UCLA Doheny Eye Center

PROJECT NARRATIVE

This 14,963-square-foot tenant improvement on the first floor of an existing building allowed UCLA Health to expand their services from a smaller location with only twelve exam rooms to a robust new space with forty exam rooms and multiple ophthalmological modalities and service offerings. This location brings together the specialized expertise of the UCLA Stein Eye Institute with the cutting-edge research of the Doheny Eye Institute.

With space at a premium, the design team strategized to create the necessary programmatic density while maintaining clear wayfinding and a sense of space within the clinic. Exam rooms are located around the perimeter of the building to prioritize window access and natural light, with diagnostic spaces situated in the center. Each practice area contains its own waiting room, with a series of smaller sub-wait rooms scattered throughout the space. The design team implemented a meticulous wayfinding strategy in collaboration with a signage expert; design elements like metal trim pieces running along the floor and walls integrate with signage throughout the space to guide patients through the clinic.

Modalities within the clinic include pediatrics, glaucoma, corneal, and retinal, along with a large diagnostic imaging room, plastics sub-clinic, administrative space, and a dedicated research equipment room for the Doheny Eye Institute, which houses the experimental prototype of the Opto-Imager machine created by Dr. Yuhua Zhang, who leads the Institute’s Advanced Ophthalmic Imaging Laboratory (AOIL).