High-rise cancer center delivers new model for oncology care

In May, Atlanta’s new Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown welcomed its first patients. The 17-story, 450,000-sf facility adds inpatient, outpatient, and research facilities to Emory University Hospital Midtown and Winship Cancer Institute. 

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and May Architecture, the facility includes comprehensive oncology facilities—including inpatient beds, surgical capacity, infusion treatment, outpatient clinics, diagnostic imaging, linear accelerators, and areas for wellness, rehabilitation, and clinical research. 

To design the facility, SOM and May Architecture used a highly collaborative process involving more than 160 stakeholders across Winship’s leadership, patients, clinicians, volunteers, staff, and construction teams.

The building features two-story care communities, each focused on a specific type of cancer. Services typically distributed throughout a hospital are instead organized into one-stop destinations that combine exam, consultation, infusion, and supportive functions. 

These care communities reduce or eliminate patients’ waiting times. In addition, they bring fellow patients and families together and allow specialists to visit both inpatients and outpatients without having to leave the two floors. 

The care communities informed the exterior’s two-story façade increments. The building’s transparent storefront welcomes patients and visitors with a drop-off valet area that leads into the main lobby. Amenities throughout the building include a retail boutique, pharmacy, wellness center, cafe, and multipurpose spaces for future offerings of yoga, music therapy, education, and art therapy.

Thanks to an energy-efficient design, the Winship Cancer Institute will expend 40% less energy annually than the average Atlanta hospital, according to a press statement. The building also features energy-efficient recovery mechanical equipment, with chilled beams and direct-outside air units. The high-performance facade optimizes glazing and window-to-wall ratios. And water use is reduced through the collection of stormwater for irrigation and chiller plants.

On the Building Team:
Owner: Emory University Healthcare
Architect and structural engineer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Clinical architect: May Architecture
MEP and lighting: Newcomb & Boyd
Civil engineering and landscape design: Kimley-Horn
Construction manager: Batson-Cook Construction