Let’s face it. Stairwells in hospitals are usually the last places anyone expects to find inspiration. They’re functional, overlooked, and designed for movement rather than experience. But what if that in-between space could do more? What if it could actually support healing?
At Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas’ new Lusardi Tower, Aesthetics, Inc. addressed this challenge by transforming a four-flight stairwell into an immersive visual experience inspired by healthcare design. In collaboration with artist Ken Goldman, the team created a mural titled “Iconic Blooms of San Diego County” that tells a story, guides movement, and brings the Southern California landscape indoors.
It truly changes the way the space feels.
Rethinking Stairwells in Healthcare Design
In today’s healthcare design, every square foot is valuable. Yet, stairwells often remain utilitarian, focused on code compliance rather than user experience.
We approached the Scripps Encinitas stairwell project with a methodology aimed at redefining the stairwell’s role within the hospital environment.
Rather than viewing the stairwell as a secondary space, we recognized it as an opportunity to add value:
This philosophy aligns with evidence-based design research. Studies show that exposure to nature, whether real or represented, can reduce stress, improve mood, and promote recovery outcomes. That’s where this mural begins to shine.
Designing with Architecture, Not Around It
Here’s where things get really interesting.
Rather than simply adding artwork, we used the architectural drawings as the foundation for the design. The geometry of the stairs, including landings, angles, and vertical progression, served as a framework for storytelling.
Each level of the mural aligns with a specific vantage point:
The concept renderings illustrate this beautifully. You can see how the mural was mapped directly onto the stair structure, ensuring that every step contributes to the narrative.
This is not simply art placed on a wall. It is art integrated into the movement through the space.
Designing for Two Audiences: Inside and Out
A unique aspect of this project is the stairwell’s full visibility from the building’s exterior. This required additional design considerations that extend beyond the interior user experience.
From the outset, Aesthetics approached the mural not only as an internal journey for staff, but as a public-facing work of art.
Inside the stairwell, the mural unfolds sequentially, creating an immersive experience aligned with the rhythm of ascent. From the outside, the stairwell becomes a large-scale illuminated canvas, offering a glimpse of Encinitas’s natural landscapes to anyone approaching or passing by the hospital.
This dual visibility required careful coordination in the design process:
In this way, the mural serves two purposes: enhancing the interior healthcare environment and contributing to the hospital’s architectural identity within the community.
This demonstrates that thoughtful healthcare design extends beyond the interior and shapes how a space is experienced both inside and outside the facility.
A Journey Through Encinitas’ Natural Landscape
The mural tells a story that honors the region.
It serves as a tribute to the local environment.
Drawing from Encinitas’ coastal and inland environments, the mural transitions through several distinct scenes:
Each level introduces a new aspect of the landscape, creating a sense of progression that mirrors the physical act of ascending the stairs.
The transitions between scenes are subtle and cinematic.
One moment you’re near the coast, the next you’re surrounded by fields of color, and then you’re grounded again by trees and horizon lines. It’s immersive without being overwhelming—a delicate balance that Ken Goldman handles with remarkable skill.
The Role of the Artist: Ken Goldman’s Approach
Ken Goldman’s painterly style is essential to the project’s success.
His work incorporates:
Take a closer look at the installed sections, and you’ll notice how the details shift depending on your distance. From afar, it reads as a cohesive landscape. Up close, it becomes a tapestry of brushwork, texture, and color.
This dual experience is essential in healthcare design, especially in high-traffic areas where people interact with the space in different ways:
This mural addresses these needs in a natural and genuine way. Research on visual arts in hospital settings confirms that artwork in hospitals reduces heart rates, improves mental health outcomes, and provides meaningful, positive distraction for patients, staff, and visitors.
Aesthetics, Inc.: Leading with Vision
While the mural is visually striking, its true success lies in the orchestration of the entire experience.
As the lead firm, our role went far beyond project management. We:
Importantly, this mural isn’t a standalone piece.
It’s part of a larger healing arts program at Scripps Encinitas, with over 200 pieces throughout the Lusardi Tower, from patient rooms and hallways to public spaces. This bigger picture shows a strong commitment to making art a key part of the healthcare environment.
Why Nature Still Matters in Healthcare Design
A central theme throughout this project is the power of nature. Biophilic design, which connects people with natural elements, has become a cornerstone of innovative healthcare design for good reason.
Evidence-based healthcare design research and a 2024 systematic review confirm that exposure to natural imagery can:
In hospitals, supporting patient and staff well-being through design is essential. By translating Encinitas’ landscapes into a vertical visual journey, we brought these benefits to a space that is often overlooked.
A broader Embrace of Underutilized Spaces
Designing for overlooked spaces isn’t a new idea for us. Aesthetics, Inc. has been transforming corridors, stairwells, and transitional areas for years, working from the belief that impactful design belongs everywhere, not just in lobbies, patient rooms, or waiting areas.
What’s changing is the conversation around it. More healthcare executives and design partners are arriving at that same conclusion, and projects like the Scripps Encinitas stairwell give the philosophy a concrete form. They demonstrate how:
It’s a shift we’re glad to see, and one this project helped make the case for.
A Vision Fully Realized
On May 20, 2026, Scripps Health opened the Lusardi Tower to the community. What visitors encounter isn’t just one painting in one corridor. It’s the largest single work in a 200+ piece healing arts program integrated into every floor, hallway, and shared space of the new tower. The art program itself “serves as a visual beacon for the hospital,” signaling a commitment to healing and community engagement.
The towering stairwell mural is part of the Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas Signature Collection, a group of 12 custom-commissioned artworks funded by community donors that transform entry, waiting, corridor, and café spaces throughout the facility. Art isn’t an add-on here. It’s woven into the architecture and the hospital’s identity.
Final Thoughts
This project demonstrates transformation, not just of a stairwell, but of what people can expect from healthcare design.
The Aesthetics team transformed a space designed for transit into an experience. Ken Goldman translated the natural beauty of Encinitas into an experience that people can carry with them, step by step and floor by floor.
By elevating a utilitarian space, we established a new standard for meaningful healthcare design.
FAQ
Questions about biophilic design and healing arts programs come up often, from hospital administrators and architects to patients and families who’ve walked through a thoughtfully designed space and wondered how it came to be. Here are answers to some of the most common ones.
Biophilic design in healthcare integrates natural elements—imagery, materials, light, and living plants—into the built environment to support patient recovery, reduce stress, and improve staff well-being. Research consistently shows that exposure to nature, even in representational form, produces measurable physiological and psychological benefits.
Yes. Research published in peer-reviewed journals, including studies on visual arts in clinical settings, shows that hospital artwork reduces patient heart rates, lowers anxiety, decreases pain medication use, and shortens recovery time. The effects are documented for patients, families, and clinical staff alike.
The four-story stairwell mural was created by artist Ken Goldman, commissioned and curated by Aesthetics, Inc., as part of the Lusardi Tower’s 200+ piece healing arts program at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas.
