The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) has selected the recipients of the AIA Healthcare Design Awards program. The award program showcases the best healthcare building design and healthcare design-oriented research. Projects exhibit conceptual strengths that solve aesthetic, civic, urban and social concerns, as well as the requisite functional and sustainability concerns of a hospital.

Recipients were selected in four different categories:

  • Category A – Built: Less than $25 million (construction cost)
  • Category B – Built: More than $25 million (construction cost)
  • Category C – Renovations/Remodeled: Primarily built within existing hospital or clinical space.
  • Category D – Unbuilt: must be commissioned for compensation by a client with the authority and intention to build.

Category A

Harvey Pediatric Clinic; Rogers, Ark.
Marlon Blackwell Architects
Situated in a fast-developing area, the Harvey Pediatric Clinic is an abstract figure set in contrast to the everyday suburban landscape that surrounds the building. The cayenne-color metal panel wraps the entire south side of the building, providing a strong identity. Patients enter the building, pass through and ascend a stair with a skylight above. Sixteen exam rooms are organized along a simple, clear circulation path defined by several skylights that bring natural light into the building.

Neighborcare Health, Meridian Center for Health; Seattle
NBBJ
Partially funded by a federal grant, the Meridian Center for Health provides an integrated, one-stop model for health treatment and prevention for underserved Seattle-area residents. Uniting three health organizations under the same roof, the center provides low- to no-cost medical, dental and mental health services for adults and children. Design elements include an open floor plan, a dramatic feature stair in the lobby, and a range of team and community spaces that remain available for neighborhood organizations after hours. The Center is tracking to receive LEED Gold certification.

Category B

Mercy Virtual Care Center; Chesterfield, Mo.
FORUM STUDIO
The Virtual Care Center, the genesis of a national consortium of virtual providers, utilizes a palette of stone, glass, precast and wood coupled with flexible floor plates to create an environment that fosters innovation, collaboration and patient-centric care.

UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center; La Jolla, Calif.
Cannon Design
Reflective of UC San Diego’s vision toward the future intersections between technology and medicine, Jacobs Medical Center is designed as three hospitals in one with focus on women’s and children’s, cancer and specialty surgery. The tower is the cornerstone of a new campus identity focused on the future of health.

Category C

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Suite; Park Ridge, Ill.
Philips Design and Anderson Mikos Architects
 The new cardiac catheterization suite improves the way people receive care with an optimized flow and journey that includes a transradial recovery lounge, labs that inspire confidence while improving safety, and a prep/recovery bay solution that enables a less stressful recuperation personalized for each patient.

Bayshore Dental; Whitefish Bay, Wis.
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
This project involved the reinvention of an abandoned building and its transformation into a clinic for a young dentist and her small staff. Procedural flow strategies informed the clinic’s overall layout. A continuous ceiling plane leads patients from the light-filled reception to the individual operatories, each marked by green vertical panels and light strips that animate the clinic’s central corridor. White oak cabinetry and green accents complement the intentionally restrained interior palette, all contributing to a serene ambience intended to appease a sometimes-apprehensive clientele.

Category D

Ambulatory Surgical Facility; Kyabirwa, Uganda
Kliment Halsband Architects
This independent, off-the-grid ambulatory surgical facility is a replicable prototype for the five billion people in the world who lack access to safe or affordable surgery. The building is composed of three functional elements: a reception pavilion with offices grouped around a family waiting area courtyard, an intermediate pavilion for pre-op and post-op activities, and a sterile pavilion with two operating rooms and related support spaces. These elements are sheltered under a solar panel shade structure, inspired by the banana plants on the site.

The jury for the 2017 Healthcare Facility Design Awards includes: Gregory Wieland, AIA (chair) Altus Studios; Tama Duffy Day, Gensler; Rick del Monte, FAIA, BeckGroup; Robin Guenther, FAIA, Perkins+Will; John Kouletsis, AIA, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.; Joan L. Suchomel, AIA, Eckenhoff Saunders Architects and Stephen Yablon, AIA, Stephen Yablon Architecture.