Cancer Care Facility Design: Project Spotlight

Spotlight on cancer care facility design

Supportive, calming, therapeutic. These are common characteristics of the design strategies project teams employ when addressing the planning and design of cancer care facilities.

Comprising a range of spaces, including treatment and recovery, diagnostics, laboratory, and education areas, these facilities require balancing high-tech requirements with elements such as natural light, soothing color palettes, and comfortable furnishings to reduce stress, promote healing, and enhance the overall quality of care.

Here, Healthcare Design features eight recent cancer care projects.

Image credit: Hufton and Crow Photography

Studio Libeskind Designs Maggie’s Royal Free Cancer Support Center, London

On the campus of Royal Free Hospital in London, the support center for cancer patients and families features an organic shape with timber panels covering the three-story steel structure. Read here.

Architecture firm: Studio Libeskind

Image credit: Sandy DeWitt

The Players Center For Cancer And Blood Disorders At Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, Fla.

The renovated and expanded pediatric cancer center uses colors, textures, and artwork to create a comforting and uplifting space for pediatric cancer patients. Read here.

Architecture and interior design firm: Gresham Smith

Image credit: David Kresses © May Architecture

Winship Cancer Institute At Emory Midtown, Atlanta

The 17-story facility in Atlanta organizes care around different cancer types and offers a new approach to the concept of community. Read here.

Architecture firm: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Clinical architecture firm: May Architecture

Image credit: Daniel Brown

Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Nashville, Tenn.

The facility moves into a spacious new medical office building designed with residential-style touches to help put patients at ease. Read here.

Architecture and interior design firm: Gresham Smith

Interior design consultant: EHowell Designs

Image credit: Magda Biernat

City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, Irvine, Calif.

The center combines design elements inspired by the surrounding landscape and hospitality environments to create a calming space for patients and staff. Read here.

Interior design firm:  ZGF

Image credit: Tim Mueller

Thibodaux Regional Medical Center Cancer Institute, Thibodaux, La.

The $37.4 million cancer center offers 40 infusion bays that embrace an “open-air” flow and layout, creating a welcoming and supportive environment for patients, visitors, and staff. Read here.

Architecture and interior design firm: WHLC Architecture

Image credit: Banko Creative

Margaret’s Place Hospice, Dundas, Ontario, Canada

Nestled on the edge of a wooded ravine, the 25,000-square-foot facility offers residents, families, and staff abundant views and access to the outdoors. Read here.

Architecture and interior design firm: McCallumSather

Image credit: ©Rendering Courtesy of HDR

Zhejiang Cancer Hospital Shaoxing Campus of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China

Expected to be open in 2025, the 5 million-square-foot project will incorporate natural lighting and materials to help deliver privacy, comfort, warmth, and hope for cancer patients. Read here.

Architecture firm: HDR

For more recent healthcare projects, go here.