For 21 seasons, doctors and interns have been saving lives, falling in love, and navigating tragedy on the Greyâs Anatomy sets. A character in its own right, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, where it all takes place, would probably âcover 10 city blocksâ in real life, Greyâs Anatomy production designer John Zachary tells AD. âWe have multiple ICUs, We have so many patient rooms, we have multiple conference rooms, we have clinics. Thereâs just so much.â
Set in Seattle and filmed at Prospect Studios in Los Feliz, California, the world of Greyâs spans six soundstages. Step inside and youâll find the hospital interiors, Joeâs Bar, and the intern house interior and backyard. The walls and set dressings of the hospital can be changed in order to transform the spaces into special rooms like lockers, offices, and skills labs.
When it comes to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospitalâs exteriors, the crew has been using West LA College for the past three seasons. They also dress up a few exteriors around the studio for scenes that involve the actors approaching or leaving the building.
âItâs a fine line that we walk in all these sets because itâs a serious hospital and there are these romantic, sometimes funny relationships that are the heart of the stories,â Zachary shares. âSo weâre constantly battling with how to present an environment that covers both of those areas.â
In celebration of the showâs 20th anniversary this year, AD dug into how Greyâs Anatomy sets have been brought to life over the course of two decades and counting.
Harborview Medical Center served as inspiration for the original hospital set
During pre-production for the pilot, which aired in 2005, Laurence Bennett, Greyâs Anatomyâs first production designer, and Peter Horton, the showâs pilot director, went on a location scouting trip to Seattle. They found themselves taken by Harborview Medical Center, a light brick campus featuring a glass-sheathed exterior and helicopter pads, located in the historic neighborhood of First Hill.