Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Login
  • My Account
  • Logout
  • Register For Free
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Blogs
    • AI
    • Deals
    • Layoff Tracker
    • HLTH 2024
    • Sponsored Content: Vital Signs Blog
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 40 Under 40
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Innovators Awards
    • Diversity Leaders
    • Leading Women
    • Best in Business Awards
    • The 2030 Playbook Conference
    • Innovations in Patient Experience
    • Leading Women Conference & Awards Luncheon
    • Leadership Summit
    • Workforce Summit
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Looking Ahead to 2025
    • - Financial Growth
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Looking Ahead to 2026
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
  • Data & Insights
    • Data & Insights Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Skilled Nursing Facilities
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
    • Sponsored Content
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Construction & Design
September 05, 2015 12:00 AM

Gold Award: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Andis Robeznieks
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    What particularly struck Design Awards judge Rulon Stacey about the new Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in West Harrison, N.Y., was the prominent staircase in the middle of the lobby.

    “We keep telling people to take the stairs,” said Stacey, a former hospital system CEO who now teaches at the University of Minnesota's graduate program in health administration. “So the architects have taken them out of the dark part of the building and made them an integral part of the facility.”

    The $75.3 million, 102,000-square-foot MSK outpatient facility, which opened last October, is the gold-prize winner in Modern Healthcare's 30th annual Design Awards. It features sunlit rooms, a flexible design, valet parking and a full array of cancer treatment services. Those services include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, genetic counseling, nutrition and social support, and breast, gastric, gynecologic, thoracic, urologic and plastic and reconstructive surgery.

    Patients using the chemotherapy infusion chairs have outdoor views, a direct line of sight to the nurses' stations, and technology that lets them order food, call a nurse, select a movie or educational video, and control their lighting.

    Related Content

    Read more about the 2015 Modern Healthcare Design Awards winners

    All 2015 Submissions

    29th annual Design Awards

    28th annual Design Awards

    Mary Frazier, a principal with Philadelphia-based EwingCole, which designed the facility, said the central staircase connects the facility's lower-floor lobby to second-floor services such as medical oncology, infusion rooms and the retail pharmacy. Frazier said it has become her firm's practice to place stairs near elevators because it lets patients make a statement about their health progress.

    “The original concept is for patients to affirm their wellness,” Frazier said. “They say, 'I'm feeling good, I can take the stairs.' But we find staff likes to use them, too.”

    The project is a renovation of a 1950s-era office building located along a stretch of office parks in Westchester County. “It doesn't look like a renovation,” said Design Award judge Agnessa Todorova, a healthcare architect and director of integration for Brisbane, Calif.-based Aditazz. “It looks timeless. It could have been built 50 years ago or just today.”

    Removable partitions in the infusion area give the facility flexibility to add new technology or make other changes called for by clinical innovations. Todorova said the MSK West Harrison center showed that it was possible to customize a value-based design to come up with a fresh and attractive building. “It's a very nice and elegant solution despite the constraints,” she said. “Its simple lobby and public spaces don't scream 'hospital' to me.”

    The project was awarded gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program because of its energy-efficient design, use of recycled and low chemical-emission materials, water efficiency and access to public transportation.

    Every effort was made to place medical equipment out of sight behind cabinets. Design elements were borrowed from hotel, residential and spa settings so patients would feel comfortable.

    Henry Chao, a principal with HOK architects in New York who served as a judge, said he liked how the building fit with its surroundings and community. “It's so New York and East Coast,” he said.

    Frazier said there was a conscious effort to achieve that indigenous look. She said the project team visited a local shopping center to study the construction materials used and what kind of stores local residents liked to frequent.

    The facility features photographic art supplied by the staff. Frazier said the art is changed quarterly, so patients don't have to look at the same things over and over. “Patients repeatedly go back,” she said. “This gives patients a feeling of progress.”

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    UC Davis Heatlh rendering survey 0624
    Healthcare construction continues shift from inpatient care
    5 takeaways about the state of healthcare construction
    5 takeaways about the state of healthcare construction
    Most Popular
    1
    Here are new state healthcare laws taking effect in 2025
    2
    Meet Modern Healthcare's 2025 Leading Women
    3
    New York-Presbyterian layoffs affect 2% of employees
    4
    Evernorth, Optum, CenterWell units buoyed insurers in Q1
    5
    Epic CEO Judy Faulkner on AI, antitrust and consolidation
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Help Center
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2025. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Blogs
      • AI
      • Deals
      • Layoff Tracker
      • HLTH 2024
      • Sponsored Content: Vital Signs Blog
    • Opinion
      • Letters
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • 40 Under 40
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Innovators Awards
        • Diversity Leaders
        • Leading Women
        • Best in Business Awards
      • Conferences
        • The 2030 Playbook Conference
        • Innovations in Patient Experience
        • Leading Women Conference & Awards Luncheon
        • Leadership Summit
        • Workforce Summit
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Looking Ahead to 2025
        • - Financial Growth
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Looking Ahead to 2026
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
      • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
    • Data & Insights
      • Data & Insights Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Skilled Nursing Facilities
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing
      • Sponsored Content