Osher Center for Integrative Health: Making a Positive Impact in a New Home
Picture a workplace designed to promote better communication, collaboration, and community between all those who use the space. It would also be a place where the University of Utah’s Osher Center for Integrative Health (OCIH) could bring together all its services under one roof to promote whole-person health and workplace well-being.
When the promise of a home to call its own became a reality for executives, staff, and users of OCIH, they could not wait to put their visions for the space down on paper. Their ideas would inspire and inform architectural plans for the remodel of the northeast corner of the fourth floor at the U of U’s Williams Building in Research Park.
“The architects were so wonderful, and we met with them almost every week for many months,” said Amy Locke, MD FAAFP. “Our goal was to design a place where people could come and feel comfortable, take advantage of the natural light, the views of nature, and be in a space that is very calming and healing.”
Locke is the Chief Wellness Officer at U of U Health and has been a part of the Chief Wellness Office since 2015. For the past decade, those programs had been spread out in different locations across campus. So, Locke took full advantage of the opportunity to work closely with architecture firm Studio Long Playing to transform this bright and spacious corner of the Williams Building into a full-service wellness center.
“We strive to incorporate natural light, views and connection to nature into all of our projects.” said Baylee Rushton, AIA, NCARB, managing principal at Studio LP. “It was especially important on this one, given that the space supports both physical and mental wellness. Research shows that access to views, sunlight, and nature can significantly enhance well-being, improving cognitive function, boosting productivity for office users, and supporting the healing process.”
Studio LP is a Salt Lake City architecture firm led and operated by women with a focus on the day-to-day experiences of those who will use the buildings they design. In the words of the firm’s founders, “Our approach centers on a deep, collaborative relationship with clients throughout both the design and construction processes.”
Rushton and Emina Tatarevic, Assoc. AIA, an architectural designer at Studio LP, built a trusting relationship with OCIH leadership, staff, and patrons, as they guided the project from initial concepts through design, construction, and completion in April 2025. For Tatarevic, this project’s future success was established in the early stages with the dedication and collaboration of the OCIH team.
“I will remember this project because of the many opportunities for learning and how incredible it was to work with this client,” Tatarevic. “They were knowledgeable about their departments, and they advocated for them so well. It was truly inspiring.”
It would be hard to overstate the importance of OCIH programs to the physical and mental well-being of U of U staff, students, and community members. OCIH includes the Resiliency Center, the L.S. Skaggs Wellness Center, and PEAK Health and Fitness. OCIH’s new space accommodates services that each of these departments offer, including multi-purpose studios for lectures and classes, uniquely designed soundproof rooms for health consults and massages, a medical gym, and office space.
Locke emphasized the new location will give her a chance to catch her breath and catch up with staff and patrons. “Even just for me as a leader, bouncing between locations, I really did not have enough opportunities to synergize with staff, and it was challenging. This is a hub and spoke operation. We have people embedded in clinics throughout the health system, and people working on main campus as well as the hospital, so it is nice to have a home base.”
“It’s interesting working on an interior model, especially of a space that used to be a data center and financial institution,” Tatarevic said. “The new OCIH facility fits the original architecture of the building. I almost can’t see any other use now with those beautiful ribbon windows on the exterior that light up the wellness gym and the big skylight in the center of the main studio.”
As beautiful and calming as OCIH’s new space is, it will not change the focus or primary work of the team operating and overseeing the center’s services. “Our job is to meet people where they are, and not everybody can come here [to the Williams Building].” Locke said. “We are still going to need to get out and about to meet people where they are.”
This new space will allow Locke and her staff to get together more often and brainstorm ways to streamline OCIH’s services, eliminate redundancies, and be as efficient as possible. The result will hopefully lead to a thoughtful expansion of programs to meet the needs of the population it serves.
Locke said that the new location ties directly into OCIH’s mission. “Ultimately, our goal is to get the university moving toward the idea of whole person health and consider how we do that in the education mission, the clinical mission, and the research mission,” as well as “how we leverage this new physical location to meet those critical areas."
The new home of the OCIH will have its grand opening on Thursday, May 15, 2025.
