Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center

Program: A five-level, 150,000-square-foot outpatient cancer center belonging to the University of Virginia's (UVA) health-care system. The new freestanding center (which had outgrown its cramped quarters in the neighboring UVA hospital) includes exam rooms; spaces for radiology, radiation oncology treatment, and infusion; a women's clinic; a meditation room; a pharmacy; a terrace; and a roof garden. The project helps unite what had been a smattering of medical buildings with a new landscaped circular drive, which is scheduled to open in May 2012. ZGF is also building a tower that will lead visitors from two parking garages to bridges that connect with the hospital and the cancer center. The tower is slated for completion in May 2012.
Design concept and solution: Creating a sense of place was important to the ZGF team. They wanted the cancer center to not only bring cohesion to the UVA medical campus, but also to provide a welcoming home base for patients returning for continuing treatment. Using steel, concrete, and composite metal decking for the structure, the architects defined the patient areas with glass on the south facade and used brick on the north end, where staff and support spaces are located. Treatment rooms run along the corridors in between. Near the corner of the south facade, a vertical plane of limestone divides the entryway and lobbies from the medical zones. At the entrance, the white columns of the curtain wall are emphasized, a nod to both the Jeffersonian architecture of the university and the white metal-panel facade of the hospital. Inside, themed floors recall the different regions of Virginia, from the Piedmont to the mountains to the valley. On the second floor a color palette of hazy blues and greens, along with furniture accented with exposed pebbles, calls to mind Virginia's coastal plain.
Total construction cost: $74 million
Location: 1240 Lee Street, Charlottesville, VA

Architect:
ZGF Architects LLP
1800 K Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006
202-380-3120
202-380-3128 F

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