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Connecting Campus and Community at George Mason University: Special Mention—Campus to Community Integration
The Life Sciences and Engineering Building at George Mason University redefines academic lab design by using transparency, shared interdisciplinary spaces, and community-facing features to seamlessly connect campus research with public engagement and regional innovation
High-Performance Labs, Right-Sized Budgets: The Value Design Approach
Replacing traditional cost-cutting value engineering with a proactive, collaborative value design approach enables science and technology facilities to optimize performance, flexibility, and lifecycle costs from the outset
History of Design Excellence Awards Winners
Entries for the eighth annual Design Excellence Awards open on October 13—explore past winners and featured projects
Elevating Lab Design: AMRF Earns Special Mention for Sustainable Renovation
The NRC’s $77 million AMRF project in Ontario transforms an occupied, conventional lab building into a vertically expanded, LEED Gold, highly flexible, and electrified research facility—earning a 2026 Design Excellence Special Mention while serving as a scalable model for modern, low-carbon laboratory design
Forensic Lab Secures Approval for $20M Expansion
After more than a decade of advocacy, the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center secured approval for a $20 million expansion, advancing a project that links modernized lab infrastructure to improved forensic workflows, public safety, and justice delivery
User Input, Real Impact: Simulation Lab Recognized with Special Mention—User Engagement
At WashU School of Medicine, the Multidisciplinary Surgical Simulation Lab demonstrates how intensive user engagement and iterative mockups shaped a highly flexible, ergonomic training space that earned Special Mention for User Engagement in the 2026 Design Excellence Awards
Breathing New Life into an Old Asset: University of Waterloo Wins Excellence in Whole Building/Holistic Design—Renovation
The University of Waterloo’s Earth Sciences & Chemistry Building Level 3 renovation modernizes a 1960s-era research facility through major spatial reconfiguration and high-performance infrastructure upgrades while maintaining live operations, earning the Excellence in Whole Building/Holistic Design—Renovation prize in the 2026 Design Excellence Awards
Sustainability by Design: L’Oréal’s Prize-Winning Research Hub
The L’Oréal North American Research & Innovation Center earned a Design Excellence Award for seamlessly integrating advanced laboratory functionality with sustainability and human-centered design to create a high-performance, collaboration-driven research environment
Field of Dreams in West Texas
Mortui vivos docent: How “the dead teach the living” shaped a new vision for the Lubbock County Medical Examiner’s Office
Aggie Square Wins Excellence in Whole Building/Holistic Design—New Build in Design Excellence Awards
Aggie Square at UC Davis, winner of the Excellence in Whole Building/Holistic Design—New Build category in the 2026 Design Excellence Awards, brings together research, industry, education, and community functions within a connected ecosystem, where shared spaces and “soft” programmatic connections support everyday interaction and large-scale collaboration