The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies have honored five SOM projects with their prestigious International Architecture Awards. The winners were announced on August 25, 2014.
In the Healthcare category, awards went to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, the largest hospital project in the United Arab Emirates, and Mount Sinai Hess Center for Science and Medicine, an 11-story translational research and clinical care facility in Manhattan.
Beijing Bohai Innovation City was recognized for excellence in urban design. The project constitutes a 17.6 million-square-meter, environmentally friendly development along China’s rapidly expanding Beijing-Tianjin corridor.
Two SOM projects were recognized in the Corporate Headquarters and Office Facilities category. Roche Diagnostics, in Indianapolis, is a highly efficient metal and glass building that boasts an estimated 70 percent energy savings. Liansheng Financial Center, proposed for Taiyuan, China, comprises two interconnected towers whose design was inspired by the surrounding mountains.
The International Architecture Awards are “the world’s oldest and most comprehensive public program that promotes the best new design as a truly global phenomenon,” according to the organizers. This year’s recipients will be recognized in November at an event in Istanbul. The winning projects will also be presented in a traveling exhibition to be shown in Europe and the United States.