Construction has commenced in Kansas City, Kan., on the country’s latest proton therapy center, which upon its scheduled completion in December will be the first of its kind to offer specialized radiation treatment to patients in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, and Arkansas. This will also be the region’s only National Cancer Center-designated cancer center.
The University of Kansas Health System will offer this service through its Cancer Center. It has received, and has started to install, the equipment for the proton therapy center, which is designed by Hoefer Welker in partnership with Stantec, whose design expertise in this typology includes the 135,000-sf New York Proton Center, the first of its kind in that state.
Hoefer Welker is also providing FF&E services, clinical space planning, medical equipment planning, and construction administration for this project. The facility expects to start receiving patients next January.
Also see: Equipment being hoisted and positioned into place
“Many cancer patients can’t receive this specialized treatment without traveling across several states to get it,” says John Castorina, Partner, Principal-in-Charge and National Healthcare Practice Leader with Hoefer Welker. “The stress that puts on the patient, their well-being and their recovery—as well as the emotional and financial stress it puts on their caregiver—is immense, and it’s something we hope this new facility can provide relief for. The capability to provide this treatment is a profound addition to our community and our region.”
DESIGN INFORMED BY TALKS WITH MEDICAL PROS
The 38,200-sf proton treatment center—which would be the 38th in the U.S—is being constructed by Kansas City-based McCownGordon Construction and Fort Worth, Texas-based Linbeck. The facility will include a protective concrete vault whose six- to nine-ft-thick walls require 2,721 cubic yards of concrete and 377,513 lbs of steel rebar. The vault will house 160 tons of equipment.
Throughout the design process Hoefer Welker met with physicians and other medical staff to determine the needs of patients and their families. Those meetings included a “visioning” session that assessed psychological, sociological, and physiological impacts.
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
Mental hospital in Boston redeveloped as healthcare complex
An abandoned state mental health facility in Boston’s prestigious Longwood Medical Area is being transformed into the Mass Mental Health Center, a four-building mixed-use complex that includes a mental health day hospital, a clinical and office building, a medical research facility for Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a residential facility.
| Mar 17, 2011
Perkins Eastman launches The Green House prototype design package
Design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to join The Green House project and NCB Capital Impact in announcing the launch of The Green House Prototype Design Package. The Prototype will help providers develop small home senior living communities with greater efficiency and cost savings—all to the standards of care developed by The Green House project.
| Mar 14, 2011
Renowned sustainable architect Charles D. Knight to lead Cannon Design’s Phoenix office
Cannon Design is pleased to announce that Charles D. Knight, AIA, CID, LEED AP, has joined the firm as principal. Knight will serve as the leader of the Phoenix office with a focus on advancing the firm’s healthcare practice. Knight brings over 25 years of experience and is an internationally recognized architect who has won numerous awards for his unique contributions to the sustainable and humanistic design of healthcare facilities.
| Mar 11, 2011
Renovation energizes retirement community in Massachusetts
The 12-year-old Edgewood Retirement Community in Andover, Mass., underwent a major 40,000-sf expansion and renovation that added 60 patient care beds in the long-term care unit, a new 17,000-sf, 40-bed cognitive impairment unit, and an 80-seat informal dining bistro.
| Mar 11, 2011
Research facility added to Texas Medical Center
Situated on the Texas Medical Center’s North Campus in Houston, the new Methodist Hospital Research Institute is a 12-story, 440,000-sf facility dedicated to translational research. Designed by New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox, with healthcare, science, and technology firm WHR Architects, Houston, the building has open, flexible labs, offices, and amenities for use by 90 principal investigators and 800 post-doc trainees and staff.
| Mar 11, 2011
Mixed-income retirement community in Maryland based on holistic care
The Green House Residences at Stadium Place in Waverly, Md., is a five-story, 40,600-sf, mixed-income retirement community based on a holistic continuum of care concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. Each of the four residential floors houses a self-contained home for 12 residents that includes 12 bedrooms/baths organized around a common living/social area called the “hearth,” which includes a kitchen, living room with fireplace, and dining area.
| Mar 3, 2011
HDR acquires healthcare design-build firm Cooper Medical
HDR, a global architecture, engineering and consulting firm, acquired Cooper Medical, a firm providing integrated design and construction services for healthcare facilities throughout the U.S. The new alliance, HDR Cooper Medical, will provide a full service design and construction delivery model to healthcare clients.
| Mar 1, 2011
New survey shows shifts in hospital construction projects
America’s hospitals and health systems are focusing more on renovation or expansion than new construction, according to a new survey conducted by Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). In fact, renovation or expansion accounted for 73% of construction projects at hospitals responding to the survey.
| Feb 22, 2011
HDR Architecture names four healthcare directors
Four senior professionals in HDR Architecture’s healthcare program have been named Healthcare directors.
