphia skyline that would embody its commitment to improving the lives of patients, staff, and the community.
Situated on 4.3 acres adjacent to Jefferson Health’s flagship hospital, the Honickman Center, opened in April 2024, delivers on that goal with a distinctive, sculptural glass façade featuring compound curved “pleats,” which are inspired by the city’s textile history.
Outpatient building design
The building’s glass façade and glass-enclosed lobby are designed to create a sense of transparency and invite patients and passersby inside the 17-story building.
Amenity spaces, including a café, retail pharmacy, and meeting rooms, are housed on Levels 1 and 2, which are visible from the street and open to the public.
Submitted to the Design Showcase by Stantec (Philadelphia) and Ennead Architects (New York), the surgery center and medical office building also comprise more than 300 exam rooms, 58 infusion chairs, 10 operating rooms, six endoscopy rooms, imaging, lab services, and a pharmacy.
Wayfinding strategies in healthcare
To support intuitive wayfinding throughout the 612,000-square-foot Honickman Center, each clinical floor features a consistent layout, including a greeter desk next to the elevator lobby and art-filled waiting spaces along the exterior walls, providing views of the city.
Inclusive design, with particular attention given to neurodiverse patients, also enhances the patient experience by fostering a welcoming and restful environment.
Working with Jefferson’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, the facility features sensory-friendly seating with smooth, curved edges as well as calming tactile finishes in the waiting areas.
For more coverage of Healthcare Design’s 2025 Design Showcase, go here.
Find updates and additional information on the 2025 HCD Conference + Expo here.
Tracey Walker is managing editor of Healthcare Design and can be reached at [email protected].
