Archinect - News

'Beauty matters': MASS Design Group featured on 60 Minutes

2022-09-07T13:13:00-04:00

Lesley Stahl: Do you think that COVID will change architecture for everybody? Michael Murphy: Everyone around the world is going through a shift in their understanding of the buildings around us. That they may make us sicker, that they could make us healthier if they were better designed.

MASS founding principal and executive director Michael Murphy discussed the curative father-son restoration project that led to his enrollment at Harvard and subsequent experience with the firm’s award-winning early Butaro District Hospital project in Rwanda, which helped cement the place of air flow as one of its three simple design mandates long before the impacts of COVID-19 were noted across the industry.

Murphy's desire to give back to his hometown of Poughkeepsie through various retrofit projects is also highlighted along with a site visit to the in-progress Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture campus, which comes well-appointed with furnishings created by Managing Director Christian Benimana's MASS.Made studio in Kigali. “Beauty matters,” Murphy told 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl finally about the approach that led to last year's AIA Firm Award win. “Spaces...

First cancer treatment center in Rwanda breaks ground

2012-07-24T17:08:00-04:00

...the Butaro center, in the northern part of the country, will be the first to offer comprehensive care — including diagnosis, chemotherapy, surgery, follow-up treatment, and palliative care.

MASS Design Group is partnering with the Rwandan Ministry of Health (MOH) and Partners in Health (PIH) to build the first permanent cancer treatment center in Rwanda. With the help of Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation funding inpatient facilities, the new Cancer Centre for Excellence will be the first facility of its kind to bring state of the art care to Rwanda, provide access to cancer treatments, and host robust training programs through a partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Facility-based cancer registries in Rwanda revealed a total of 3,430 diagnosed cancer cases between 2007 to 2011, among which 320 were children under the age of 15. Before this year, cancer care was sporadic, with no integrated treatments available without leaving the country. The new center will be the national referral site for cancer, providing a full spectrum of cancer care.

Rwanda has long valued developing comprehensive programs while building infrastructure. Cancer care training start...

MASS Design Group wins Zumtobel Award for Butaro Hospital

2012-07-03T17:04:00-04:00

"The [Butaro] project has a high relevance, since it can be applied as a solution to similar regions with limited opportunities and high risks of infection. [...] Also remarkable is the excellent quality of the buildings that were built exclusively with local workers.”

The Butaro Hospital in Rwanda was praised as innovative and cost-efficient by the Zumtobel Award 2012 jury, ultimately winning in the category of "Built Environment." Over 230 projects were submitted in for the 2012 Zumtobel Group Award in this category. Entries were received from 22 nations while the projects themselves spanned some 30 countries.

The Butaro Hospital in Rwanda was praised as an “innovative [and] cost-efficient [in] technology and design strategy in the category "Built Environment." Over 230 projects were submitted in for the 2012 Zumtobel Group Award in this category. Entries were received from 22 nations while the projects themselves spanned some 30 countries.

The Butaro Hospital is built in the Burera District, which was one of the last two districts in Rwanda to receive a district hospital. The hospital now serves a population of over 400,000 people. Innovative design developed in collaboration with infectious disease specialists from Partners in Health and ...