By Healthcare Facilities Today

The 2013 Healthcare Environment Awards, co-sponsored by Contract magazine, in association with The Center for Health Design, Healthcare Design 2013, and the Vendome Group. Each year, projects are recognized in acute care, ambulatory care, health and fitness, conceptual and student design categories.

Patrick Manning of The Catholic University won an honorable mention in the student design category.

An adolescent and young adult (AYA) cultural and wellness center, FOUND proposes a program to support patients with life-limiting illnesses who are transitioning between pediatric and adult treatment phases. The center, which establishes a new building typology, aims to provide a sense of place for AYAs, who often feel lost within the system, according to an article on the Contract magazine website.

The FOUND center, designed for a site in downtown Seattle, provides a central gathering place that fosters hope and growth. The center incorporates sleeping rooms, a gallery, a library, reading space, and meditation space, as well as designated crying spaces, acknowledging that grieving is a natural human response.

Read the article.