AIA Healthcare Design Awards: NBBJ, Payette, and Duda|Paine Architects among 2022 winners

The Academy for Architecture and Health (AAH) at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced seven recent projects as the winners of this year’s Healthcare Design Awards.

The AIA shares: "The awards recognize cutting-edge designs that help solve aesthetic, civic, urban and social problems while also being functional and sustainable. Eligible projects can include health care building design, health care planning and health care design-oriented research."

The selected projects, therefore, stand as valuable contemporary forebears to the various trends and design considerations that have now become ascendant across an industry which has enacted many radical changes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 edition includes projects from American-based firms that were completed after January 1st, 2017 as judged by Dialog partner and jury chair Mara Baum and five others.

The winning projects are listed below with an excerpt from the jury citation. Further details of the 2022 awards and past winners, including a Case Study Library, can be found via the AIA’s contest page here.

Category A: Built: Less than $25 million

Rural Ortho Clinic by Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Cedarburg, Wisconsin
Completion: 2020

Jury citation: "The jury was impressed by the amount of owner and stakeholder engagement, which is uncommon for a project of this size. It is well integrated into its surroundings, and the transitional space between the parking lot and the clinic is well-executed."

Category B: Built: More than $25 million

Center for Health & Wellbeing by Duda|Paine Architects (cover image)
Winter Park, Florida
Completion: 2019

Jury citation: "This is a project with a clear intention, and the jury liked how the seven dimensions of well-being were carried out through the design. It is encouraging to see a program focused on keeping people well and not just treating them when they are sick. This project had to address a lot of complex issues and programs, and they are resolved nicely in the central atrium; it’s a great organizing space."

Category C: Renovations/Remodeled

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Chestnut Hill by Payette
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Completion: 2021

Jury citation: "The plan is well-organized and circulation easily flows between zones. The jury liked how the communicating stair was integrated into the design. This is a strong renovation project that adapted a challenging retail space into an accessible and light-filled clinic. The jury loved how the programming was pushed to the periphery to take advantage of views and introduce light into the primary spaces."

UCSF Connie Frank Transplant Center by NBBJ 
San Francisco, California
Completion: 2021

Jury citation: "This unusual renovation of a brutalist building is striking, and the before and after of the lobby is commendable; they made it very warm and welcoming. It is impressive how the team was able to pull curves from the existing building while highlighting a historic architectural form."

Category D: Unbuilt

Kyabirwa Surgical Center Ward by GKG
Jinja, Uganda
Completion: 2023 (projected) 

Jury citation: "This project has a good relationship to the site, and the elevations are very clean and clear. The jury liked how the exterior geometry of the masonry relates to the roof form. This project’s purpose, and the amount of work needed to bring electricity to this community, are laudable. This project’s purpose, and the amount of work needed to bring electricity to this community, are laudable."

Uganda Women's and Children's Clinic by LS3P and GoDesign
Mityana, Uganda
Completion: 2023 (projected) 

Jury citation: "The goals of this project are fabulous, and the jury liked how those goals extend beyond the building to the community and include programs like job training and general community wellness. The goals of this project are fabulous, and the jury liked how those goals extend beyond the building to the community and include programs like job training and general community wellness."

Montage Health Ohana Center by NBBJ
Monterey, California
Completion: 2023 (projected)

Jury citation: "The jury liked the facility’s open-door policy for anyone to get care. We were also impressed by this project’s exceptional siting and how the team took advantage of the existing landscape, giving particular attention to patient views. The skillful use of cross-laminated timber was commendable since it is a less-common material in the U.S. health care sector."