Healthcare Design announces winners of 2026 Nightingale Awards for healthcare products, led by KI’s Kiaura Collection

This is an excerpt from an article. To view full article, click here.

Healthcare Design magazine has just announced the winners of the 2026 Nightingale Awards during the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo in New Orleans, October 18-20. The annual awards are a partnership between the HCD Conference + Expo and Healthcare Design and recognize contributions to the healthcare built environment through product design and innovation that promote healing and productivity.

During the conference in New Orleans, 21 jurors, including healthcare architects, interior designers, and facility executives, evaluated this year’s 70 product entries. For the 2026 awards program, 26 products received awards in 17 categories, with KI receiving the Best of Competition Award for Kiaura Collection built with Cognetic Technology, a new approach to conference seating, guest/lounge seating, and clinician support furniture designed to support movement, balance, restoration, and human performance within healthcare environments while bringing responsive comfort to respite, waiting, consultation, administrative, and collaborative spaces serving patients, families, caregivers, and staff.

At its core is patented Cognetic Technology, invented by Aaron DeJule. The gravity-powered, multi-axis motion system continuously responds to subtle body movement. Rather than relying on rigid positioning, the collection supports posture variability and effortless micro-movement, allowing the seated experience to respond intuitively to the user.

Additionally, KI received the Best of Innovation Award for Cognetic Technology, and the Best of Sustainability Award went to Armstrong World Industries for Templok Energy Saving Ceilings.

2026 Nightingale Awards winners

The 2026 Nightingale Awards Gold, Silver, Innovation, and Sustainability winners, by category, are as follows:

Furniture: Clinician Support

Gold Award, Innovation Award, and Best of Competition Award: KI for Kiaura Collection built with Cognetic Technology

Seating: Conference

Gold Award, Innovation Award, and Best of Competition Award: KI for Kiaura Collection built with Cognetic Technology

Seating: Guest/Lounge

Gold Award, Innovation Award, and Best of Competition Award: KI for Kiaura Collection built with Cognetic Technology

Technology-Integrated Solutions

Gold Award, Innovation Award, and Best of Innovation Award: KI for Cognetic

Nightingale Awards competition process

The annual awards are named for Florence Nightingale, a tireless advocate for the improvement of care and conditions in military and civilian hospitals in the 1800s.

Jurors visit exhibitors’ booths before the expo hall opens at the HCD Conference + Expo to examine the products, hear the story of their design and development, and ask questions.

Submissions are evaluated for their contribution or solution for clinical or operational outcomes; aesthetics and innovation; built environment solution, durability, functionality, and quality; industry certifications and standards; environmental sustainability; and list price.

More coverage of the 2026 Nightingale Awards will be featured in Healthcare Design magazine’s January/February 2027 issue.

View Full Article