Press Release
Silver A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Goes to The Ripple Hospice by Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong
Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong recognized for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that The Ripple Hospice by Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About The Ripple Hospice
The Ripple is a hospice proposal structured by a concentric spatial system generated from a central water court. Located in Chinatown, New York City, the design redefines end-of-life care as an urban civic experience rather than an isolated institution. Layers of thresholds, courtyards, and timber enclosures guide movement from public life toward quiet reflection. Integrated daylight, water, and passive environmental strategies create sensory calm, supporting privacy, orientation, and emotional wellbeing through architecture itself.
About Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong
Hao Zhong is New York City-based architect with a diverse portfolio encompassing commercial, educational, residential, and healthcare projects. Committed to crafting thoughtful and impactful spaces, he approaches design with a fresh perspective, blending creativity with technical expertise. His work has been recognized in prestigious domestic and international competitions, highlighting his dedication to innovation and design excellence.
Award Record
Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2024 - 2025 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/181398
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181398
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181398
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/355140
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- The Ripple Hospice
- Function
- Hospice
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Dim Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Gray, Sienna and Peru
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181398
Credits
- Team
- Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong
- Image Credits
- Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu, Hao Zhong
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The Ripple reimagines hospice as an urban civic sanctuary structured by a concentric ripple geometry generated from a single water court. Architecture, structure, circulation, and environmental systems align within one continuous spatial logic, integrating hybrid timber construction, passive ventilation, and water reuse. The design transforms end-of-life care into a collective, sensory experience embedded within the life of the city.
- Inspiration
- The Ripple is inspired by the universal image of a water drop generating expanding rings, symbolizing the continuity of life, memory, and collective care. Research into hospice environments, sensory psychology, and traditional courtyard typologies informed a design that replaces institutional isolation with spatial calm, gradual thresholds, and communal presence, integrating cultural reflection with environmental performance.
- Research
- Design research combining healthcare design and environmental psychology. Objective: improve patient privacy and emotional comfort in hospice settings. Methodology explored spatial sequencing and sensory design strategies. Experiential scenarios tested water sound as a non-visual privacy buffer.
- Challenge
- The primary challenge was reconciling hospice care’s need for privacy and calm with the density and intensity of an urban Chinatown context. Social perceptions of hospice as isolated institutions required rethinking care as civic and accessible. Spatially, integrating sensory comfort, acoustic privacy, and environmental performance within a compact site demanded precise coordination of structure, water systems, and daylight. The project resolves these tensions through a unified geometric and environmental strategy.
- Realization and Technology
- The project was developed through an integrated design methodology where geometry, structure, and environmental systems evolve from a single concentric datum. Digital modeling and iterative sectional studies guided spatial, daylight, and airflow performance. A hybrid timber system using curved CLT wall segments, cavity assemblies, and a continuous concrete base enables structural clarity while integrating rainwater collection, passive ventilation, and radiant conditioning within one coordinated assembly.
- Operation and Interaction
- Movement through Ripple follows expanding concentric rings, guiding visitors from the active city edge toward increasing quiet and intimacy. Thresholds, courtyards, and water elements choreograph gradual emotional transition rather than abrupt separation. Daylight, airflow, and acoustic water features respond passively to occupancy and climate, supporting orientation, privacy, and calm—allowing care to unfold through spatial experience rather than institutional control.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project was developed between September 2025 and Janurary 2026 as part of an architectural design competition. The Ripple is located in Chinatown, New York City, where it reimagines hospice care within a dense urban context. The proposal explores how end-of-life care can integrate with everyday civic life through architecture, landscape, and community-oriented programming.
- Specifications
- The project employs a hybrid timber system organized by concentric structural rings. Curved CLT load-bearing wall segments rise from a continuous concrete foundation datum, supporting stepped roof bands with integrated skylights, photovoltaic tiles, and rainwater collection gutters. Environmental systems include stacked passive ventilation, hydronic radiant floor slabs, and on-site water filtration and reuse.
- Keywords
- Hospice, Healthcare Design, Sensory experience, Therapeutic environment,
