Mount Sinai cancer center unveils evaluation/treatment center. (Design and Development).

The Derald H. Ruttenberg Cancer Treatment Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine unveiled its reconstructed comprehensive cancer evaluation and treatment center, one of the most extensive renovation projects of its type ever undertaken by an academic medical center.

Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP developed the design for the $3.4 million renovation of the 20,000-SF facility, located at Fifth Avenue and 100th Street in Manhattan.

WASA's design premise for the entire project was to create a peaceful, serene, and calm environment that would provide a nurturing space for patients and family members. It combines advanced technology with a comforting and supportive interior environment that complements the healing process.

Each patient treatment room is designed to provide the most healing, relaxing environment possible for patients receiving chemotherapy, a physically demanding procedure typically lasting from one to eight hours.

Most design elements have an Asian or Japanese influence. The main entrance to the facilities waiting area opens up from the I. M. Pei-designed Guggenheim Pavilion. The waiting area features back-lit, glazed rice-paper screens that offer soft, indirect lighting.

Wall fabrics are also made from rice paper. Floors are carpeted with a pattern that simulates a woven straw mat. Furniture and other pieces are made from cherry wood, creating a warm, homelike environment. WASA gave careful consideration to every design detail, down to the color of the walls.

The center's waiting area consists of clusters of comfortable, upholstered furniture where small groups of family, friends and patients can gather for intimate conversations. Unlike many communal waiting rooms, the space provides families with a sense of privacy.

Each interior corridor leads back to a central waiting/administrative area, which makes it easy for patients and visitors to find their way around the center. The administrative facilities include a glass wall "storefront" that serves as an additional point of reference and orientation.

The administrative corridor--which includes a series of private offices for doctors, staff and administrators--occupies the central interior of the space. To promote discretion and privacy, WASA employed an innovative design technique that allows doctors to see what is happening outside their offices. People in the hallways, however, cannot see inside. A conference room, equipped to accommodate multimedia presentations, is located further down the hall.