Transforming Care and Design
Bayhealth Kent General Pavilion strengthens services, enhances the patient experience, and redefines campus identity.
Kent General Pavilion
Dover, DE
Bayhealth, one of the region’s fastest-growing healthcare providers, recognized the need to modernize its aging Kent General Hospital campus to better serve the community and meet the demands of 21st-century medicine. A master plan revealed the opportunity to consolidate disconnected services and outdated facilities into a cohesive new pavilion.
The 391,000-square-foot Kent General Pavilion was designed around the Planetree model, prioritizing patient-centered care, staff well-being, and the thoughtful integration of advanced technology. The building’s exterior features brick, glass, and metal panels, reflecting a contemporary interpretation of Dover’s colonial architectural heritage, creating a welcoming presence.
Visitors experience a new patient journey, beginning with a valet drop-off and flowing through a bright, contemporary lobby to clearly organized medical treatment areas. The pavilion introduces a sunlit, open atmosphere with an intuitive spatial orientation for patients and families while providing caregivers with separate circulation paths and focused collaboration zones to enhance clinical efficiency.
A new cancer center and emergency department form the podium for a multi-story bed tower, establishing a strong new campus entrance and connecting formerly fragmented services. This transformative project elevates Bayhealth’s mission and creates a healthcare environment ready to support future growth and innovation.
“A massive complex broken down and layered successfully into manageable, navigable forms. The most successful strategy is the flowing anthropomorphic movement of public spaces, almost guiding the visitor to their destination. Interiors are well done —organic curves, well lit, beautiful. It’s exciting to see this quality of design in a healthcare project.”
– Juror Comment, AIA Philadelphia
Meet the Design Team
