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
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Dec 15, 2023
San Antonio Spurs’ new practice facility aims to help players win championships and maintain well-being
Designed by ZGF, the Victory Capital Performance Center uses biophilic design to promote better health and wellness on and off the court.
Affordable Housing | Dec 14, 2023
What's next for affordable housing in 2024?
As 2023 draws to a close, GBBN’s Mary Jo Minerich and Amanda Markovic, AIA sat down to talk about the future. What’s next in terms of trends, technology, and construction of affordable housing?
75 Top Building Products | Dec 13, 2023
75 top building products for 2023
From a bladeless rooftop wind energy system, to a troffer light fixture with built-in continuous visible light disinfection, innovation is plentiful in Building Design+Construction's annual 75 Top Products report.
Giants 400 | Dec 12, 2023
Top 35 Veterans Affairs Facility Architecture Firms for 2023
LEO A DALY, Page Southerland Page, Guidon, and HDR top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest Veterans Affairs facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 12, 2023
Top 40 Military Facility Architecture Firms for 2023
Michael Baker International, HDR, Whitman, Requardt & Associates, and Stantec top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest military facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Office Buildings | Dec 12, 2023
Transforming workplaces for employee mental health
Lauren Elliott, Director of Interior Design, Design Collaborative, shares practical tips and strategies for workplace renovation that prioritizes employee mental health.
Giants 400 | Dec 11, 2023
Top 150 Local Government Building Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HOK, Stantec, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest local government building architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 11, 2023
Top 90 State Government Building Architecture Firms for 2023
Page Southerland Page, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Stantec, and NORR top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest state government building architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Codes and Standards | Dec 11, 2023
Washington state tries new approach to phase out fossil fuels in new construction
After pausing a heat pump mandate earlier this year after a federal court overturned Berkeley, Calif.’s ban on gas appliances in new buildings, Washington state enacted a new code provision that seems poised to achieve the same goal.
Green | Dec 11, 2023
U.S. has tools to meet commercial building sector decarbonization goals early
The U.S. has the tools to reduce commercial building-related emissions to reach target goals in 2029, earlier than what it committed to when it signed the Paris Agreement, according to a report by the U.S. Green Building Council.