J. Stuart Eckblad, FAIA, whose commitment to and passion for healthcare facility design runs throughout his forty-year career as an architect, is the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in Healthcare Facility Design recipient.

Eckblad transformed the design and construction industry by pioneering a collaborative and integrated process for how we design and construct new buildings. His four-decade career has focused on how owners, designers and builders can collaborate to create not only great buildings but raise the bar for common purposes, individual’s engagement and team work to achieve extraordinary results.

His contributions are highlighted by his success in setting the foundation for Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). His early work, while commonly known across industry today, was at the time a transformative approach that reimagined the dynamics and teamwork between the owner, architect, and contractor. His seminal work with industry leaders — together, they authored the “Collaborative Process White Paper,” (1996) which in turn led to founding the professional organization The Collaborative Process Institute. This institute was a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering team cultures and behaviors to integrate disciplines to create a project community to achieve great buildings.

Stuart’s leadership in implementing award-winning IPD medical facilities in the public sector is particularly notable. He is the first to bring IPD methodologies to the public healthcare system at UCSF, while overseeing the Women’s, Children’s, and Cancer Hospitals at Mission Bay, Precision Cancer Medical Building, Bayfront Medical Building and project delivery for The New Hospital at Parnassus Heights. These projects, with a combined budget of $6 billion, are distinguished not only for their outstanding design but also for their progressive innovations in architecture to improve patient health – places for healing.

“While the fruits of Stuart’s contributions can be seen in individual projects at Kaiser and UCSF, his lifetime Achievement must be viewed as contributory to an entire industry over the past 40 years,” said Gordon H. Chong, FAIA, 2002 AIA President. “Today, what young professionals take as a standard is indeed thanks to the innovation and contribution of Stuart.”

“Stuart Eckblad has been a passionate champion for project delivery methodologies and models in the healthcare market sector, which is incredibly important given the complexity and the scale of these projects,” said AIA California President Carina Mills, AIA. “Throughout his career, his groundbreaking work has led to the development of unique delivery systems focused on collaboration, innovation, and accountability across project teams. This integrated approach has made a lasting impact not only in the healthcare arena but throughout the entire design and construction industry.”