HOUSTON, Texas – FKP Architects has been awarded a major expansion project for Texas Children’s Hospital that will focus on bringing access to more critically ill patients. 
The hospital is embarking on a $506-million, 19-story patient tower addition, part of a $575-million capital investment at the Texas Children’s Main Campus. The new tower will be on top of an existing six-story base that is adjacent to Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. FKP will lead planning and design for the project, expected to be complete in 2018. WS Bellows is the general contractor.
Half of all 9-1-1 and EMS pediatric transports in Houston are treated at the Texas Children’s Main Campus. This patient volume, combined with higher technology by the bedside and family centered care, is challenging current space. The new tower, called Pediatric Tower E, will initially have 129 beds for pediatric and cardiovascular intensive care, as well as new operating rooms. It will also be the home of the relocated Texas Children’s Heart Center, including a new outpatient clinic, cardiovascular operating rooms, dedicated cardiology beds and catheterization labs; the center will be designed for future growth. The Heart Center will move out of the West Tower, making way for additional acute care beds. The tower will encompass 640,000 square feet and will be built on top of the existing building next to Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, also designed by FKP. The project will be funded in part from the Texas Children’s Promise Campaign.
Visual connections to and from West Holcombe and South Fannin Streets have been considered in the design of the tower. The tower structure is oriented to reinforce campus continuity and provide distant views from the broad faces of the building. Rotating the tower off the street grid and neighboring structures also improves views from inside the facility in all directions. Once complete, the new 25-story pediatric tower will be the tallest Texas Children’s Hospital facility to date and will have a dominant presence within the Texas Medical Center. The facility has a unique identity, compatible to, but independent from the existing Texas Children’s campus aesthetic.
FKP Architects has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Texas Children’s Hospital. The firm was the design architect for the system’s Main Campus, the Pavilion for Women and most recently the new campus under construction in The Woodlands.
Programming and conceptual design of the new tower began in the fall of 2014 and completion is planned for 2018.
