Irma and Norman Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center
Setting a new precedent for cancer care on the coast
- Client
- Mount Sinai Medical Center
- Location
- Florida, United States
- Size
- 220,000 square feet
- Status
- Completed
- LEED Gold
Adjacent to the shores of Biscayne Bay, the Irma and Norman Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center 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.
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. Blue Cottage of CannonDesign provided operations planning and programming as well as transition and activation services ahead of the building’s opening.
The patient’s physical and emotional journey is central to the facility’s interior planning, enabling intuitive movement throughout the building with limited logistical hiccups or delays. Additionally, it is designed with evolving technology in mind, easily able to flex and accommodate new imaging technologies or other patient amenities.
The site planning and building envelope strategy were crucial to making this cancer center a resilient facility in the face of potential climate events. The building’s finish floor elevation was raised more than six feet above the sea-wall elevation and the curtainwall system is designed to accommodate demountable surge barriers, and is rated to withstand several feet of standing water.
Concrete, while a carbon-intensive material, was ultimately chosen for its resilience to extreme winds and debris. The building form and undulating concrete spandrels provide significant passive self-shading to the interior of the building. 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. The concrete spandrels were custom made and shrink and expand along the facade to mimic the movement of water.
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 entrance and dropoff 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. Views from clinical waiting areas, infusion bays and public spaces are centered on the water and away from parking lots, traffic or garages.
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. The design supports easy, ground level accessibility to nutrition counseling, yoga and meditation classes, a dedicated salon, support group spaces and more.
Testimonials
The creation of the Braman Cancer Center not only enhances overall operations and efficiency through a thoughtfully designed patient journey, but also fulfills the imperative need on the Mount Sinai campus for a centralized facility for all cancer care.
This Braman Cancer Center mirrors the aesthetic of the neighboring Skolnick Surgical Tower and Hildebrandt Emergency Center with its carefully curated art collection, focus on the patient journey and museum-like public spaces.
