The new Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Patient Tower and the Design-Build team of Bernards and HMC Architects have won the Design-Build Institute of America’s (DBIA) National Award of Excellence in the Healthcare Facilities category. The project was selected from four National Award of Merit winners to win the overall Healthcare category at the national DBIA Awards Ceremony on October 29.
“This was an intensely collaborative design-build process,” said HMC Chief Practice Officer Kirk Rose. “Our team’s leadership philosophy encouraged complete open communication and engagement of all team members, solving problems early and quickly. The result is a spectacular new tower that fits seamlessly into the existing hospital campus and will serve the community for generations to come.”
Strategically located among three of the campus’ existing buildings, the new tower faced a challenging fit. Our design team created an innovative solution which pulled its foundation away from existing buildings and provided more square footage by cantilevering C-section rooms over an existing building. Considered the project’s “fifth wall,” the outdoor environment was integrated into the interior design with large windows and a basement sunken courtyard to decrease anxiety and encourage healing.
“From rapid response COVID-19 medical units to delivering essential infrastructure that strengthens our nation, Design-Build continues to play a vital role in building our communities. This year’s Design-Build Project/Team Award winners are the best examples of how the power of collaboration and innovation is transforming the way we design and build,” said Lisa Washington, CAE, DBIA executive director and CEO.
HMC has begun an extensive research initiative to better understand the needs of our healthcare clients and bring them the future of design. The firm is exploring the pandemic as an opportunity to learn, reinvent, and most importantly help clients amid the crisis. HMC is committed to sharing these findings with the industry in a series of white papers that focus on five main areas of Technology, Adaptability and Flexibility, Regulatory/Budgetary/Institutional Impacts, Space Needs/Reduction and Restructuring, and Impact to Wellness/Mental Health. In addition to the firm’s COVID-19 research, HMC has conducted an in-depth study to truly understand and improve the healthcare experience for patients with cancer and has released a research report, “Design for Empathy: How the Environment Impacts a Cancer Patient’s Journey.” The objective is to understand the cancer care journey by identifying opportunities to enhance patient experiences and to implement lessons learned that will inform how we design the cancer care facilities of tomorrow. ⠀
The DBIA awards honor the nation’s best design build projects and leaders and award-winning projects were evaluated by a distinguished panel of experts in design-build project delivery. A full list of project winners, including photos and descriptions of each project can be found online at DBIA’s Project/Team Awards page.
