A unique experiment in translational medicine, the new Penn State Cancer Institute is the synthesis of a traditional bench science research facility with comprehensive outpatient treatment clinics in a single building. Dedicated to finding and delivering a cure for cancer, traditional boundaries of science are ignored as various modes of inquiry – similarly implemented in laboratories and exam rooms – form a dynamic investigative community.
The building is the spatial embodiment of this translational model: laboratory and clinical functions are strategically intermixed to encourage collaboration. Here, research activities are performed in the clinic and at the bench with little differentiation. It is hoped that this combination in a single facility will leverage synergistic exchanges: contracting the time between scientific discovery and practical implementation. This does not imply direct experimentation on patients, but an increase in the contact between the two ends of the treatment-discovery system. The visual contact between patient and staff is a constant reminder that the building’s diverse occupants are continually at work to find a cure, promoting multiple modes of research and multiple types of treatment that inform and influence one another in unexpected cooperation.
The project is the first phase of an ambitious large-scale construction project at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the main academic medical campus for the university system. Payette has also designed the adjacent Children’s Hospital now under construction, a renovated and expanded emergency department and a new parking garage. These components create a critical mass that shifts the center of gravity of the entire hospital complex through the redefinition of identity, access and the campus circulation systems.
Rooted in nature, the primary organization element is “The Arc,” a concept gesture that unifies buildings and landscape in a sweeping form. This establishes a structure that binds together in a common language the discrete elements of building facades, entry canopies, gardens and roadways. The team, in collaboration with the owner, strove to provide dignified and hospitable spaces for healthcare that elevate equally the daily experience for caregivers, patients and their families. Similarly, the efficient environment of the research laboratory is intertwined with a network of private and semi-private collaboration spaces to build community.
A linked series of lobbies, public spaces, and green spaces define the public realm where an exploration of light, color, and texture give a more human scale to the face of the institution. While conveying a sense of transparency and warmth, the scale of the spaces varies to accommodate different levels of privacy and activity. Curvilinear forms animate the public areas, highlighting prominent features such as reception counters, planters, waiting and conference areas. Throughout the day, dramatic skylights offer a changing array of light and shadow, transforming surfaces to benefit patients and staff alike.
“The new building shifts a paradigm by housing researchers and clinicians together – facilitating the interactions that will contract the time between research innovation and clinical implementation.”
Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
The project unifies patient care services and research communities. Access to treatments, social services and outreach programs, once widely scattered, is now clustered around a single lobby. Previously isolated research enclaves, formerly in separate buildings, are now also gathered into a cohesive unit. To offer treatment on an intimate scale, cancer clinics and infusion therapy are duplicated on two floors thereby connecting all patients to the healing garden though the building’s many transparencies. This configuration groups clinicians into small teams to improve communication and access to proven treatments and to experimental protocols.
In response to the challenging program, a social experiment is also at work. Researcher investigators’ and medical clinicians’ offices are commingled on the top two floors around the Beehive atrium to encourage spontaneous exchanges in hallways, breakout alcoves, cafés, consult rooms, and open lounges. In this activity hub, visual connections between patients and staff are a constant event: instilling confidence in patients in the quality of their care and inspiring researchers in their daily pursuit of knowledge and innovation.
Kevin B. Sullivan, AIA is a principal and studio director at Payette in Boston.