EHD 2025 Awards: Winners revealed

Organised by SALUS and Architects for Health, the Awards committee recognised Liesbeth van Heel – Senior policy advisor and researcher at Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC) in the Netherlands – with the signature prize, the Susan Francis Design Champion Award. The accolade, named after the late Susan Francis, one of the UK’s great minds and practitioners in healthcare design, is presented to a visionary healthcare leader who has championed and advocated the value of design throughout their professional life.

Trained in facility management and business economics, Liesbeth van Heel joined Erasmus MC in 1992 and is currently a senior advisor within the Strategy Team of Erasmus MC's Real Estate Directorate. She is also a guest researcher in the department of Public Health at Erasmus MC. Liesbeth also sits on the Board of the European Health Property Network.

Winner of the coveted award for Healthcare Design (Over 25,000 sqm) was Kantonsspital Baden Agnes. The Swiss project, which takes sustainability and healing architecture to a new level, was commissioned by Kantonsspital Baden and designed by Nickl & Partner Architekten Schweiz, Ghisleni Partner, Amstein + Walthert Zürich, and idpp.

The prize for Healthcare Design (Under 25,000 sqm) went to Highgate East, a mental health facility in north London. Commissioned by North London NHS Foundation Trust, it was designed by Ryder Architecture.

The winner for Future Health Design was the UK’s Homestead Hafod Farm, which provides holistic and therapeutic supported housing for people with a diagnosis of psychosis. It was commissioned by Homestead Community Network and designed by Makower Architects.

The award for Design for Adaptation and Transformation went to HKS for its design of Cura Day Surgery, a cutting-edge facility in Singapore. The day surgery centre was commissioned by Healthway Medical Group.

Spain took the prize for the Design for Health and Wellness, with Virai Arquitectura’s design of the ALS Day Care Center at Isabel Zendal Hospital in Madrid. Commissioned by Servicio Madrileño de Salud, the centre focuses on the research and treatment amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The Cayman Islands’ Poinciana Rehabilitation Centre took the award for Mental Health Design. Commissioned by the Cayman Islands Government Public Works Department, it was designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects in association with DDL Studio.

In the Health and Life Sciences category, the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering took top spot. Commissioned by King’s College London and designed by HLM Architects, the institute is a state-of-the-art innovation hub for medical technology and healthcare engineering.

The top prize for Interior Design and the Arts went to the Dyson Cancer Centre in the south west of England, which was designed by Arcadis and Art of the Heart of the RUH and commissioned by Royal United Hospitals Bath. The centre was funded by NHS England’s New Hospital Programme as well as charitable funds raised through RUHX.

Finally, the winner of the award for Design Research for Healthcare Design was presented to Dr Rutali Joshi (HKS, USA), Sophia Hami (HKS, UK), Dr Deborah Wingler (HKS and CADRE, USA), Jane Ho (HKS, UK), Jane McElroy (NBBJ, UK) and Dr. Oliver Zuzan( Royal Liverpool University Hospital, UK) for their paper entitled ‘The shift to a 100% single-patient room model: An occupancy evaluation study in the largest NHS hospital’.

Organisation and support

The European Healthcare Design Awards 2025 – which were kindly sponsored by Integrated Health Projects (IHP), a joint venture between Vinci Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine – celebrate and recognise professional excellence in the design of healthcare environments both in Europe and around the world. Other category sponsors were Medical Architecture, which sponsored the Design Research for Healthcare Design Award category and Lexica, which sponsored the Healthcare Design (over 25,000 sqm) Award.

Live webinar presentations and judging of the shortlisted categories were broadcast a month prior to the awards ceremony, offering delegates greater insight into the judging process and providing a valuable learning opportunity.

The full set of winners and those highly commended in the EHD 2025 Awards are available on europeanhealthcaredesign.eu/awards.

The Awards shortlist was announced in April, following a hotly contested competition. It featured organisations and multidisciplinary project teams considered by the judges to have achieved shining examples of design projects and innovations in healthcare, and which will help raise the bar in healthcare design and service delivery in Europe and across the globe.

Full shortlist and judging process

The awards evaluation committee features international researchers, practitioners and policy advisors, who bring specialist multidisciplinary expertise to the specific categories they have been invited to judge. The shortlist and winner of each award are determined by a category chair, supported by panel judges with proven expertise in their field. This robust evaluation methodology ensures a balanced and transparent decision-making process.

The full set of winners and those highly commended in the EHD 2024 Awards are set out below:

Susan Francis Design Champion Award

Supported by IHP

Awarded for visionary leadership and lifelong dedication to healthcare design

• Winner: Liesbeth van Heel

Healthcare Design (Over 25,000 sqm)

Supported by Lexica

• Winner: Kantonsspital Baden Agnes, Switzerland
Commissioned by Kantonsspital Baden
Designed by Nickl & Partner Architekten Schweiz, Ghisleni Partner, Amstein + Walthert Zürich, and idpp

• Highly Commended: Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Care Centre, Canada
Commissioned by Alberta Health Services
Designed by DIALOG + Stantec

• Highly Commended: New 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Spain
Commissioned by 12 de Octubre University Hospital
Designed by Argola Arquitectos

• Highly Commended: Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre, Portugal
Commissioned by Champalimaud Foundation
Designed by HDR, Sachin Agshikar & João Laranjo Arquitectos

Lead judge: Kate Copeland, Australian Health Design Council, Australia
Panel judges: Ben Bassin, Blue Cottage of CannonDesign, USA
Paul Bell, Ryder Architecture, UK

Healthcare Design (Under 25,000 sqm)

• Winner: Highgate East, UK
Commissioned by North London NHS Foundation Trust
Designed by Ryder Architecture

• Highly Commended: Wyvern Private Hospital, Australia
Commissioned by Wyvern Health
Designed by SRH Architecture

• Highly Commended: The ALS Day Care Center at Isabel Zendal Hospital, Spain
Commissioned by Servicio Madrileño de Salud
Designed by Virai Arquitectura

Lead judge: Peter Ward, King’s College London; Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Panel judges: Brenda Bush-Moline, Stantec, USA
Jaime Bishop, Architects for Health; Fleet Architects, UK

Future Healthcare Design

Supported by IHP

• Winner: Homestead Hafod Farm, UK
Commissioned by Homestead Community Network
Designed by Makower Architects

• Highly Commended: Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 – Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Australia
Commissioned by Health Infrastructure NSW
Designed by Billard Leece Partnership

• Highly Commended: New University Hospital Monklands, UK
Commissioned by NHS Lanarkshire
Designed by Keppie Design

Lead judge: Clifford Harvey, Grand River Hospital / St Mary’s General Hospital, Canada
Panel judges: Bill Hercules, WJH Health, USA
Matthew Holmes, Jacobs, Australia

Interior Design and the Arts

• Winner: Dyson Cancer Centre, UK
Commissioned by Royal United Hospitals Bath
Designed by Arcadis and Art of the Heart of the RUH
Funded by New Hospital Programme and charitable funds through RUHX

• Highly Commended: Cone Health MedCenter Asheboro, USA
Commissioned by Cone Health
Designed by Perkins&Will

• Highly Commended: Reuben Young People’s Centre, UK
Commissioned by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Designed by White Arkitekter and CW+

• Highly Commended: Cura Day Surgery, Singapore
Commissioned by Healthway Medical Group
Designed by HKS

Lead judge: Ruth Charity, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Panel judges: Nicola Bertrand, Asklepios, Germany
Femke Feenstra, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, Netherlands

Design for Adaptation and Transformation

• Winner: Cura Day Surgery, Singapore
Commissioned by Healthway Medical Group
Designed by HKS

• Highly Commended: : Lidingödoktorn, Sweden
Commissioned by Praktikertjänst Lidingödoktorn
Designed by White Arkitekter

• Highly Commended: The ALS Day Care Centre at Isabel Zendal Hospital, Spain
Commissioned by Servicio Madrileño de Salud
Designed by Virai Arquitectura

Lead judge: Jim Chapman, Manchester School of Architecture, UK
Panel judges: Christine Chadwick, Archus, Canada
Christopher Shaw, Past chair, Architects for Health, UK

Design for Health and Wellness

• Winner: The ALS Day Care Center at Isabel Zendal Hospital, Spain
Commissioned by Servicio Madrileño de Salud
Designed by Virai Arquitectura

• Highly commended: Residential Treatment Centre for Dublin Simon Community, Ireland
Commissioned by Dublin Simon Community
Designed by OCMA

• Highly commended: St John of God Richmond Hospital, Australia
Commissioned by St John of God Health Care
Designed by Studio STH

Lead judge: John Cooper, JCA, UK
Panel judges: Ruairi Reeves, Medical Architecture, UK
Charlotte Ruben, White Arkitekter, Sweden

Mental Health Design

• Winner: Poinciana Rehabilitation Centre, Cayman Islands
Commissioned by Cayman Islands Government Public Works Department
Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects in association with DDL Studio

• Honourable mention – small but beautiful: The Blooming Shed, UK
Commissioned by North London NHS Foundation Trust
Designed by Between Art and Technology Studio

• Highly commended: Hillmorton Hospital Specialist Mental Health Services, New Zealand
Commissioned by Health New Zealand
Designed by Klein Architects

• Highly commended: University Center of Psychiatry Groningen, Netherlands
Commissioned by Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen
Designed by Atelier PRO and Vakwerk architecten

Lead judge: Beatrice Fraenkel, Design in Mental Health Network, UK
Panel judges: Danny Gibson, MJ Medical; Healthcare Design Leadership, UK
Tara Veldman, Billard Leece Partnership (BLP), Australia

Design for Health and Life Sciences

• Winner: London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, UK
Commissioned by King’s College London
Designed by HLM Architects

• Highly Commended: Flinders University Health and Medical Research Building, Australia
Commissioned by Flinders University
Designed by Architectus

• Highly Commended: Usher Building, University of Edinburgh, UK
Commissioned by University of Edinburgh Estates
Designed by Hassell

Lead judge: David Powell, Velindre University NHS Trust; Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Panel judges: Mohammed Ayoub, HDR, USA
Richard Mann, AECOM, UK and Ireland

Design Research for Healthcare Design

Supported by Medical Architecture

• Winner: The shift to a 100% single-patient room model: An occupancy evaluation study in the largest NHS hospital
Authored by: Dr Rutali Joshi, HKS, USA; Sophia Hami, HKS, UK; Dr Deborah Wingler, HKS and CADRE, USA; Jane Ho, HKS, UK; Jane McElroy, NBBJ, UK; Dr. Oliver Zuzan, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, UK

• Highly commended: Beyond greenery: Exploring influences of exposure to natural blue elements on patients using virtual reality
Authored by: Fatemeh Amirbeiki Tafti, Magdalena Katharina Wekenborg, Gesine Marquardt, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Germany; Jihae Han, Andrew Vande Moere, Ann Heylighen, KU Leuven, Belgium; Jan-Henning Schierz, Städtisches Klinikum Dresden, Germany

• Highly commended: Co-design for enhanced access and engagement in play: Exploring solutions for children and families in paediatric palliative care
Authored by: Manuel Schmid, University Hospital Augsburg, Germany

Lead judge: Göran Lindahl PhD, Chalmers University of Technology; Center of Healthcare Architecture, Sweden
Panel judges: Jonathan Erskine, European Health Property Network, UK
Grant Mills, University College London, UK