Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy Wins National ACEC Award

ARLINGTON, Va. — AECOM’s design of the Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy, a 700,000-square-foot replacement hospital in Baltimore, Md., was honored with a National Recognition Award in the category of Building/Technology Systems in the American Council of Engineering Companies 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

Located on a constrained site in the heart of downtown Baltimore, one goal of the new Bunting Center was to positively contribute to the community while setting a new standard for urban sustainability. The 21-story hospital features a three-level roof garden – a design element that minimizes the building’s heat-island effect, reduces demand on storm water systems, improves surrounding air quality and reduces noise pollution. The rooftop garden also serves as a symbolic extension of the adjacent Preston Gardens and as the centerpiece of the hospital’s healing environment.

Building systems design includes strategies beyond standard practice for reducing water usage, optimizing energy performance, improving outside aesthetics and minimizing indoor pollution. This project is of significant local prominence with a design that is both forward-looking and respectful of the history of both the institution and the city of Baltimore.

Mercy Medical Center selected AECOM to provide architectural and engineering design services for the Bunting Center through an invited design competition. The project has been recognized with other awards, from organizations such as AIA Washington, D.C., the Washington Building Congress and ACEC’s Maryland chapter. AECOM’s Arlington, Va.-based engineering team and representatives from Mercy Medical Center accepted the award at a gala held recently at The Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.