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The infusion therapy and exam rooms are organized around the courtyards, and the waiting rooms, public spaces, and corridors look out toward the garden and the distant mountains. Throughout the building there are places to sit and view the gardens, allowing easily tired cancer patients to rest. The cafe even offers outdoor seating.

The sandstone wall at the main entrance is pulled away from the building, creating a shaded area that serves as a "porch," a transitional element that protects the glass on the south-facing side. The trellises on the east and west sides of the building also provide shade. A bridge across an arroyo delivers patients from the parking lot to the building.

Arizona sandstone, plaster, and metal panels are used on the exterior. Interior finishes include natural materials or those made from natural products, such as stone flooring and wood paneling. The color palette is neutral earth tones. Interior spaces are washed with soft, indirect light.

The cancer center is the first phase of development of a 17-acre (seven-hectare) site master planned by CO Architects to house ambulatory care programs of University Medical Center.

Glazed Urban Center

The Weill Greenberg Center, designed by a joint venture of Polshek Partnership Architects and healthcare architect Ballinger, expands the clinical facilities of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University within New York City.

The older New York Hospital complex represents an amalgamation of architectural styles developed over time. In contrast, the new 15-story, 330,000-square-foot (30,700-square-meter) building provides a singular identity for ambulatory care, medical education, and clinical research services. All-over glazing presents an elegant yet welcoming face to the street.

A curtain wall of water-white, ceramic-fritted glass, cut into long vertical facets, adds softness and depth to the building's exterior, while modulating daylight transmission and views from inside. The repetitive geometries and unitized construction methods of the curtain wall contributed to the project's timely, on-budget completion.

Design features contribute to the creation of a calm patient experience through visual, tactile, aural, and associative characteristics. Natural materials, including wood, travertine and Cor-Ten steel, constitute the material palette for the ground-floor lobby, which includes seating alcoves and a series of water features.

An interior vehicle drop-off opens directly into the lobby, facilitating patient arrivals and departures.

Specialized mechanical equipment is housed in a recessed, two-story space located at the top of the building that disguises the cooling towers, window washing rigging, elevator penthouse, and stair bulkheads.

Dan Noble, FAIA, FACHA, served as national jury chair for the AIA National Healthcare Design Awards 2008.

The AIA Academy of Architecture for Health seeks to improve the quality of healthcare through design by developing, documenting, and disseminating knowledge; educating healthcare architects and other related constituencies; advancing the practice of healthcare architecture; improving the design of healthcare environments; affiliating and advocating with others that share their vision; and promoting research.

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE CO Architects designed University Medical Center's Peter and Paula Fasseas Cancer Clinic in Tucson, Arizona. Photo: © Robert Canfield Extra Large Image The landscaping, material palette, and shading systems of the Fasseas Cancer Center all respond to the desert climate of southern Arizona. Photo: © Robert Canfield Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The Fasseas Cancer Center reused the foundation and steel structure of a previous hospital building on the site. Photo: © Robert Canfield Extra Large Image CO Architects master planned a new 17-acre (seven-hectare) campus for University Medical Center, of which the cancer center is the first phase. Photo: © Robert Canfield Extra Large Image Fasseas Cancer Center second-floor plan drawing. Image: CO Architects Extra Large Image Ground-floor plan drawing of the Weill Greenberg Center in New York City. Image: Polshek Partnership Architects LLP Extra Large Image The Weill Greenberg Center was designed by a joint venture of Polshek Partnership Architects and Ballinger. Photo: © David Sundberg/ Esto Extra Large Image The exterior of the Weill Greenberg Center is finished in ceramic-fritted glass. Photo: © Aislinn Weidele/ Polshek Partnership Architects LLP Extra Large Image The 330,000-square-foot (30,700-square-meter) Weill Greenberg Center provides facilities for ambulatory patient care, medical education, and research, as part of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/ Esto Extra Large Image An upper-floor waiting room in the Weill Greenberg Center. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/ Esto Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.