Westlawn has always been associated with the health sciences. Originally constructed as a dormitory for nursing students, it served that function until 1964. As a residence hall, the building was connected to the hospital by an underground tunnel. Although student nurses no longer commute below ground between the two, the func- tional connection remains—the building now houses the Student Health Service and University Pharmacy, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics’ Child Care Center, and the UI Family Planning Clinic. Westlawn also forms the eastern border of the Health Sciences Campus green, facing the Medical Education and Research Facility complex to the west and giving shape to the campus space between the two buildings and Bowen Science Building on the south.
The shape of Westlawn is determined by three additions to the original central section. Both wings of the building were extended in 1928 with a further extension south in 1945. In 1996 an additional projecting block was added to the east to accommodate Student Health. This section is sympathetic to Westlawn’s original design though less ornamented. The Tudor Revival of the building corresponded to that of its contemporaneous neighbors, Children’s Hospital (1919, razed in 1999, 2003) and the Medical Education Building (formerly Psychopathic Hospital, 1919). Each incorporated limestone detailing in the red-brick walls. At Westlawn’s entrance portal, a Gothic pointed arch meets flanking pilasters, a mixing of Medieval and classical details typical of the Tudor style. Spur buttresses, three-story bay windows, and crenellated parapets create a sense of drama and evoke the perimeter wall of a castle. This visual association is made particularly strong by Westlawn’s striking placement along the curving border of the bluffs overlooking the Iowa River.