Dana-Farber Cancer Institute dedicates Yawkey Cancer Centre in Boston
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts has dedicated its Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, a sophisticated clinical facility and a new model for cancer care, designed, constructed, and operated in an environmentally and socially responsible way.
The 14-storey facility, designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, is anticipated to receive LEED- Silver rating and is a pilot for the Green Guide for Healthcare v2.2 initiative. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Arcitects has designed Yawkey Center for Cancer Care in association with Miller Dyer Spears.
The Yawkey Center will feature 104 exam rooms and 139 infusion chairs, about a 30% increase of Dana-Farber's current capacity on its main campus, and 17 consult rooms. It will house the adult treatment centres, an expanded clinical research centre to conduct complex, early-stage clinical studies, and centralized registration, pharmacy, and laboratory services. In addition, the Yawkey Center will be the home to an expanded range of patient and family services, a two-storey healing garden, new interfaith chapel, and two floors of physician offices.
The Yawkey Center's design incorporates input and review from architects, engineers, public officials, faculty, staff, and members of Dana-Farber's Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFAC).
By using this approach, Dana-Farber officials believe they have created an environment designed from the ground up to foster healing and maximize patient safety and comfort, making it possible for staff to provide its signature, patient-focused, innovative care. During the design process, Dana-Farber incorporated a number of safety elements that focused on infection control, injury prevention, and creation of a safe and ideal working environment.
This included using seamless countertops in clinical spaces and the optimal placement of hand-washing sinks to reduce the risk of infections; embedding stainless steel strips into the lobby's stone steps to help prevent slips and falls; installing handrails in the exam room changing areas and hallways in the clinical areas to assist those who may be feeling weak, tired or unsteady; and conducting acoustic reviews to guide the creation of a calmer, less distracting environment for patients and staff.
Dana-Farber's mission to combine patient care with innovative research also influenced the building's design. Each of the treatment centers on floors six through ten are connected by a bridge to the corresponding research areas in the adjacent Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Laboratories building.
The light-filled bridges, which will feature café tables, coffee machines and wireless Internet access, were designed to allow for easy passage between labs and clinics, and to be an inviting environment that draws together clinicians and researchers, facilitating collaboration and exchange.
The Yawkey Center also incorporates an array of sustainable design features, including low-flow plumbing, a light-dimming system that adjusts to available daylight, automated shades that raise or lower depending on the amount of sunlight coming in to maximize use of natural light while reducing glare, and a heat recovery system that reclaims energy by warming or cooling outdoor air.
The majority of the building's tiered roofs are planted with native foliage, such as grasses, sedums, and other low-lying groundcover. These green spaces — the first in the Longwood Medical Area — will help cool the building in the summer, improve air quality, and reduce the rate of storm water runoff.
Taking cues from nature, the Yawkey Center's interior design utilizes curves and rounded elements, natural light and calming colors. Nature is also being brought indoors with the two-storey Thea and James Stoneman Healing Garden, which features seasonal flowers, shrubs, and plants, including stands of bamboo that will be nurtured by grow lamps in the ceiling.
Next to the Healing Garden, and separated by glass walls, is the Richard P. and Claire W. Morse Conservatory, which offers a plant-free environment with negative air pressure to protect patients with allergies, compromised immune systems, or other health issues.
The Yawkey Center will feature 350 pieces of art, a testament to Dana-Farber's belief in the healing effects of art. The collection, much of which has been donated, includes a variety of media and styles, including sculpture, oil paint, watercolor, glass, prints, textiles, and photography. Large, original works will be displayed in major patient areas, such as a kinetic mobile that will hang in the atrium lobby.
The Yawkey Center is named in honour of the Yawkey Foundation, which made a $30 million gift during Dana-Farber's recently completed $1 billion capital campaign. Walsh Brothers, Incorporated oversaw construction management.
The Yawkey Center will formally open for patients on 30 January 2011.
