Project category: New construction (completed January 2007)

Chief administrator: Pat Cosgrove, Chief Operating Officer, (503) 203-1000

Firm: Petersen Kolberg & Associates, PC, (503) 968-6800

Design team: Steve Kolberg, Principal-in-Charge; Thane Eddington, AIA, Medical Planner, Designer; Carl Gabrielson, Project Manager; Tony Fennig, Project Coordinator; Leif Lindseth, Designer (Petersen Kolberg & Associates, PC); Natalie Wood, Interior Designer (WGS)

Photography: Pete Eckert

Total building area (sq. ft.): 53,300

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $204

Total construction cost (excluding land): $10,880,000

The Pacific Oncology Cancer Center is a new 53,300-sq.-ft. comprehensive cancer center and corporate headquarters in a two-story facility. From the outset, the design team focused on patient comfort and improving clinical processes.

To that end, the patient is greeted on arrival with complimentary valet service and the sound of trickling water emanating from the entry garden. A two-story central lobby and reception area directs the patient to the various areas of the center. The central circulation spine simplifies patient wayfinding and brings natural light into the heart of the building from clerestory windows that run its full length. This circulation path simplifies patient navigation and naturally divides the building into four quadrants: Radiation Oncology and Administration on the first floor; Clinical Exam and Infusion on the second floor.

To ease patient anxiety, the spacious, light-filled infusion area was located on the second floor to improve patient privacy. It is skirted by a shallow plant balcony that will eventually surround the patient in a garden-like environment.

Two linear accelerator vaults on the first floor anchor the southern end of the building. Skylights heighten the separation of the treatment vaults from the building and flood the space with natural light.

A variety of colors, materials, and textures were used to accentuate the space. Focusing on patient wellness, the space features a rich, natural palette of materials and colors, including slate in the entry and wood veneers throughout.