In 2006, Keep Memory Alive® chairman and founder Larry Ruvo engaged acclaimed architect Frank Gehry to design a medical facility to treat brain disorders. From that beginning, an architectural icon took shape in the desert, its unique appearance and welcoming, light-filled atmosphere ensuring that Mr. Gehry had achieved his goal of creating something memorable.
“The mantra is ‘Keep Memory Alive,’’’ noted the 1989 recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture. “I’m trying to make a building that people will want to visit, remember, talk about and enjoy and, ultimately, will want to partner with us at the center to help cure brain diseases.”
The structure is a leader among other unconventional and world-renowned Gehry designs, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Here are a few numbers that document the uniqueness of Cleaveland Clinic Nevada and the Keep Memory Alive Event Center:
145,000 shop drawing sheets guided the fabrication of the steel
65,000 hours of engineering went into project
30,000 steel bolts and 18,000 stainless steel shingles used
875.5 total tons of steel used
199 windows, and no two are alike in size or shape
9,800 square foot Event Center with a 400 seated or 700 standing capacity–up to 1500 including outdoor spaces
3,000 square foot Wolfgang Puck designed kitchen with equipment by Culinary Design and Fixture
75-foot tall ceiling
68,000 total square feet of interior space: 52,000 in the medical facility, 16,800 non- medical
$80 million dollar construction price tag
0 major injuries during construction
3 continents, 2 bodies of water and 1 desert covered during the transportation of the building’s components
The acoustic engineer for the Center, Yasuhisa Toyota, also engineered the sound for the Los Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall