Milken Institute School of Public Health Wins Excellence in Architecture For New Building Merit Award

Media Contact: Kathleen Fackelmann, kfackelmann@gwu.edu, 202-994-8354

WASHINGTON, DC (April 17, 2015)—Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University recently earned a merit award from the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)/AIA-CAE for excellence in architecture for a new building. The school will be presented with the award, along with the building architects Payette and Ayers Saint Gross, in July at the SCUP 50th Annual International Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

The Milken Institute SPH building, which opened in May 2014, houses the school's six academic departments. It not only includes state-of-the-art classrooms, study areas, laboratories, offices and event space but also incorporates architectural elements that help promote a healthy workplace and academic space. These features include a seven-story central staircase that encourages visitors to use the stairs instead of the elevators, standing desks, yoga and fitness studios, and a bike rack.

The Milken Institute SPH building was built through strategic, collaborative efforts between the architects Payette and Ayers Saint Gross, George Washington University officials, Affiliated Engineers Inc., Wiles Mensch Corporation, Paladino and Company, Inc., and the Whiting-Turner construction company. This collaboration helped the building earn a Platinum rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system in July 2014.  Platinum is the highest certification available under the system operated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The SCUP excellence awards program recognizes firms and higher education institutions for their use of strategic, integrated planning to develop exemplary buildings, grounds and institutional success. There are eight categories within the program that focus on different aspects of higher education institutional planning and architectural development. View a full list of the 2015 SCHUP award winners.

About Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University:

Established in July 1997 as the School of Public Health and Health Services, Milken Institute School of Public Health is the only school of public health in the nation’s capital. Today, more than 1,534 students from almost every U.S. state and more than 45 countries pursue undergraduate, graduate and doctoral-level degrees in public health. The school also offers an online Master of Public Health, MPH@GW, and an online Executive Master of Health Administration, MHA@GW, which allow students to pursue their degree from anywhere in the world.