McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and HOK broke ground on the Kedren Children’s Village for Kedren Community Health Center Inc. in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The 9,569-m2 (103,000-sf) campus will include three main buildings—an inpatient psychiatric facility, outpatient services including primary, urgent care, and pharmacy services, and a transitional housing development.
The campus will also feature a parking structure, a physical therapy gym, and an outdoor garden in addition to the main structures.
The design for Kedren Children’s Village is guided by evidence-based best practices in pediatric behavioral health, prioritizing safety, flexibility, and therapeutic environments, and inspired by the history and culture of the surrounding community.
Drawing on the diversity and warmth of the Watts community, the exterior facade and interior design are based on a quilt representing the people and families that will receive services through Kedren in materiality and form.
When complete, the $145-million project will be one of the few pediatric-focused behavioral hospitals in the country and the first comprehensive behavioral health facility in South Los Angeles.
