New York, NY — The New York City architectural and planning firm of Urbahn Architects has completed Centro Médico Correccional (CMC) in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The project has received the prestigious Distinction Team Award from the 2015 Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo 2015. The Distinction Awards competition honors design teams and individuals who have made a profound contribution to the healthcare design industry. Urbahn served the Puerto Rico Corrections and Rehabilitations Department as lead design architect in collaboration with Puerto Rico’s DS+C Architects + Engineers. “While the 139,000 s/f medical center sits in Bayamón’s Regional Prison, the 200-bed structure serves the inmates of all of the island’s 44 correctional facilities. With a price tag of $68 million, it came in a full 15% under budget,” said Donald Henry, Jr., AIA, LEED AP, Urbahn’s principal. The team performed a careful programming, master planning, space planning, and design analysis to strike the optimal balance between the correctional and healthcare functions within the facility. “We had to abide by federal mandates regarding outdoor views and recreational space, all without compromising security. We also strived to provide a humane environment and appropriate medical care to a chronically underserved population, while creating strong and uplifting architecture,” added Henry. Indeed, the building has become something of a landmark that is visible from the highly traveled PR-22 Expreso José De Diego. “It is a bright and colorful structure that evokes an aura of wellness rather than a forbidding hallmark of incarceration,” he said. According to Martin Davila, AIA, DS+C principal, “The Bayamón CMC had to address varying populations with disparate physical, health, and security needs. By working closely with the client, Urbahn, the program manager, and the consultants, we created a facility that is essential to the health and well-being of both pretrial detainees and sentenced inmates.” Urbahn and DS+C teamed with the program manager Rosser International; general contractor Q.B. Construction; correctional operations consultant Curnyn Consulting; healthcare consultant P4H; mechanical engineer Babilonia Engineering Group; security electronics engineer Cameron Engineering & Associates; structural engineer José Espinal Vazquez Y Asociados; civil engineer EBP Design Group Consulting Engineers; and electrical engineer Andrés Sánchez Carrión.