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In 2008 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the
Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) initiated the AIA National
Healthcare Design Awards program. Continuing the AIA’s legacy
of celebrating outstanding works of contemporary architects, the
new awards program showcases the best of healthcare building design
and health design-oriented research.
Winning projects exhibit conceptual strength and solve aesthetic,
civic, urban, and social concerns as well as the requisite
functional and sustainability concerns of a healthcare
facility.
Awards Categories:
Category A: Built, less than $25 million (construction cost)
Category B: Built, more than $25 million (construction cost)
Category C: Unbuilt
Category D: Innovations in Research, Planning, and Design
Research
2008 Winners:
 Cha Women
& Children’s Hospital
KMD Architects
Design Solution:
Designed to comply with strict height and bulk limitations the CHA
Women’s Hospital brings to a dense, suburban Seoul
neighborhood a sleek, gleaming, modernist building catering to
avant-garde Korean women comfortable with (and demanding from their
healthcare provider) the aesthetic of high-couture shops, spas,
hair salons and restaurants sweeping Asian capitals today. The CHA
brand encompasses all aspects of women’s health and maternity
services from in-vitro fertilization to a chic line of maternity
and children’s clothes, again to satisfy a unique market
niche. This new hospital is among the first in Korea to offer a
full array of advances from the United States such as LDR, water
birthing and participation by family members in the birthing
process that are taken for granted stateside. However, to meet
Korean expectations, one entire floor of the hospital is given over
to an extended stay spa, wherein wealthy Korean women remain up to
one month after birthing.
Improvements:
Given its very dense urban site, the hospital is planned to
maximize the benefits of natural light as well as to provide
patient, visitor and staff access to the outdoors from public
areas. This design concept dates back to the early 1970’s,
when our firm sponsored a study that employed UCLA architecture and
nursing students to observe and inquire about patient, staff and
visitor preferences and their use of hospital waiting areas.
Because the study predated the single care room era, the waiting
spaces on patient care floors and in hospital lobbies were
especially important and used extensively by families not allowed
in patient rooms as they are today. This study was a precursor to
future work by others that have offered additional studies and
testimony for the need for a choice of waiting areas, access to the
outdoors and the inclusion of “green” elements within
hospitals (all goals still relevant to Korean hospitals today
having a majority of their beds in multi-bed rooms).
Design Features:
The aesthetic of this novel hospital is contrary to common U.S.
perceptions for a warm and cozy, supportive hotel-like environment
for birth centers. CHA celebrates high technology but tempers it
through the inclusion of elements from traditional Korean
architecture, such as wood, plants, water features and organic
forms contrasting with glass, aluminum and stainless steel. Both
inside and out, the design focus is on creating sleek, uncluttered
surfaces to offer patients and visitors a respite from the
surrounding neighborhood’s visual noise. Organic, flowing
interior surfaces offer warmth with a central, curved vertical wood
slat wall flowing from top to bottom, connecting various functional
areas and natural gathering spaces for patients, families and
friends. Natural light flows through vast windows and a central
atrium. A variety of open-air areas foster natural interaction and
relaxation. The rooftop features a diverting and restful sky
garden. Patient room windows rely on a dot pattern of changing
densities to filter light and provide privacy while keeping
interiors bright. The glass curtain wall serves as a veil of
comfort, providing a sense of shelter without separating patients
from the outdoors.
Ecological Impacts:
The hospital’s ecological impact is minimal. The half-block
site is surrounded by four-story commercial and residential
buildings and faces the larger CHA Bundang Hospital across the
street. Because of the site’s small size the building program
required four levels above grade and four below (for parking and
support services). Our primary design goal was to enhance the
hospital experience through the maximization of daylight for
greater patient and visitor satisfaction, as well as improved
inpatient outcomes through unique approaches for introducing and
controlling daylight and creating a sense of privacy in patient
bedrooms in a dense urban setting. A second, equally important goal
is the introduction of natural forms, plants, materials and water
features throughout the hospital, but to do so within the building
itself (in stark contrast to the harshness of the surrounding
neighborhood). Nearly all floors of the building, from the basement
to the rooftop garden, become accessible respite areas for
patients, staff and visitors, either visually or by experiencing
the outdoors and ever-changing Korean weather, effortlessly, alone
or in groups.
 The Peter and
Paula Fasseas Cancer Clinic at University Medical Center
North
CO Architects
Design Solution:
After extensive interviews with the client’s representatives
(patients, nurses, physicians and administrators) it became clear
that they wanted a place like no other; a paramount clinic with a
peaceful feel, non-institutional and spa-like, a light-filled place
for healing and hope. Removed from the institutional setting of the
acute care hospital, the comprehensive cancer clinic invokes the
power of the desert landscape to define it as a place of
inspiration and healing. The visual and physical access to the
outdoors provides patients and staff at this intimately scaled
facility with a connection to the healing power of nature. Through
the integration of the three courtyards into the building’s
organization, the extensive natural desert landscape and the
distant views of the mountains, Tucson’s rugged natural beauty
has been incorporated into the patient’s and staff’s
daily experience. All elements of the building’s design are
intended to relate to the natural landscape. Arizona sandstone,
plaster and metal panels are used on the exterior. Trellises and
covered entries provide shade from the sun. Interior finishes
include natural materials or materials made from natural products,
such as stone flooring and wood paneling. The color palette is
neutral earth tones. Interior spaces are washed with soft, indirect
light.
Improvements:
Cancer patients who are undergoing treatment are physically weak,
emotionally frail and are insecure about their appearance. Design
features of the clinic and the services that are offered
acknowledge this and attempt to provide an environment and an
experience that is supportive as well as healing. Patients arriving
at the clinic are protected from the elements by the large entry
canopy (valets take care of the parking). As they enter the
building they are greeted by a concierge who guides them to their
particular destination. Throughout the building there are places to
sit and view the gardens because the patients easily tire. As the
patients get to know the facility they have a choice of entering
directly into each of the three clinics which are accessed from the
healing gardens – a more discreet and private access. In
addition to the clinical services of infusion therapy, imaging and
outpatient exams there is an array of patient amenities: a Resource
Center to learn about cancer care; private rooms for massage
therapy and yoga; a boutique offering soft clothing and a salon to
help patients cope with hair loss and other side effects of the
treatment; and a gourmet café with outdoor dining.
Design Features:
Research has shown that “humans are hard-wired to experience
natural environments as restorative” –Roger Ulrich,
1991.The project is exemplary in how the experience of the building
is so connected to the natural world. Here, the science and art of
healing converges; medicine and technology is integrated with a
healing environment closely linked to nature. The infusion therapy
and exam rooms are organized around the courts and are all provided
with restorative views. The waiting rooms, public spaces and
corridors look out toward the garden and the distant mountains. The
sandstone wall at the main entrance is pulled away from the
building, creating a shaded area that serves as a
“porch”. It is a transitional element that protects the
glass on the south-facing side and sets the tone of the building.
The trellises on the east and west sides of the building are
important shade elements that give light and shadow to the building
and also visually extends the inside towards the outside,
integrating the interior and exterior. The bridges that span the
arroyo are a symbolic element – as you cross the bridge you
are leaving the parking lot and are entering a healing environment
full of hope.
Ecological Impact:
At the time UMC purchased the 17 acre site it accommodated
facilities that were once a general hospital, then abandoned and in
disrepair - an eye sore along a major street in Tucson. The cancer
clinic project retained an existing two story building that fronted
Campbell Avenue. The building was stripped down to its structure,
the courtyards were cut into the original floor plate and square
footage was added in both the north and south directions. The
cancer programs were originally located at the Health Sciences
Campus and had no real identity due to their location in the
basement level of a research building. The people in Tucson were
largely unaware of its existence and reputation. When the clinic
opened last year it transformed the city block along Campbell
Avenue into “a hip jewel in the desert”. The gardens and
the soft pallet of the local sand stone are a sharp contrast to the
previous abandoned building and dirt lot. There is now an
identifiable cancer care program that the community and the region
can see and identify with.
 Shenzhen Third
People's Hospital
TRO Jung|Brannen
Design Solution:
Demand for better healthcare facilities in China has
increased, resulting in a wave of new hospital construction.
Chinese hospitals have typically been designed as narrow buildings
with low floor-to-floor heights that relied on natural ventilation.
These building forms accommodated important aspects of traditional
Chinese design but they were cold and damp in winter, hot and humid
in summer. Contemporary Western designs, with large floor plates
and high floor-to-floor heights, are more comfortable and
efficient, but are less culturally appropriate in China. The design
team created a hospital that blended traditional Chinese forms with
Western technology. The design solution is a campus with a linear
spine and a series of narrow buildings that are curved to capture
sunlight and channel the winds. Although the buildings will have
internal mechanical systems consistent with those found in U.S.
hospitals to halt the spread of infection, the campus organization
locates infectious patients downwind and offers them the natural
healing power of sunlight and serene garden views. The building is
situated so it has prevailing southeasterly winds; therefore, the
non-infectious zone is at the south end of the campus with the
semi-infectious zone in the center and the infectious zone at the
north.
Improvements:
Controlling infection is a major problem in Chinese hospitals. Poor
ventilation and obsolete mechanical systems are typical in almost
all of China’s pre expansion hospital facilities. Often
clinical areas are open to natural ventilation which could be
catastrophic in a specialty hospital such as this. By segregating
patients according to disease type and using state of the art
mechanical systems and isolation practices, the fear of contagious
disease spreading between patients, staff and visitors is
controlled. Pedestrian traffic is organized the same way keeping
public and staff separated while also allowing for efficiency and
ease of movement.
Design Features:
The treatment of the separation and circulation hierarchy makes
this hospital unique. Patient and administrative services comprise
three zones: infectious, semi-infectious, and non-infectious. The
infectious zone has four buildings for infectious diseases,
including liver and hepatitis, viruses, tuberculosis, and severe
respiratory diseases. The semi-infectious zone contains diagnostic
treatment and outpatient clinic space, and a research building,
while the non-infectious zone includes administrative offices and
staff housing. No internal connections exist between these three
zones. The addition of a research facility within the campus
environment and the capacity for large numbers of patients in the
event of a major epidemic are also unique. Building designs are
compact allowing for efficient sharing of services. Forms emphasize
patient care and ease of circulation and the design stresses its
public presence on site and reflects the highly technical nature of
the medical care being provided. The buildings are clean and
modern, constructed with high-tech materials, selected to give the
hospital an international appearance, with durability and cost as
factors influencing the choice of each building system. Glass is
the predominant exterior material, exposing views, maximizing
opportunities for light, and providing a transparency for patients
whose diseases require them to be separated from others.
Ecological Impacts:
The predevelopment use of the site was an industrial plant, with
generally negative impact to the surrounding ecology. The new
facility is an improvement to the site, with extensive landscaping
throughout including roof gardens and campus green space. The
channeling of prevailing winds is a significant factor in the
environmental impact of the site and determined the physical shape
and orientation of most of the buildings. Because the mission of
this hospital is to treat infectious diseases, handling of clean
supplies and contaminated materials is critical to the design. The
safe removal of soiled material is carried out through a series of
special dedicated and secure corridors beneath the ground level of
the clinical buildings, transitioning from less contaminated to
more contaminated as it moves. These passages are not crossed by
clean supplies or by circulating medical staff. Soiled material
ends up at special docks located at the farthest ends of each of
the four bed towers, at which point the material is either removed
from the site or disposed of by the environmental control staff.
Care is taken to avoid back contamination, with material always
moving north, like the wind, away contaminated areas.
 Weill
Greenberg Center
Polshek Partnership Architects / Ballinger
Design Solution:
The Weill Greenberg Center establishes a new institutional identity
for the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell
University and heralds a new era in personalized medicine. Inspired
by the tranquility of a spa environment, the design of this
world-class Center optimizes the patient experience to promote
health and healing and reinforces the institution’s
state-of-the-art clinical services. Moreover, its singular identity
and its being the first of the College’s clinical facilities
on the west side of York Avenue distinguish it from the clinical
image of New York Hospital; integrated into the everyday fabric of
the City, it presents an elegant, reassuring and welcoming face for
healthcare. Sheathed in a waterwhite ceramic-fritted, facetted
glass curtain wall, selected for its translucent qualities and
experiential richness, the 330,000 sf, 15-story building symbolizes
the progressive identity of the institution. From the interior, the
translucent skin subdues the hustle and bustle of the city. Natural
materials constitute the material palette of the public spaces. A
series of water features and intimate seating alcoves enhance the
sense of calm and ease patient stress and anxiety.
Improvements:
The Weill Greenberg Center is a Pebble Project, a research program
developed by the Center for Health Design. Research has shown that
a well-designed facility can reduce stress in patients as well as
healthcare providers, resulting in improved patient outcomes.
Throughout the design and construction process, the building was
evaluated for its contribution to evidence-based design. Design
features that contribute to the creation of a calm and effective
patient experience include: diffuse natural light, the use of water
both for its aural and its visual features, and natural materials
for their tactile, visual and associative characteristics. Large
windows on the perimeter provide views of the city and maximize
daylight, orienting patients and visitors. Temperature is carefully
balanced and managed in patient spaces. Translucent art walls,
comfortable furnishings arranged in clusters, and comprehensive,
private staff facilities contribute to the high standard of care
provided by this outpatient facility. In addition to there being
computers on every floor that patients may access in connection
with their conditions, the Patient Resource Center on the second
floor is a comfortable open space and library dedicated to patient
education.
Design Features:
The design for the Center combines state-of-the-art medical
education, ambulatory care and clinical research in one singular
identity, which provides a new face for healthcare. The building
includes a state-of-the-art teaching and testing facility. Its 12
enlarged exam rooms simulate outpatient and inpatient settings:
medical students interact with “standardized patients” in
realistic, controlled environments where they learn to obtain
medical histories, diagnose conditions and communicate treatment
options. Faculty assess students through two-way mirrors, and
cameras, microphones and intercom systems assist with training,
allowing in-depth analysis and constructive feedback among
standardized patients, students and faculty. The facility also
includes a case study room for training, web conferences and remote
viewing to the building’s clinical areas. A Patient Care
Simulation Center uses a robot to simulate many symptoms and
patient scenarios for student training. A Computer Aided Visual
Environment space, a learning lab for computational biomedicine,
allows students and faculty to experiment through a 3D immersion
environment. A separate 3D virtual-reality theater allows
researchers to visualize interactions within and among cells.
Wireless technology is used throughout the building, and sensors
are used to control lighting in offices and teaching spaces.
Ecological Impacts:
Replacing an unsightly parking lot, the Center is the first stage
in Weill Cornell Medical College’s master plan to create a
campus west of York Avenue. Linked by a central atrium, the new
unified research, academic and clinical facilities will help to
reverse the image of the College, which currently occupies
disparate, disconnected and outdated buildings. This complex is
intended to fulfill the institution’s mission to provide the
finest education for its medical students, to conduct cutting edge
research, to improve the health care of the nation and the world,
and to provide the highest quality of clinical care to the
community. In addition to providing a much needed urban campus for
the College, these new buildings will positively contribute to the
architectural quality of the neighborhood's street life. The design
of the fritted glass curtain wall, which is cut into long vertical
facets, veils the building, generating a softness and depth for the
building’s undulating reflective surface. From the interior,
this translucent skin subdues the bustle of the city and shapes the
flow of natural light. The repetitive geometries and unitized
construction methods of the curtain wall allowed an economical
construction process that contributed to the project’s
on-budget completion.
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