Seeking
a facility that could be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the client
sought a design that would speak to patients with a message of optimism while
urging researchers to accelerate discovery. The facility had to fit a
restrictive site within a dense medical complex, and achieve contextual harmony
with the university’s traditional architecture. The exterior design solution
was to cleanly echo the campus’ prevailing Italianate style, with a facade punctuated
by an illuminated tower housing a monumental interior stairway. The crisply
modern interior, however, reinforces notions of medical and technological
sophistication, and evokes the sense of confidence patients seek.