LENEXA, Kan. — The American College of Healthcare Architects has announced Frank Zilm, FAIA, FACHA is the recipient of the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the college. 
It is conferred by the national ACHA Board of Regents in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of healthcare architecture. “Frank’s contributions continue to be a model for all of us,” noted Peter Bardwell, 2013 ACHA president, in presenting the award.
A Department of Architecture lecturer at the University of Kansas, Zilm has a lengthy history at KU having taught there since 1976. Four years ago, he and Professor of Architecture Kent Spreckelmeyer established the Architecture Department’s Health and Wellness Program. which specializes in healthcare design and planning. A key element of the curriculum is an architecture student internship program. Eighty KU architecture students have worked in 39 healthcare architecture firms since it began.
Zilm led the development of a nationwide student healthcare design competition that more than 500 students have participated in to date.
Professionally, he has pioneered the use of analytics in healthcare programming and planning. A prolific lecturer and writer, his frequent talks and journal articles on the use of database development and computer simulation techniques for architecture have been influential in healthcare design circles the world over.
Zilm has also been active in promoting and funding healthcare environments research through the Coalition of Healthcare Environments Research, the Center for Health Design Research Council and Clemson University. He serves as president of the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation, which is active in funding research.
Zilm uses his own volunteer activities to impress upon students the importance of community service. In 2013, he and a KU student journeyed to work at Tenwek Hospital, a missionary medical facility located in Bomet, Kenya. They spent a week providing architectural design services to the hospital. This was his second trip to volunteer at Tenwek, and he also worked as a volunteer in India.
Zilm is president of Frank Zilm & Associates where he has led well over 300 projects. His clients include Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, MD Anderson Cancer center, Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Health System and many other major health providers and smaller hospitals in the country.
For more information on the American College of Healthcare Architects, visit www.healtharchitects.org.
