Contract - October 2015 - 87

PHOTOGRAPHY: ADRIAN WILSON (OPPOSITE, TOP RIGHT); RON BLUNT (ALL OTHERS)

A small courtyard (above)
brings light into a waiting area.
Above a bench in the clinical
area are 12-inch-by-24-inch,
silver-leaf glass tiles mounted
to an elm wood veneer panel
(opposite, top left). A stair
with glass railings (opposite,
bottom) connects the
building's two levels and
admits light. Chemotherapy
rooms (opposite, top middle)
have views and technology for
patient use. Other treatment
rooms (opposite, top right)
conceal medical equipment
behind millwork.

of waiting options. Patients feel more like they're at home,
or in a hospitality interior, rather than stuck in a waiting room.
"People like to wait in different ways," Frazier says.
Upon checking in, patients are given GPS location tags, so they
can wander where they like while still being monitored.
The welcome desk is backed by a 10-foot-by-35-foot
multi-layered, etched glass image of a geologic map
of the region, which joins the area's sleek furniture, smart
chandeliers and pendants by Brooklyn-based artist Lindsey
Adelman, large-scale art, and indoor plantings as effective
design punctuation marks. All were chosen, Frazier says,
not just for their beauty but because they were "not something
you would typically see in a healthcare facility."
Throughout the building, the firm has implemented
small courtyards, varied ceiling heights, skylights, and
a double-height stair to bring light and depth into the varied,
flexible spaces. Sound absorbing materials and the lack
of a public address system help keep the interior especially
quiet, and medical equipment is screened or hidden from
view to minimize the space's institutional feel.
"No design detail was overlooked in crafting a
transformational patient environment that supports
the unique physical and emotional needs of cancer patients

and caregivers, nurturing them inside and out," says
Suzen Heeley, executive director, design and construction
for Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Providing patients with options
When they receive chemotherapy treatment, patients
have the option of using their own rooms that have windows
with views of the scenery outside and are equipped
with technology allowing patients to Skype with friends
and family, order food, control the lighting or temperature,
or watch movies. Patients can also stay in one of the "living
rooms," where they can socialize with others, or choose
to walk through the building or even the gardens.
"We want the patient to feel that they are in control
of their lives, not trapped," says Richard Choy, chief architect
for Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Patients have responded positively to the facility's
design, as have the clients. This is the third major project
that EwingCole has completed for MSK. Choy is especially
pleased at how comfortable people feel here, and how
it "doesn't look like a hospital," he says. "[The architects] took
a building that was abandoned and brought it back to health." c

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Contract - October 2015

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