Distinctive architecture, working in harmony with a holistic and forward-thinking approach to planning, is what sets apart McLaren Greater Lansing’s Sacred Space—a 2,115-square-foot addition to McLaren Health’s new 240-bed community hospital. Gresham Smith’s unique design delivers a nonsectarian sacred space that promotes healing of the mind, body and spirit in an open and inclusive environment.
square feet
bed community hospital addition
iconic destination for reflection
Not Your Typical Sanctuary
After designing the new community hospital, Gresham Smith was tasked with creating a sacred space that would become the focal point of the organization’s spiritual care program. The client sought a place of reflection and worship that was much more than your typical hospital chapel or meditation room and featured a variety of spaces that embraced all denominations.Research into the typology of sacred spaces over the centuries led the project team—comprised of staff from Gresham Smith’s Nashville and Chicago offices—to an understanding of both form and character for this building type. The process of iteration (exploring a series of potential solutions) revealed multiple ways in which to design a small, sacred space and guided the collaborative team to the optimal design solution.