Case Study: Reimagining Cancer Care

Case Study: Cancer Care Reimagined A Deeper Look Whether a building is confined on a bustling campus or is the first structure in a greenfield setting, the building and the site should be developed to promote nature and its healing effects.

Embracing nature’s healing properties, and the positive effects it is known to have, informed the design - inside and out - of a new Cancer Center on Florida’s Treasure Coast.

Healing Through Nature Immersion CANCER CENTERS

CURING WITH MORE THAN MEDICINE

CHALLENGE

Ecotherapy is centered on the conviction that there is an instinctive bond between human

A Radiation Oncology pavilion dictated the location of the new Cancer Center at a congested nexus of the campus. Access and connectivity to the existing space determined entrance and egress to the new Center.

beings and other living systems and that this bond is essential to good physical and mental health, The Scully-Welsh Cancer Center will provide both visual (observational) and physical participatory) immersion in nature as vital components of an integrated, multi-disciplinary treatment plan. The bucolic setting within the Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital campus will allow patients, visitors and staff myriad opportunities for relaxation and solitude within the natural environment.

The building is planned to ensure that all patient treatment zones as well as public zones have both visual and physical access to the natural world outside the Center’s walls. Outside, use of familiar natural materials coupled with the calming auditory and visual effects of a water wall and garden help patients make the sometimes difficult emotional transition into the cancer treatment environment. The socialization spaces in the northern gardens provide an active

SOLUTION By choosing and creating a bucolic setting within the Indian River campus, a healing garden links the Cancer Center and Health & Wellness Center and creates new, dedicated open space on campus.

link for caregivers who often see patients in multiple campus buildings during the day. The northern facade is anchored by a two-story glass volume that contains the staff lounges.

To continue the immersive lushness of the gardens on the narrow west side of the site, the building service rooms are clad with a green wall system.

Inside, the horizontal wood louvers that form the lobby solar shade are rotated into a vertical position to become the exterior cladding of the treatment spaces. The metaphorical “twist” of the louvers is a prominent design feature within the two-story lobby. Patient treatment zones are configured to provide direct visual and physical access to the surrounding gardens while still providing caregivers optimal visual supervision.

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ZONES OF POSITIVE DISTRACTIONS The building is planned to ensure that all patient treatment zones and public zones have both visual and physical access to the natural world. The natural material palette established on the exterior is continued in the interior spaces.

The main lobby includes prominent lines of sight to all patient resource, education and treatment areas while also providing strong visual and physical connections back to the gardens.

In order to metaphorically illustrate the connection between the interior and the exterior, the horizontal solar louvers continue into the lobby and “twist� to become vertical wood panels. These panels run through the main lobby and emerge to become the exterior cladding on the west and north facades.

Dining, relaxation and contemplative garden areas are situated with accessibility and comfort in mind. Access from the ground floor infusion department and situated along the shadier side of the building, the multi-functioning garden can be enjoyed throughout the year by patients, staff and visitors alike.

PUBLIC ZONES

PHYSICAL ACCESS TO GARDENS

TREATMENT ZONES

VISUAL ACCESS TO GARDENS

GARDEN ZONES

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Implementation

Louver spacing preserves views to the orange groves from the second floor lobby.

The starting height of the louvers is set to provide full shade on the ground floor plane during harsh summer months.

BUILDING SITE While the footprint configuration is somewhat dictated by the existing conditions, the building and the site have been developed to promote the use of the gardens as a vehicle for healing.

BIM EMPLOYED TO DETERMINE OPTIMAL SITING Horizontal shading louvers where used to maximize daylighting and views while protecting sensitive patients from the harsh southern sun. BIM analysis programs were used to balance the desired translucency with the shading levels necessary to maximize energy

The pedestrian level maintains maximum transparency.

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performance.

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Who We Are ARRAY-ARCHITECTS.COM

EMPATHY IN DESIGN I began my career intent on changing the face of healthcare design. Working on complex design problems and having an opportunity to directly affect how someone heals in a space was the reason for choosing to be a designer.

We never quite know when our life choices are going to come full circle but my circle closed four years ago when my mother was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. This was her third cancer diagnosis. She had breast cancer in her late thirties and what we thought was a successful battle with colon cancer two years prior to this final diagnosis. She began the fight of her life and I began to see healthcare facilities a bit differently.

This journey began with endless doctor appointments with my mother in five facilities and three states. I was no longer caring what the chair looked like that I was sitting in, or the upholstery on it. I found I was just happy if mom and I had a nice view out the window for the hours we spent waiting for appointments. As mom started different treatments, her mobility and strength suffered.

The distance we had to travel to a restroom or to a diagnostic test became what I focused on. From my mom’s point of view, she was worried and needed things to distract her but not add to her stress. We always looked for the spot in the waiting room without the TV blaring. We experienced the full array of facilities

We Are Healthcare Architects We are a team of architects and designers with unique backgrounds, but we all have one thing in common - we share a strong desire to use our expertise and knowledge to design solutions that will help people in moments that matter most.

This focus makes us leaders in our field. There’s a degree of compassion, empathy, and sensitivity that goes into every project that we touch. It’s designing a nurse station with sight lines to every patient. It’s building a Behavioral Health facility without corners, so that patients are safe. It’s translating the operational needs through the technical details to fine tune the lighting system in a neonatal unit so caregivers can match the lighting to each baby’s stage of development. It is a deeper understanding, honed through relationships spanning decades.

Together, we discover optimal solutions with our clients. It is our four decades of specialization that allows for effective communication, collaboration and precision in the complex, changing world of healthcare.

from small doctor offices in MOBs to the large academic medical centers in New York. Through multiple trips and more doctors than I could name, we ended up in a pre-op in New York City on a cold February day watching an orchestrated group of staff poke and prep my mother for a 12-hour surgery. My father and I sat in a small room segregated from the main waiting room by low glass partitions. A nurse came to check in with us about every 45 minutes. We had a view of a children’s playground across the street which became a great distraction and all I could concentrate on.

We had a small TV monitor at the end of the hall that gave periodic updates on where our “patient” was in their surgery. Dad paced in front of it along with other worried families.

I do not have a lot of memories of the healthcare spaces I occupied during this time. What stuck with me are the things that worked without me thinking. The large window views to the children’s playground. The exam room with sun pouring in that mom could sit in so she was not as cold waiting for her exam. The waiting room that had comfortable chairs and foot stools so mom was more relaxed waiting an hour for our appointment.

Click here to read Laura Morris’ full article on Empathy in Design from Array’s blog.

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to view our thought leadership on incorporating healing gardens

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