Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center recently opened The David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for patient care, New York City’s largest freestanding cancer care center. Located in New York, the $1.5-billion, 750,000-square-foot facility integrates the latest advances in treatment with compassionate care, creating a model for 21st-century cancer care.
At 25 floors, center creates a unique architectural statement for MSK as it continues to transform cancer care. Given the location along the East River, the building’s systems are reinforced by design and construction features to reduce energy consumption and operate at optimal efficiency even in the instance of a 500-year flood event. The project is on track to achieve LEED Gold certification.
The building is an assemblage of smaller-scaled façade elements designed to break up the massing into smaller volumes, which create a more welcoming building and are responsive to the various programmatic needs for both openness and privacy inside. The texture of the façade balances the opacity of terra cotta fins with the transparency of glass, providing a distinct exterior identity and an interior environment with plentiful daylight and expansive views of the East River.
Containing 231 exam rooms, 110 infusion rooms, 37 procedure rooms and 16 inpatient beds for those requiring a short stay, the facility is expected to receive an average of 1,300 patients and support approximately 1,300 staff per day.
Touchpoints that borrow from hospitality and unobtrusive technology are integrated throughout, illustrating the commitment to provide a welcoming, healing environment that mitigates the stress and anxiety associated with cancer care to patients, caregivers, physicians and staff. This includes thoughtfully designed areas—organized around themes of restoration, recreation and activation—that will help patients and caregivers relax and rejuvenate, in addition to abundant natural light, unobstructed city views and terraces for connection to the outdoors.
The project team includes MSK Design; Perkins Eastman Architects, in association with Ennead Architects; Perkins Eastman Architects (medical planning and interior design, clinical spaces); ICRAVE (experiential and interior design, public spaces); Jaros Baum & Bolles (MEP engineer); Thornton Tomasetti (structural engineer) and Turner Construction Company (construction manager). The overall team was made up of over 30 firms.
Photo courtesy of Andrew Rugge-Perkins Eastman.
