McGlothlin Medical Education Center

Pei Cobb Freed and Partners
2013
1201 East Marshall Street

Over the past century, the Medical College of Virginia has transformed Richmond’s Court End neighborhood. Originally a high class collection of antebellum town homes, each added building has increased the scale and intensity of the area which is now totally dominated by the hospital. MCV’s new James W. and Frances C. McGlothlin Medical Education Center is no exception to this rule.

Replacing the 7 story A.D. Williams Clinic, the little sister of the neighboring art deco West Hospital, the 12 story McGlothlin Building pairs with the remaining tower beautifully. The contrast between the heavily textured brick of the old West Hospital and the glassy weightlessness of its new companion is sophisticated, a model for other projects in Richmond.

New York based architectural practice Pei Cobb Freed designed the McGlothlin Medical Education Center in the mode for which the office is famous. The angularity of the project and the clean lines drawn from the sidewalk to the top of the facade recall the firm’s past works, particularly those of renowned partner I. M. Pei. Traces of the National Gallery East Wing and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library are obvious in the building’s massing. The McGlothlin building’s detailing is immaculate. It’s street presence is appropriately sober, but its entrances are inviting. In a nod to the A.D. Williams Clinic’s architectural significance, its original entrances have been preserved and presented as sculpture in front of the McGlothlin building’s Marshall Street facade.

The main entrance opens into a pleasing, light washed two story lobby. The gentle creams and grays and subtle interior and exterior wall textures result in an ambiance appropriate for a medical building, sterile yet comforting. Again, the legacy of the Williams Clinic is acknowledged by the preservation and display of a large WPA era mural in the lobby. The views from the upper floors are excellent, the massive planes of glass that make up the sheer curtain wall obstruct nothing.

Both a contributor to the neighborhood and to the vital functions of the city’s largest hospital, the McGlothlin Medical Education Center is an outstanding addition to Court End and to Richmond on the whole.

DOK