Northwestern Medicine Faculty Office Center wins top honor in 2026 Healthcare Design Showcase

Northwestern Medicine's Faculty Office Center took the annual award competition's top honor. A noted shift from traditional private faculty offices, Northwestern Medicine chose to renovate administrative space on its main Chicago campus and transform it into a shared, hospitality-inspired destination that prioritizes choice and well-being for its faculty physicians.

The interior design of the space draws inspiration from nature, with design elements such as curved wall forms, smooth and reflective surfaces that mimic water, as well as wood tones and natural stone that aim to create a serene, forest-like environment.

CannonDesign and Blue Cottage of CannonDesign collaborated with Northwestern Medicine and its faculty members to explore workplace preferences, productivity needs and the necessary high-priority, time-saving amenities that needed to be infused into the center.

The project was recognized this year with a Fast Company Innovation by Design Award and a Interior Design Best of Year Award.

Connecticut Children's new Clinical Tower was named a finalist in HCD's Showcase. The Clinical Tower connects to Connecticut Children’s existing campus building, with stepped cantilevered terraces as a distinct exterior design feature, providing fresh air and a respite space for each inpatient floor’s patients, loved ones and staff.

The connection to nature continues into the interior design, where floor-to-ceiling glass panels let in abundant natural light at the lobby entrance. The lobby also features a two-story “tree of life” sculpture, bird-like light pendants and nature-themed artwork to help bring a sense of joy and curiosity to pediatric patients and their families and help ease anxiety and stress. Graphics in the rest of the tower continue the homage to local Connecticut flora and fauna, with animals used as wayfinding friends to mark floors, designed and created by local artist Tracy MacLauchlan.  

The Inova Health Center- Oakville, designed by Ennead, a CannonDesign Company, and Ballinger, received an Honorable Mention. The building is part of a multi-campus initiative of Inova Health System, and includes a comprehensive emergency room, imaging services, an Inova Primary Care Center with ambulatory surgery, and medical offices for other Inova and community providers.

The transparent, light-filled design presents an open, inviting entrance and features a bright, active interior that is visible to the street, establishing a new identity for the health system that speaks to its mission of centering people first. The public lobby incorporates the Inova Commons: an initiative to provide patients and their loved ones a holistic approach to health and wellness in a comfortable, relaxed setting.

The Healthcare Design Showcase honors the best design and architecture in the healthcare industry. We are proud to have our projects recognized in the competition for the past six years.

• 2025: Northwell Health Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion (Finalist)
• 2024: Mount Sinai Medical Center, Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center (Finalist) and UC Health Clifton Campus Revitalization (Finalist)
• 2023: D’Youville University Health Professions Hub (Honorable Mention)
• 2022: Sheppard Pratt Washington/Baltimore Campus (Finalist)
• 2021: University of Illinois Chicago School of Medicine Surgical and Innovation Training Lab (Award of Merit)
• 2020: Mount Sinai Medical Center, Skolnick Surgical Tower and Hildebrandt Emergency Center (Honorable Mention)