The design and construction of the Butaro Hospital by MASS Design Group has recently been chosen by a highly respected group of judges as one of the finalists in the category of Architecture and Collaboration in the Architizer A+ Awards. Founded in 2007, MASS is based in Boston, Massachusetts with offices in Kigali, Rwanda and Port au Prince, Haiti.

MASS’s inaugural project, the 140-bed Butaro Hospital in rural Rwanda, opened in July of 2011 and features innovative strategies to mitigate the spread of airborne disease.  The hospital has become a precedent for creating appropriate and dignified infrastructure in resource limited settings through various innovative design solutions and with community-driven construction processes. It has won a number of awards such as The Acute Medical Care Facility for 2012 by Contract Magazine and the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment (awarded every three years).

Most integral to the project’s success, MASS collaborated with thought leaders in multiple fields—governments, other non-governmental organizations, and members of the community—to create a project that provided positive impact at every scale. What began as a conversation with Dr. Paul Farmer of Partners In Health in 2007 became a joint effort by The Government of Rwanda, The Rwandan Ministry of Health, Partners In Health, The Clinton Health Access Initiative, The Harvard School of Public Health, and MASS, whose collective product was a state-of-the-art hospital that provides dignified healthcare, and that has built capacity within the community.

MASS hopes that you, as members of the architecture, design, public health, non-profit, and government communities, take a minute to vote in support of a holistic model of architecture—one that dignifies and builds resiliency into the community—because by selecting the Butaro hospital as the best example of Architecture + Collaboration, you join us in amplifying the vision for what building to heal can achieve.

Vote for MASS at  the Architizer A+ Awards Here

More about MASS at their website

Contact MASS at info@mass-group.org