The whimsically designed six-story Children’s Atrium at Oklahoma University (OU) Medical Center in Oklahoma City never lets viewers forget who it is there to serve – the youngest of patients who might just as well prefer to be playing with toys outdoors.  A flying kite – which serves as the Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center logo – inspired the atrium’s overall design; and, the building’s striking curved roofline reflects the fluid movement of kite ribbons.

When design of the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre was awarded to Perkins+Will Canada in late 2007, architects were challenged to create a building that not only would increase visibility for and attract more visitors to the approximately 54-acre internationally recognized garden in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, but also meet the highest goals in sustainable building design.

The new University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, Ohio, was designed not only to garner attention  as a modern “signature” building in this upscale southeastern Cleveland suburb but to incorporate an innovative theory of “evidence-based” design in which scientific research was incorporated to better serve patients and promote healing in a guest-centered environment.

The practical goal of the new $61-million 21-story Student Residence Hall at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) in Boston may have been to provide 145,600 square feet of on-campus accommodations for 493 students when it opens in the fall of 2012.  But the unique design of the new Residence Hall – which is clad in 5,500 Alucobond® Plus aluminum composite panels in seven custom colors that are dimensionally positioned with glass to invoke Gustav Klimt’s 1909 “Tree of Life” painting – has met an aesthetic goal to set the building apart on the Boston skyline and, thereby, create an idiosyncratic image for MassArt.

Architectural design of the newly opened Seven Clans Casinos Red Lake followed the wishes of community elders of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians who own and operate this casino-hotel complex located  in north-central Minnesota on the reservation’s southern edge.  They wanted the facility’s design to respect tribal heritage but also to exude an atmosphere of fun and relaxation.

As part of The State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook University on Long Island’s north shore, is part of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive state university system, which web site states “ is committed to providing quality education at an affordable price.”  So, when new residence halls recently were required to meet the needs of Stony Brook’s fast-growing student population, both budget and time constraints played important roles in the buildings’ architectural design.