River People Health Center

River People Health Center is a 198,000 sf, three-story outpatient clinic on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) land. Funded by the Indian Health Service, this facility serves members of all indigenous American tribes while highlighting the Pima and Maricopa Indian tribal cultures. The building houses multi-specialty clinics, including dental, primary care, specialty care, behavioral/ mental health, physical therapy, nutrition, WIC, and pediatrics. Imaging, lab, and pharmacy services support the clinics.

Outdoor wellness paths, a terrain therapy park, a playground, and food gardens play a role in the healing and wellness story of the facility. The building design is organized around a series of large structural concrete monoliths that align views and entries to mountain peaks that the community considers sacred to their people’s history. Rainwater is collected and directed from the rooftops, over the symbol-embossed concrete walls, and into shallow waterways in the landscape to provide water to the plants and recall the community’s ancient canals they built throughout the valley. The clinic’s detailing recalls symbols, building elements, and construction techniques of historical dwellings and shade structures, as well as art, pottery, and basketry from their ancestors who originally settled in the area.