Mount Sinai Medical Center's Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center opens as South Florida care destination

Adjacent to the shores of Biscayne Bay and the Julia Tuttle Causeway, the building is a striking addition on campus, with an undulating concrete and glass facade that reflects the energy and character of Miami Beach. It centralizes all of Mount Sinai Medical Center’s outpatient cancer screening, diagnostics, treatment and survivorship services into one building, making for a streamlined patient, loved one and staff experience. 

“The Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center represents many things: A new era of care for Mount Sinai Medical Center, access to first-class care for South Floridians and an iconic silhouette for the Miami Beach skyline,” said Natalie Petzoldt, Project Principal on the project. “We are excited to see this latest collaboration with Mount Sinai leadership and the Braman’s come to fruition as a cancer care destination.” 

CannonDesign partnered with the client across the full continuum of the project, from the early design and planning phase all the way through to the first patient day. We provided architecture, interior design, experiential graphics and structural engineering. Blue Cottage of CannonDesign provided operations planning and programming as well as transition and activation services ahead of the building’s opening. 

The 216,000-square-foot, five-story building includes 39 infusion bays, 56 physician exam rooms, two linear accelerators and a diagnostic imaging suite. The center offers same- and next-day appointments as well as telemedicine and oncology urgent care. Additional amenities include retail pharmacy, nutrition counseling, yoga and meditation classes, a dedicated salon, respite space, support group spaces, pet and music therapy and more. Easy access to these supportive services makes the Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center a full-spectrum resource for cancer patients and their loved ones.  

The interior design complements Mount Sinai’s campus art program, the centerpiece of which is a two-story hanging glass sculpture in the lobby. A clean material palette consisting of terrazzo, wood, and blue- and green-colored glass, is inspired by the water, and creates a peaceful and serene setting for patients and staff.  

Access to natural light and surrounding bay and skyline views were prioritized during the design of the building. Windows were included in major imaging modalities, even the MRI rooms, a rarity in imaging spaces. Infusion bays are positioned in a way that prioritizes outdoor views. The entry drives and parking lot for the center were all placed on one side of the building to ensure these views were uninterrupted, which has proven benefits including reduced stress and improved recovery. 

To complement this siting, the interior public entrance and double height lobby are placed facing the water and a ground-level healing garden. The arrival area connects the front entry to the garden with a ceiling which gradually rises, creating a feeling of expansion, compelling movement and framing views outward towards native plant life and Biscayne Bay. 

The healing garden hugs the curve of the building’s exterior, which consists of custom concrete spandrel panels that swell and shrink to provide shading where necessary for the glass openings below. The design team created computational models to not only create the signature curves of the building but also maximize replicability and the economy of precast concrete. 

“Indelible architecture has become part of Mount Sinai Medical Center’s brand, and we were proud to collaborate on the iconic look of the Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center,” said Arjun Bhat, Design Leader on the project. “With concrete and glass panels that echo and reflect the surrounding Biscayne Bay and sweeping views of the water and city from within, we aimed to elevate the patient experience from the moment of arrival and throughout their time in the center.” 

While concrete is a high-energy use material to create, it was chosen for its resiliency to extreme climate events that can occur in South Florida, such as heavy rain, high winds and hurricanes. The center was designed to withstand winds up to 175 mph, and the first-floor elevation was raised more than six feet above the seawall to mitigate flooding risks.

The Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center complements previous CannonDesign work on campus, which includes the Skolnick Surgical Tower and the Hildebrandt Emergency Center. Both Skolnick and Braman have iconic sculptural canopies at their entry drop-off areas that provide shading and signature moments for the Mount Sinai Medical Center campus.