7. San Antonio Military Medical Center an addition to the Brooke Army Medical Center; Fort Sam Houston, Texas
RTKL Associates, Inc.
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
Category C: Unbuilt
8. Sheikh Khalifa Medical City; Abu Dhabi, UAE
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in a joint venture with ICME & Tilke as ITS
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
Category D: Innovations in Planning and Design Research, Built and Unbuilt
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
10. Rethinking the need for emergency department beds
Lennon Associates
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
11. Kaleida Health, Gates Vascular Institute and UB Clinical Translational Research Center; Buffalo, New York
Cannon Design
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.
Photo: Bjorg Magnea Architectural & Interior Photography
Photo: Thomas Mayer Photography
Photo: Tim Wilkes Photography
Photo: Bjorg Magnea Architectural & Interior Photography
![](/sites/default/files/22-GVICTRC_0.jpg)
Photo: Tim Wilkes Photography
Category E: Master Planning Urban Design for Healthcare Settings
12. Focal Point Community Campus; Chicago
HDR Architecture, Inc.
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
For more, see the AIA press release.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Feb 6, 2015
Obama executive order requires federal construction projects to consider flood damage caused by climate change
To meet the new standard, builders must build two feet above the currently projected elevation for 100-year floods for most projects.
HVAC | Feb 6, 2015
ASHRAE, REHVA publish guide to chilled beam systems
The guide provides tools and advice for designing, commissioning, and operating chilled-beam systems.
Cultural Facilities | Feb 6, 2015
Under the sea: Manmade island functions as artificial reef
The proposed island would allow visitors to view the enormous faux-reef and its accompanying marine life from the water’s surface to its depths, functioning as an educational center and marine life reserve.
Contractors | Feb 6, 2015
Census Bureau: Capital spending by U.S. businesses increased 4.5%
Of the 19 industry sectors covered in the report, only one had a statistically significant year-to-year decrease in capital spending: the utilities sector.
Warehouses | Feb 5, 2015
Self storage facility designed to blend in with Miami Beach's party scene
The plans by architect Gutierrez & Lozano are of a sleek, boutique-looking, 22,500-sf facility at the gateway to the city.
Sponsored | Designers | Feb 5, 2015
3D printing has people in the building and construction industry talking
How can 3D printing affect the building design and construction industry?
Cultural Facilities | Feb 5, 2015
5 developments selected as 'best in urban placemaking'
Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, S.C., and the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Downtown Market are among the finalists for the 2015 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.
Architects | Feb 5, 2015
Toy around with Ittyblox's ultra-detailed building blocks
For Lego fanatics, time is no object when building a model. For those of us with a little less time, Ittyblox is a good solution.
Transit Facilities | Feb 4, 2015
London mayor approves plan for a bicycle highway
The plan will guarantee bike riders a designated stretch of street to ride from east to west through the city.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Feb 4, 2015
Arup unveils plans for the new A.C. Milan stadium
The venue will include a modern stage for the home matches together with a hotel, sports college, restaurants, children’s playground, green areas, and spaces open to the city and dedicated to public use.