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NBBJ

Based in Seattle, Boston, and Columbus, NBBJ articulates commercial headquarters and mixed-use towers through expressive envelope interventions—such as illuminated diagonal facade breaks, cantilevered terracotta bases, and vibrant skybridges—paired with layered interior acoustic assemblies. This portfolio provides a clear precedent when detailing open-air sky gardens embedded in tall building envelopes, integrating concealed lighting into timber auditorium ribbons, or establishing tactile material contrast at high-density urban entrances.

Exterior street-level rendering of a large healthcare hospital tower with vertical ribbed fins and a terracotta-clad podium by NBBJ.

Nbbj

A large-scale institutional architectural precedent featuring vertical cladding fins on tall towers above an active, terraced healthcare podium.

What we like about this project
The angled terracotta base dramatically cantilevers over the street corner entrance.

Materials

  • terracotta
  • glass
  • aluminum
  • concrete

Visual identifiers

  • ribbed-vertical-fins
  • terracotta-podium
  • hospital-complex
  • corner-entry

Style tags

  • contemporary
  • institutional
  • monumental

Visual tags

  • institutional
  • healthcare
  • urban-tower
  • mixed-massing
  • ribbed-facade
Geometry
Massive multi-tower hospital complex rising from a sculpted, terraced podium that wraps the urban street corner.
Facade system
Unitized curtain wall with vertical fins on upper towers; terracotta panel rainscreen system on the multi-story base podium.
Structural guess
Steel frame and concrete core construction with long-span podium floor plates.
Spatial scale
Large-scale institutional medical complex towering over multi-story street frontages.
Lighting
Clear daylight with soft directional shadows casting across the vertical facade fins and street level.
Atmosphere
Busy, civic, and professional urban healthcare setting under a bright clear sky.
Environmental context
Urban street intersection with surrounding mid-rise buildings, vehicular traffic, and pedestrian scale figures.
Spatial experience
The building engages the street with a prominent multi-story base, stepping back to tall towers that command the urban fabric.
Composition rhythm
Strong vertical rhythm created by alternating window mullions and projecting facade fins across multiple tower volumes.
Style reading
Contemporary institutional high-rise
Program
Hospital and medical center complex
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture
Materials
terracotta, glass, aluminum, concrete
Visual identifiers
ribbed-vertical-fins, terracotta-podium, hospital-complex, corner-entry
Style tags
contemporary, institutional, monumental
Visual tags
institutional, healthcare, urban-tower, mixed-massing, ribbed-facade
Geometry
Massive multi-tower hospital complex rising from a sculpted, terraced podium that wraps the urban street corner.
Facade system
Unitized curtain wall with vertical fins on upper towers; terracotta panel rainscreen system on the multi-story base podium.
Structural guess
Steel frame and concrete core construction with long-span podium floor plates.
Spatial scale
Large-scale institutional medical complex towering over multi-story street frontages.
Lighting
Clear daylight with soft directional shadows casting across the vertical facade fins and street level.
Atmosphere
Busy, civic, and professional urban healthcare setting under a bright clear sky.
Environmental context
Urban street intersection with surrounding mid-rise buildings, vehicular traffic, and pedestrian scale figures.
Spatial experience
The building engages the street with a prominent multi-story base, stepping back to tall towers that command the urban fabric.
Composition rhythm
Strong vertical rhythm created by alternating window mullions and projecting facade fins across multiple tower volumes.
Style reading
Contemporary institutional high-rise
Program
Hospital and medical center complex
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture

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  • © 2026 HappyCluster

Directories

  • Firms
  • Patterns

AI Native Apps

  • AI Mode Search
  • SoftMarket
  • 2nd Brain

About HappyCluster

  • About
  • How it works
  • Contact

Connect

  • Waitlist
  • X
  • GitHub

Legal

  • Privacy
  • Terms

HappyCluster

© 2026

Exterior street-level rendering of a large healthcare hospital tower with vertical ribbed fins and a terracotta-clad podium by NBBJ.

Nbbj

A large-scale institutional architectural precedent featuring vertical cladding fins on tall towers above an active, terraced healthcare podium.

What we like about this project
The angled terracotta base dramatically cantilevers over the street corner entrance.

Materials

  • terracotta
  • glass
  • aluminum
  • concrete

Visual identifiers

  • ribbed-vertical-fins
  • terracotta-podium
  • hospital-complex
  • corner-entry

Style tags

  • contemporary
  • institutional
  • monumental

Visual tags

  • institutional
  • healthcare
  • urban-tower
  • mixed-massing
  • ribbed-facade
Geometry
Massive multi-tower hospital complex rising from a sculpted, terraced podium that wraps the urban street corner.
Facade system
Unitized curtain wall with vertical fins on upper towers; terracotta panel rainscreen system on the multi-story base podium.
Structural guess
Steel frame and concrete core construction with long-span podium floor plates.
Spatial scale
Large-scale institutional medical complex towering over multi-story street frontages.
Lighting
Clear daylight with soft directional shadows casting across the vertical facade fins and street level.
Atmosphere
Busy, civic, and professional urban healthcare setting under a bright clear sky.
Environmental context
Urban street intersection with surrounding mid-rise buildings, vehicular traffic, and pedestrian scale figures.
Spatial experience
The building engages the street with a prominent multi-story base, stepping back to tall towers that command the urban fabric.
Composition rhythm
Strong vertical rhythm created by alternating window mullions and projecting facade fins across multiple tower volumes.
Style reading
Contemporary institutional high-rise
Program
Hospital and medical center complex
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture
Materials
terracotta, glass, aluminum, concrete
Visual identifiers
ribbed-vertical-fins, terracotta-podium, hospital-complex, corner-entry
Style tags
contemporary, institutional, monumental
Visual tags
institutional, healthcare, urban-tower, mixed-massing, ribbed-facade
Geometry
Massive multi-tower hospital complex rising from a sculpted, terraced podium that wraps the urban street corner.
Facade system
Unitized curtain wall with vertical fins on upper towers; terracotta panel rainscreen system on the multi-story base podium.
Structural guess
Steel frame and concrete core construction with long-span podium floor plates.
Spatial scale
Large-scale institutional medical complex towering over multi-story street frontages.
Lighting
Clear daylight with soft directional shadows casting across the vertical facade fins and street level.
Atmosphere
Busy, civic, and professional urban healthcare setting under a bright clear sky.
Environmental context
Urban street intersection with surrounding mid-rise buildings, vehicular traffic, and pedestrian scale figures.
Spatial experience
The building engages the street with a prominent multi-story base, stepping back to tall towers that command the urban fabric.
Composition rhythm
Strong vertical rhythm created by alternating window mullions and projecting facade fins across multiple tower volumes.
Style reading
Contemporary institutional high-rise
Program
Hospital and medical center complex
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture

Related in this portfolio