Â
7. San Antonio Military Medical Center an addition to the Brooke Army Medical Center; Fort Sam Houston, Texas
RTKL Associates, Inc.
Â
The San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) is the largest inpatient medical center for the U.S. Department of Defense and the agency’s only American Burn Associated-verified burn center. The building, which opened in 2011, adds 102 beds, a rehabilitation clinic, expanded operating room capabilities, a new emergency department and a new patient bed tower. It also includes a parking structure for 5,000 vehicles, and ancillary support and infrastructure. RTKL was commissioned to design the new 760,000 -square-foot, LEED Silver certified building after working on a number of other projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in support of their 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiative. Photos: Charles Davis Smith courtesy RTKL
Â
Â
Â
Â
Category C: Unbuilt
8. Sheikh Khalifa Medical City; Abu Dhabi, UAE
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in a joint venture with ICME & Tilke as ITS
Â
Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) is an 838-bed medical complex in the heart of Abu Dhabi. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) in a joint venture with ICME and Tilke, SKMC contains three hospitals under one roof, combining a General Hospital, tertiary Women’s Hospital, and Pediatric Hospital.  This model enhances patient care through specialization while improving efficiency through shared services. Envisioned as a city within a city, the design creates a bustling campus-like environment of distinct character and is based on the notion of patients as guests.  The project’s lobbies and public spaces convey a sense of serenity through spaciousness, natural materials and diffused natural light. Renderings: SOM
Â
Â
Â
Category D: Innovations in Planning and Design Research, Built and Unbuilt
Â
9. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating Room (AMIGO); Boston
Payette
In the groundbreaking clinical research facility, Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s AMIGO Suite, an operating room is linked to adjacent imaging suites, enabling the patient to remain static while the machines—including a 33,000-pound MRI—move from one chamber to another in the midst of a surgical procedure.  The array of infrastructure necessary to enable this technology was deftly concealed behind walls and above ceilings, which were kept neutral in appearance so as not to compete with critical patient information displays.  The kinetic qualities of the suite are captured on the floor, where the arc of the operating table’s rotation and the limits of the magnet’s Gaussian surfaces are vividly rendered in a palette of colors derived from the facility’s cutting-edge equipment. Photos: Warren Jagger Photography
Â
10. Rethinking the need for emergency department beds
Lennon Associates
Â
The project was to reduce the number of beds, staff and patient waiting times in a major teaching hospital emergency department while at the same time, increase patient safety and comfort.  This study concluded that 60% of emergency department patients did not need to be in a bed, but could be seen in a less intense setting.  Building less beds, needs less staff and requires a new physical layout to accommodate the new patient flow.  That gave rise to new possibilities of enhanced patient spaces with amenities resembling that of airline first class accommodations.  Computer simulations were liberally used to establish the size and staffing required for the new patient flow model.  That was further buttressed by physical trials using actual patients. Renderings: Lennon Associates
Â
11. Kaleida Health, Gates Vascular Institute and UB Clinical Translational Research Center; Buffalo, New York
Cannon Design
Â
Photo: Thomas Mayer Photography
The spirit of collaboration was the driving force uniting Kaleida Health and the University at Buffalo within a single structure, and the building strives to bring several disciplines and its patients, surgeons and researchers, together to exchange knowledge and ignite innovation.  The 476,000-square-foot facility achieves this by stacking a translational research building over a clinical vascular institute.  The first four floors of this 10-story “vertical campus,” house the Gates Vascular Institute, with the Clinical Translational Research Center occupying the top half of the building.  Sandwiched between the two, is a two-level “collaborative core”—the binder that connects doctors and researchers from varying specialties to meet in a variety of dynamic situations to accelerate medical discoveries—moving science from the bench to the bedside.
Â
Photo: Bjorg Magnea Architectural & Interior Photography
Photo: Thomas Mayer Photography
Photo: Tim Wilkes Photography
Photo: Bjorg Magnea Architectural & Interior Photography
Photo: Tim Wilkes Photography
Â
Â
Category E: Â Master Planning Urban Design for Healthcare Settings
Â
12. Focal Point Community Campus; Chicago
HDR Architecture, Inc.
Â
Located in Southwest Chicago, it is one of the most vibrant, yet blighted, neighborhoods in the city.  Acting as both an anchor and a change agent, the hospital is envisioned as an urban campus that fosters a relationship between the hospital and its community.  The two are intrinsically linked by a “circulatory system” – a band of food and retail markets, fitness centers, etc. that runs along the third floor of the building.  This system serves as the interface between the world of healthcare and the world beyond, and it literally brings the two together – a new paradigm in the industry.  Furthermore, the building treads lightly on the site. Its ground floor is wrapped with glass and its grounds are replete with wellness gardens, soccer fields, and basketball courts. Renderings: HDR Architecture
Â
Â
For more, see the AIA press release.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Oct 20, 2017
Top 40 sports architecture firms
Populous, HOK, and HKS top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest sports sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 19, 2017
Race for talent drives office designs
Is the shift toward attracting younger workers too much or not enough?
Sponsored | Designers | Oct 18, 2017
Universal design principles: Part 2
The CDC targets the bathroom as the most dangerous room in the house. Architects can use principles of Universal Design (UD) Â to reduce these hazards.Â
Giants 400 | Oct 17, 2017
Top 110 office architecture firms
Gensler, Jacobs, and HOK top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest office sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 16, 2017
Data center market forecast: Clearly cloudy
Look for mission-critical construction to double in the next few years.
Resiliency | Oct 13, 2017
Resiliency takes center stage in new projects around the country
Projects like these, where resilience is central to their design and construction, are becoming more commonplace.
Architects | Oct 11, 2017
Architects to policymakers: Buildings are infrastructure, too
Left out of this ongoing national debate over infrastructure are the nation’s other public buildings: the libraries, community centers, courthouses, community college buildings, affordable housing developments, and justice facilities.
Giants 400 | Oct 11, 2017
Top 25 data center architecture firms
Jacobs, Corgan, and Gensler top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest data center sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Multifamily Housing | Oct 9, 2017
6 new products for the multifamily construction market
Bamboo wall panels, an adaptable prep sink, and a two-tiered bike parking system are among the product innovations geared for multifamily buildings.
AEC Tech | Oct 6, 2017
How professional bias can sabotage industry transformation
Professional bias can take the form of change-resistant thinking that can keep transformational or innovative ambitions at bay. Tech consultant Nate Miller presents three kinds of bias that often emerge when a professional is confronted with new technology.