Anne DiNardo
Today’s healthcare facilities face increasing expectations—not just for clinical excellence, but for positive patient outcomes, supportive family experiences, and staff productivity and well-being.
By prioritizing spaces that enhance comfort, foster connection, and streamline daily operations, design professionals help drive meaningful improvements across every level of care.
Healthcare Design’s annual Interior Design Competition shines a spotlight on some of the important project work that’s leading the charge. In Healthcare Design magazine’s May edition, you’ll find a special section highlighting the 2026 competition. Digging in to these award-winning projects, a few themes stand out.
Hospitality and warmth: Healthcare facilities are increasingly borrowing cues from the hospitality sector to create environments that feel familiar and comforting. The Frist Health Center at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J., which took home the top Platinum Award, fuses a historic building with new architecture that includes exposed mass timber, warm finishes, and residential-scale furniture. Similarly, the Duan Integrated Oncology Building in Jacksonville, Fla., which took home the Silver Award, utilizes natural wood and organic forms to humanize the highly advanced technology of the carbon ion therapy facility.
Healing through biophilic design: Connection to the outdoors remains a powerful tool for stress reduction and healing. Designers continue to prioritize abundant daylight and natural elements across all facility types. The Duan facility centers its clinical and treatment wings around a central landscaped courtyard that introduces natural wayfinding and sunlight. Meanwhile, the Gold Award-winning Rady Children’s Health Southwest Tower in Orange, Calif., features biophilic elements and a vibrant color palette that reflects the natural Southern California landscape.
Empowering patients with choice and engagement: Modern healthcare design aims to lower anxiety by giving visitors a sense of control and dignity. The Frist student health facility achieves this by offering choice-driven interiors, allowing students to select between a variety of spaces from quiet alcoves to a daylight-filled “plant room.” At Rady Children’s Health, the interior design addresses pediatric anxiety through interactive displays and experiential graphics on every floor. By sparking imagination and encouraging learning, the facility makes a visit to the doctor far less intimidating for young patients.
Together, these projects demonstrate how the built environment can become an active, empathetic partner in healing. As you explore this issue and our special winners’ coverage, I hope you find more ideas and strategies to inspire your next innovation.
Anne DiNardo is editor-in-chief of Healthcare Design magazine and can be reached at [email protected].
