Undergoing treatment in sterile, antiseptic facilities can sap the spirit of patients as well as their loved ones. Inside Memorial Sloan Kettering’s new, 25-floor outpatient care facility, we subverted this tendency, creating an environment that rivaled the most responsive hospitality experiences while championing the world-class care of MSK’s 1,300-strong team.
Our Response
Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is on the leading edge of cancer treatment, with a global reputation for excellence. In its 750,000-square-foot patient care building, we reimagined the role of a physical space as an active participant in patient care. By marrying patient-oriented design with frictionless and anticipatory technologies, we created a new, multidimensional healthcare-experience archetype: the healthcare sanctuary.
We started by breaking the waiting areas down into “neighborhoods”: purpose-driven zones that responded to their primary use, whether it is restoration after a treatment, recreation with loved ones and caretakers, or activation with clinicians.
The human dimension of care was never far from our vision. Perhaps one of our smallest innovations was also one of our most impactful: lightweight, real-time location system devices worn by patients, which free them to move autonomously throughout the center without being tethered to their clinic. The devices also keep families informed of their loved ones’ whereabouts and the treatment they’re receiving at any given moment.
Other design innovations we introduced include in-room improvements to better accommodate caregivers’ needs, with an automated circadian lighting system that helps nurses adjust from morning to evening; built-in workspaces, storage and seating nooks for families to relocate during patient care; larger, multi-use spaces for medical staff to improve collaboration and integrated treatment teams; and a lobby check-in experience designed to minimize administrative load.
Impact
#2
Cancer center, U.S. News & World Report ‘Best Hospitals 2024-25’2020
NYCxDESIGN, Health and Wellness2020
Interior Design Best of Year, HealthcareThe patient’s room is more than a room. It’s the primary place of rest, recovery, treatment and family time. By understanding those adjacencies, we were able to make the healthcare sanctuary more than an ideal to reach for, but a blueprint for MSK’s ongoing patient-centered transformation.
I saw an airport project they designed, and I said, ‘We need to meet these people.’