Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness (PMC) is not a typical healthcare facility in either appearance or program. PMC’s clinical services include Dialysis, a Seniors’ Wellness Centre, Mental Health Clinic, an Urgent Care Centre, and an Ambulatory Procedure Clinic with eight operating units. The design intention reflects the ambitions of the William Osler Health System, incorporating the best qualities of public architecture: informality and approachability.

This ambulatory care facility represents a shift in awareness, evolving from conventional medicine towards treating the whole person throughout their life. It also showcases a new kind of public building that functions more like an active Community Centre than a passive environment for treatment.

Inside, at the heart of the building, is a dynamic, three-storey atrium space. It provides an inviting focal point for the community and features coloured-glass on the main façade. At certain times during the day, a stained-glass lighting effect casts colourful reflection throughout the space. With public spaces gathered as part of this light-filled central atrium, wayfinding is intuitive. The clinical spaces are laid out in clusters to maximize efficiency; bright patient treatment areas look out to a courtyard, and public corridors are lined with rooms suited for community outreach and training. Filled with natural light, these elements create a building that is vibrant, informal, and used beyond its core function as a healthcare facility.