San Antonio Military Medical Center Named Among 2015 AIA COTE ‘Top Ten Green Projects’

The RTKL–designed San Antonio Military Medical Center in Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, has been selected as one of the 2015 “Top Ten Green Projects” by the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment. The Top Ten honors leading-edge projects that demonstrate the integration of design excellence and environmental performance. The project was built by Clark/Hunt, a joint venture of Clark Construction Group and Hunt Construction Group.

SAMMC is a medical facility for inpatient and ambulatory care consisting of many centers of excellence, including the U.S. Department of Defense’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, its only American Burn Association verified-burn unit and the world-famous Army Institute of Surgical Research.

At nearly two-thirds the size of the previous facility, the 750,000-square-foot building addition creates a positive environment for healing while responding to solar orientation and environmental factors. Sustainable features include a terra-cotta mesh façade, trellis roof canopies and native vegetation, resulting in 100 percent stormwater management onsite and a 90 percent patient satisfaction rate.

“As stewards of high-performance building design, it is a great honor to be recognized by the industry for our sustainable design approach to SAMMC,” said Wayne Barger, AIA, LEED AP, senior vice president, RTKL. “A true testament to integrated design, SAMMC is the largest healthcare facility and first inpatient medical project to receive such a distinction by the COTE Top Ten Awards program.”

Images by Charles Davis Smith.