Design Awards 2001: 'A lot of new talent'.

Four dedicated jurors--Rob Volzer, Martha Child, Jane Rohde, and Lorraine Hiatt--shared their design expertise with Contemporary Long Term Care for a day in June, tackling the difficult job of choosing our 2001 competition winners. What impressed the judges? According to Lorraine Hiatt: "There was a lot of new talent ... innovation is coming from a lot of resources."

What's more, our jurors recognized an overwhelming trend toward establishing a sense of place, using architecture that includes local flavor. Project scale was noted too. Says Hiatt, "People really began to play a little bit with the connection between people and place, which is fun. All the projects didn't look monolithic." And the jurors enjoyed seeing "plain Janes" given newfound appeal and pizzazz in renovations.

What needs improving? The jury suggested greater cohesiveness between architecture and interior design where projects involved multiple design firms. Time to get in sync, say judges, to establish project design parameters that hinge on industry best practices and that meet programming needs. And critical post-occupancy studies regarding design features could serve up invaluable information on what really works.

In the 18th year of Contemporary Long Term Care's competition, jurors talked of design progress in senior living. Pat yourself on the back, they say, as you think about design features you've innovated--and all the creativity you've stimulated as a result.