The Casey House in Toronto by Hariri Pontarini Architects.
Doublespace Photography The Casey House in Toronto by Hariri Pontarini Architects.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) have named five projects as winners in the 2019 annual AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards. The program, "which showcase the best of healthcare building design, healthcare planning, and healthcare design-oriented research," divides winners into six categories based on price and scope, according to AIA's website: built for less than $25 million; built for more than $25 million; renovations or remodels; unbuilt projects; built or unbuilt innovations in planning and design; and master planning urban designs for healthcare designs. This year, the program recognized international projects in the three former categories.

The jury for the 2019 AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards comprised Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, Marlon Blackwell Architects, Fayetteville, Ark.; Vincent Della Donna, AIA, ACHA, Jackson, N.J.; Brian Uyesugi, AIA, NBBJ, Seattle; Sunil Shah, AIA, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif.; Jim Henry, AIA, CallisonRTKL, Dallas; Jocelyn Stroupe, CannonDesign, Chicago; and James Childress, FAIA, Centerbrook Architects, Centerbrook, Conn.

The 2019 AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Award Winners are below.

Category A: Built (less than $25 million)

Charles Davis Smith

Project: Westlake Dermatology Concrete and Glass Pavilion in Marble Falls, Texas
Architect: Matt Fajkus Architecture
Excerpt from AIA description: "The facility in Marble Falls was a ground-up design project strengthened by a collaborative process directly with the clients and consultants. From a distance, the structure is a pavilion in the landscape, standing as a structure to behold in and of itself, but from in and round the building, it acts as deferential backdrop to function and as a frame for views beyond."

Iwan Baan

Project: The GHESKIO Tuberculosis Hospital in Port-au-Price, Haiti
Architect: MASS Design Group
Excerpt from from AIA description: "The new GHESKIO Tuberculosis Hospital replaced the previously destroyed facility at Signeau, providing TB patients an effective and dignified place to stay for the duration of their long-term treatment. Simple but effective methods of passive ventilation and infection control were used to reduce in-hospital transmission of TB in this high-risk population, as well as reduce energy costs for the facility."

Category B: Built (more than $25 million)

Doublespace Photography

Project: Casey House in Toronto
Architect: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Excerpt from AIA description: "The renovation and extension to Casey House, a specialized healthcare facility for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, develops a new prototype for hospitals. The facility meets the needs of patients in a setting designed to evoke the experience and comforts of home. In order to create a comfortable, home-like user experience, the embrace emerged as a unifying theme—one of warmth, intimacy, comfort, privacy, connectivity, and solidity. The architecture is a physical manifestation of the embrace."

Tim Griffith and Kyle Jeffers

Project: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto (VAPA) Polytrauma and Blind Rehabilitation Center in Palo Alto, Calif.
Architect: SmithGroup and The Design Partnership
Excerpt from AIA description: "The Polytrauma and Blind Rehabilitation Center exemplifies equity by design—minimizing barriers that patients face to maximize the potential for successful rehabilitation. The design integrates the latest advances in accessibility, universal design, and rehabilitation practices, resulting in a healthcare facility that aims to not only enhance patient recovery during their rehabilitation journey but long after."

Category C: Renovations/Remodeled

Kevin Scott

Project: Studio Dental II in San Francisco
Architect: Montalba Architects
Excerpt from AIA description: "Situated within a rapidly developing neighborhood in San Francisco’s financial district, the dentists’ brick and mortar location is defined by a modern aesthetic, while honoring the historic elements of the base building. This creates a transcendent environment that feels gallery-like and serene. The design centers on a conceptual ‘lantern’ within the dark building core, which communicates a sense of scale, luminescence, and transparency, and envelopes the series of operatories within."