Alice L. Walton Foundation announces the selection of global firms CannonDesign and EDSA to design a campus focused on whole health

BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS (November 12, 2025) – Today, the Alice L. Walton Foundation announced that global design firm CannonDesign and global planning, landscape architecture, and urban design firm EDSA have been selected to design its future Bentonville Health Care Campus.

In February 2025, the Foundation announced that the campus will be located on a 100-acre site approximately two miles east of downtown Bentonville. The creation of the campus follows an announcement of a 30-year, $700 million collaboration between the Foundation and Mercy to expand access to health care, working with Heartland Whole Health Institute to reduce costs and improve health outcomes in the Heartland. It also announced that Cleveland Clinic will collaborate, providing world-class cardiovascular expertise to the effort. Mercy’s experience and history in planning places of care and healing is shaping the building design on the Bentonville Health Care Campus, which will include a Center for Advanced Specialty Care, supporting the partnership and creating a transformative model of care.

“Our innovative partnership focused on bringing world-class specialty care to our region needs equally innovative design partners,” said founder and philanthropist Alice Walton. “I’m delighted to announce that CannonDesign and EDSA have been selected to design our future Bentonville Health Care Campus. They bring to this project an understanding of whole health and how our environment and interactions influence our health and well-being. They’ve coupled that understanding with admiration for the beauty of the Ozark region and the collaborative spirit of our community, and channeled it into designs that enhance accessibility, connection, and ultimately wellness.”

Rendering of the proposed Center for Advanced Specialty Care on the future Bentonville Health Care Campus (courtesy CannonDesign)

Design rooted in whole health care

The proposed design for the Bentonville Health Care Campus represents a departure from conventional health care offerings. Rather than a series of clinical buildings connected with parking lots, the campus is a fully integrated environment design focused on enhancing whole-person health – physical, mental, social and emotional well-being.

“We’re designing this campus through the lens of Living-Centered Design, which explores how places can help people live healthier lives and support stronger communities,” said PJ Glasco, Project Executive and Health Practice Leader at CannonDesign. “What the foundation is striving to achieve with this campus is extraordinary, as it addresses interconnected health needs at a scale few have ever attempted. Our team is thrilled to help bring this vision to life and demonstrate how design can directly shape healthier outcomes across the region.”

Nature, art, and architecture as active healers 

An extensive landscape strategy choreographs movement through the site, turning every step into a restorative experience. At its edges, the campus opens to the community with welcoming green spaces that invite connection and comfort, while deeper within, a network of trails and pedestrian paths link contemplative areas designed for quiet retreat. Water serves as both a unifying feature of the landscape and a key part of the campus’s sustainability strategy. Stormwater is captured, cleansed, and reused—transformed into an amenity that expresses wellness through the natural rhythms of the Arkansas landscape.

“Every design decision is guided by ecological wellness and human experience,” says Gregg Sutton, EDSA Principal. “Through architecture, landscape, and art, we’re crafting spaces that feel alive, connect people to nature, and inspire healing. Materials like wood, stone, glass, and metal work in harmony with flowing water and curated art to create environments that support both physical and emotional well-being. The goal is for the campus to feel less like a place to ‘get treated’ and more like a place to live well.”

Interior of the proposed Center for Advanced Specialty Care will feature wood, glass, and other natural materials (courtesy CannonDesign)

An ecosystem of health care transformation, based in Northwest Arkansas

The future Bentonville Health Care Campus is part of a larger ecosystem in Bentonville focused on tackling the health challenges faced by Northwest Arkansas and other communities across the country. Walton has also founded Heartland Whole Health Institute, which is focused on reforming care delivery and payment models that can be duplicated on this campus and across the country. Additionally, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine opened its doors to its first class of students in July 2025, educating the next generation of physicians with a curriculum that includes whole health principles, with Mercy serving as its primary teaching partner. Both organizations are located on the Crystal Bridges Campus, approximately two miles from the future Bentonville Health Care Campus.

The Foundation’s current work with CannonDesign and EDSA is focused on an initial phase to include the Center for Advanced Specialty Care, a parking garage, and a central utility building as well as extensive landscape, gardens, trails, and grounds. Arkansas-based Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects will work with CannonDesign as local architects of record; the firm’s recent work includes the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine building. Additional contractors include: Flintco Construction (Construction Manager); Nabholz (Large Scale Campus Development); and Walter P. Moore (Civil Engineering).

This initial phase is located in the north portion of the acreage, accessible through Central Avenue and McCollum Drive, and adjacent to Interstate 49. Initial plans propose opening this section in December 2028. More information will be shared as it becomes available.

Renderings and map of the Center for Advanced Specialty Care initial phase development available here.

CannonDesign master plan of the future Bentonville Health Care Campus

Rendering of the proposed Center for Advanced Specialty Care on the future Bentonville Health Care Campus (courtesy CannonDesign)

Rendering of the proposed Center for Advanced Specialty Care on the future Bentonville Health Care Campus (courtesy CannonDesign)

Rendering of the proposed Center for Advanced Specialty Care on the future Bentonville Health Care Campus (courtesy CannonDesign)