California’s first net-zero carbon emissions mental health campus breaks ground

Five new buildings as part of a mental health campus for Cordilleras Health System have recently broken ground in San Mateo County. The five buildings will be arranged around a central open space with sheltered outdoor seating, community gardens, and recreation courts.

Four of the buildings will be Mental Health Rehabilitation Centers (MHRC) each comprising 16 beds for long-term mental care. The MHRCs will be single-story, identical footprint buildings. The fifth building will be a three-story co-housing building to support transitional clients. This building can accommodate 57 residents with support services that include office space, a commercial kitchen on the ground floor, and single bedrooms on the upper two floors with shared living space.

Cordilleras MHRC aerial

The project will become the first net-zero carbon emissions mental health campus in California. Solar panels will be included on every roof, including the site parking. Additionally, the campus has been designed to provide outdoor views of the surrounding open space and trails. Instead of traditional blocks of rooms, the project will include corridors configured into a V-shape to give every room a view in the courtyards.

Skanska is building the $105 million project. CannonDesign is the architect. The campus is slated for completion in December 2023.

For most of human history, design has mostly considered “typical users” who are fully able-bodied without clinical or emotional disabilities. The problem with this approach is that it offers a limited perspective on how space can positively or negatively influence someone based on their physical, mental, and sensory abilities.

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