Cannon Design • Cleveland, Ohio

The new Seidman Cancer Center, in Cleveland, Ohio, designed by Cannon Design. Photo: Mark Kempf Photography

The 375,000-square-foot (35,000-square-meter), 10-story Seidman Cancer Center, located on the  Cleveland, Ohio campus of University Hospitals, was designed by the St. Louis, Missouri office of Cannon Design. The new, free-standing building provides three times the area that was previously devoted to cancer care on the campus.

The 120-bed facility was designed with the capacity to be expanded to 150 beds. Inpatient bed floors offer cancer-specific facilities and programs. The building also houses outpatient services, including physician and clinical offices, and patient treatment areas organized to treat specific patient populations. The project is also registered for LEED certification.

At the base of the tower, a 13,000-square-foot (1,210-square-meter) sculpture garden is intended to provide patients with calm, comfort, and relaxation. Separated from the cityscape by a low wall, the garden features 120 varieties of plants including: trees, miniature evergreens, bamboo, flowers and shrubs. A wide curving path winds through the gardens and water features.

The narrow site designated for the hospital, and the building's substantial programmatic requirements, initially suggested that the hospital would take on the form of a thick rectangular box. Instead, the architects created a light-filled structure with curved walls clad in a metal-and-glass skin.

An upper-floor waiting room in the Seidman center. Photo: Mark Kempf Photography

To incorporate large lobbies and treatment areas on the lower floors the architects flared the west facade outward at its base in a large curve. The design of this facade ultimately called for 62-inch-wide (158-centimeter-wide) panels, so the architects specified Reynobond composite aluminum panels, which were the only natural metal material available the required dimensions.

Gilbane Building of Cleveland served as the general contractor on the project. Universe Cladding Solutions of Bridgeton, Missouri, and Huron Valley Glass of Ypsilanti, Michigan worked closely together on the fabrication and installation of the metal skin.

Universe fabricated 59,000 square feet (5,500 square meters) of the Reynobond composite material, most which were pre-fabricated and then shipped to the site for installation. However, many of the panels used on the undulating and curved walls required hot-air welding on site to fit the building's form.

The covered entry of the Seidman Cancer Center. Photo: Mark Kempf Photography

The $260-million Seidman Cancer Center was completed in April 2011 and opened to patients in June. Named in honor of Jane and Lee Seidman, who donated $42 million to University Hospitals for the project, the Seidman Cancer Center is a healthcare rarity: a free-standing cancer treatment hospital, one of only 12 in the United States.

The University Hospitals Seidman Center received the following awards:

• The American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum, Museum of Architecture and Design
• The Award of Excellence in the Large Project – New Construction Category from The Cleveland Engineering Society