McMillan Pazdan Smith completed the Bon Secours St. Francis Adolescent And Young Adult Cancer Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

Cancer strikes people of all ages, in every stage of life. Teens and young adults, however, represent a group that often falls through the cracks of a medical system that offers specialized treatments designed for pediatric and older adult cancer patients.

That’s why a visionary group of doctors teamed up with Roger Daltrey of The Who, Teen Cancer America and McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, to create the St. Francis Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Center. Evidence-based design and patient engagement both suggest that treatment outcomes improve when end users have a participatory role in the design process, so the team also brought in patients themselves to contribute facility ideas.

This dedicated teen cancer center is designed to foster community and social engagement among its patients–an aspect not often found in traditional treatment environments.

The St. Francis Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Center caters to teen and young adult patients by offering a flexible kitchen that can transform into a private dining room, circadian rhythm lighting with enhanced user control over the environment, and peacefully inviting social spaces. The hangout areas are arranged with soft furniture, games, and other comforts, including a message board for families to leave inspiring quotes or pictures.

Wall art inspired by the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains extends from the common areas into the patient rooms.

The teen cancer center also features a metal sculpture in the shape of a rock cairn (stacked rocks often seen on hiking trails as hikers pass through on their journey.) Each patient has an opportunity to drop their own rock into the metal cairn before they check out — leaving their mark on the center and a message of inspiration, hope and community.

On his visit to the center during its grand opening, Roger Daltrey donated one of his guitars to the center and dropped the first rock into the cairn.

Design: McMillan Pazdan Smith
Photography: Derrick Simpson Photography