Project category: Remodel/Renovation (completed October 2010)

Chief administrator: Suzen Heeley, Director of Design and Construction, (212) 639-856

Firm: ZGF Architects LLP, (503) 224-3860

Design team: Jan Willemse, Partner-in-Charge; Sharron van der Meulen, Principal Interior Designer; Matthew Fleck, Senior Designer; Michael O’Meara, Project Architect

Photography: John Bartelstone Photography; Chun Y Lai

Total building area (sq. ft.): 7,745

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $452

Total construction cost (excluding land): $3,500,000

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center sought to develop a chemotherapy infusion center that streamlines and enhances the patient care experience. The resulting Brooklyn Infusion Center reduces patient wait times, offers patients choices in many aspects of the treatment process, and is conveniently located in a residential neighborhood. The concept makes patients “chemo-ready” by performing blood work and other screening procedures the day before in MSKCC’s Manhattan facilities.

There is no traditional waiting room in the Brooklyn Infusion Center; patients are met by a staff member in the lobby, or use a self check-in monitor, and move directly into a private treatment pod. A novel chemotherapy chair in the treatment pods includes a chair-mounted touch-screen interactive system that enables patients to call a nurse, get work or shopping done on the Internet or make videophone calls with friends and family.

A “Central Garden” forms the heart of the facility, inspired by New York’s urban “pocket parks” with a series of zones designed for a variety of interaction intensities. These zones include conversation areas, a library, and a communal “farm table” area that allows for shared activities. These social spaces are provided for times that patients feel well enough to be outside of their treatment pods and choose to gather with caregivers and other patients.

A Community Gallery is located at the street frontage to serve as a visible neighborhood resource for health advocacy presentations, and it doubles as gallery space for artists and patients.