Construction of the Cancer University Institute adds a particular dimension to the Oncopole site: together with the public research laboratories, the private laboratories and all the other services and spaces of the Oncopole, the institute is the final piece in the cycle beginning with medical research and finishing with patient treatment. Thus, this institute provides a link between medical staff, patients, their families, and the public more generally. Its design is in keeping with the spirit of the Canceropole and constitutes its heart. The institute’s first architectural principle is that it is conceived as a site and not merely as a building: equal importance is attached to the landscape and to buildings.
Architecture and landscape are the conceptual foundations of this clinic and harmony between them creates conditions conducive to cancer treatment and patient and staff wellbeing. This principle guides the institute’s design itself, its forms and materials. It establishes an optimal relationship between patients and medical staff.
The various spaces create a favourable environment for treatments by virtue of their orientation and their relationship to natural light and landscape. The curved sections, oriented towards the landscape, are used for medical interventions. The perpendicular sections are dedicated to care. The large longitudinal volume is qualified as a ‘living and communication space’ and meets the need for medical efficiency.
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Competition won in 2007
Client: Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse - Oncopole
Conductor of operations: ICADE Promotion Publique Santé et Oppidéa
Associated architects: Cardete Huet Associés
Engineering firm: SNC Lavalin
Economist: Mazet & Associés
Inspection desk: VERITAS
Surface area: 65,000 sq m
Budget: €130 M + Tax
Mandate: Design through to site management, interior design + landscaping
Program : a 312-bed hospital, laboratories and a research centre
Photographs: Takuji Shimmura, Mathieu Ducros
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