PDC Summit
March 9-12 | Atlanta | Georgia World Congress Center
The PDC Summit brings together thousands working in all disciplines of healthcare planning, design and construction to learn, network and discover ways to create value in the healthcare built environment.
We are proud to be a supporting organization of the PDC Summit, and encourage you to add these AAH sessions and events to your schedule.
AIA/AAH Deep Dive: Principles of Healthcare Futurism - Harnessing AI to Revolutionize Healthcare: Innovations, Challenges, and the Road Ahead
March 9 | 9-10:30am ET
This deep dive session will be hosted by Gresham Smith. Attendees will discover how to build a team optimized for innovation and what emerging technological and AI advancements you should start considering for your own business, participate in a discussion about the consequences of changing societal norms and preferences, and learn about the success and failures of real-world healthcare design innovation case studies.
AIA/AAH Facility Tour
March 9 | 11am-3pm ET
Tour the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown or the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital. Buses will depart promptly at 11:45am and return to the convention center around 3pm. Please bring a lunch or snack to eat on the bus. Limited capacity—register early.
Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown
As Georgia’s only National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University offers patients the precision diagnostics, innovative treatment options and clinical trials that are unique to NCI-designated cancer centers. Winship at Emory Midtown uniquely joins outpatient and inpatient cancer care into care communities. Nearly all the services patients need—from diagnostics and doctors’ appointments to infusions and support services—are brought directly to them in one place within the care community by multidisciplinary care teams specialized in their cancer type.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital
Opened in September 2024, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital is a new 2-million-square-foot facility designed to improve outcomes, help clinicians deliver leading-edge care, and bring lifesaving medical research to the region and beyond. The 19-story, 446-bed hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and features a level I pediatric trauma center, operating rooms, infusion center, pediatric and neonatal intensive-care units and more. The hospital offers over 20 acres of greenspace, providing miles of walking trails and garden views in the two patient wings.
AIA/AAH & ASHE PDC Student Design Challenge™ Jury/Judging
March 9 | 3:15-4:45pm ET
This exciting annual event is designed to stimulate critical inquiry, creative ideas, and multi-disciplinary interaction between students and design professionals. It will highlight the brilliance and innovation of our future healthcare architects, engineers, construction managers, and nurses. Students from Ball State University, Drexel University, Georgia Tech, Purdue University, and the University of Florida will present work completed during the challenge for critique by a multi-disciplinary jury. The winning team will be announced live at the event!
Special thanks to the Student Challenge sponsors:
McCarthy Building Companies
Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design (NIHD)
AIA Academy for Architecture for Health Update
March 9 | 5-5:45pm ET
Network with old and new colleagues at the AIA AAH Update. Meet the AAH board and hear about their plans for the year, as well as updates to programs and initiatives. Interact with the student design challenge teams and learn about their projects. The update is open to all attendees, and we encourage all to attend.
AIA/AAH: Healthcare Owners Roundtable Pressing Issues in 2025
March 10 | 7-8am ET
The Health Care Owners Roundtable is a platform for health care administrators, operators, and design and construction leaders to openly exchange ideas with each other as well as engage with planning, design and construction professionals. Through a moderated panel discussion and active audience participation, this session will provide opportunities to better understand the pressing issues that are on the owners’ minds. It will create an environment for all participants to learn from each other and help us structure our design and construction industry to serve the needs of health care providers and owners.
AIA/AAH: Medical Equipment and Technology Integration Forum
March 10 | 7-8am ET
The Medical Equipment / Technology Forum is a platform for conversation about leading edge technology among owners, architects, engineers, facility managers, contractors, equipment and technology planners and vendors. This interactive discussion will explore various aspects of executing major clinical capital equipment renovation projects and the complex integration of equipment and technology. The panel will share insights gained through the completion of the Emory University Hospital Heart and Vascular Procedural Platform which included EP labs, Cath labs and ORs.
AIA/AAH & ASHE PDC Student Design Challenge™: Overview & Winner Presentation
March 10 | 10-11am ET
This session will be an overview of the student challenge followed by presentations by the winning teams.
This exciting annual event is designed to stimulate critical inquiry, creative ideas, and multi-disciplinary interaction between students and design professionals. It will highlight the brilliance and innovation of our future health care architects, engineers, construction managers and nurses. Students from different universities and disciplines will bring their creativity and ideas to this fun and evocative design challenge.
General Session: Extreme Collaboration: Training the Next Generation of PDC Professionals
March 10 | 2:15-3:30pm ET
As the AIA/AAH & ASHE PDC Student Design Challenge™ enters its second decade, this session will review the lessons from the first ten years and understand the impact it has had on individual students, participating schools, associated organizing partners and our healthcare design & construction industry. Further, this session will explore lessons that can be applied to industry training programs and academia, opportunities to expand the impact of the challenge, and ultimately train the next generation of healthcare planning, design and construction professionals.
AIA/AAH: Codes Are Your Friend: A Fishbowl Session
March 11 | 7-8am ET
This interactive session, hosted by the AIA AAH Codes and Standards committee, will be provided using a ‘fishbowl’ concept, addressing all your questions with a table of experts in our industry. Bring your compliance items, code issues, varying interpretations, and application questions to the table for an open discussion that we can all learn from. Items for discussion including exiting strategies, occupancy classification, door hardware and safety risk assessment are planned to be included!
AIA/AAH: Future-Proofing Healthcare: Designing for Sustainability and Resiliency in a Changing Climate
March 11 | 7-8am ET
This session, hosted by the AIA AAH Next Gen committee, explores the critical intersection of sustainable design and disaster preparedness, focusing on strategies to ensure healthcare facilities remain resilient, energy-efficient, and patient-centered amid the challenges of climate change and natural disasters.
Through case studies, best practices, and forward-looking strategies, we will explore how healthcare facilities can integrate green building principles with disaster preparedness to create adaptable, energy-efficient, and climate-resilient spaces. Join us for an engaging discussion featuring diverse stakeholders—including architects, engineers, and facility owners—who will share their insights and expertise in developing innovative solutions to address these pressing challenges.