UCSF Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building

Firm
  • area / size 179,000 sqft
  • Completed 2019
  • Stantec designed the UCSF Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building with focused design principles and careful planning to serve patients in San Francisco, California.

    The Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building (PCMB) is the physical culmination of a journey that started a decade ago when Stantec designed the Medical Center at Mission Bay for UCSF. The PCMB is the latest addition to the UCSF Medical Center campus which currently includes UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital, and UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital.

    The facility layout is inspired by four key design principles— Precision, Transparency, Integration, and Activation — which Stantec wove throughout the interior and exterior of the building:

    • Precision: A fusion of precision and warmth through the combination of glass and metal in a fluid coupling. Windows and walls create angles that guide the eye, offering an intuitive sense of how the building operates.
    • Transparency: Patients and passersby can see in and out of PCMB, demystifying the building and humanizing cancer treatment.
    • Integration: The building design strives to unify the patient experience. PCMB completes the sequence of movement across Mission Bay clinical areas and offers ease of access for those arriving on public transit.
    • Activation: The building invites the surrounding community to understand the care provided within. The design includes subtle, angling walls that create a more generous public domain, with an overhang to provide shelter at some entrances.

    With an innovative and progressive approach, PCMB goes well beyond traditional treatment methods. The 179,000-square foot cancer outpatient building houses 120 rooms for exams and consultations, 47 infusion bays for chemotherapy, and 19 types of imaging services. The facility also includes 20 consultation rooms for supportive programs, such as genetic counseling, nutrition and dietary consultations, social work, psycho-oncology, complementary medicine, and symptom management. PCMB features a patient resource center with rooms for support groups, exercise classes, physical therapy, financial counseling, and yoga.

    PCMB strives to deliver a new generation of precision medicine, tailoring individual care based on a detailed understanding of each person’s genetic or molecular information – the “signatures” of each tumor that makes it unique. Precision medicine is designed to offer novel approaches and personalized treatment to patients. The building brings together top researchers, oncologists, surgeons, and other clinicians to foster new treatments and speed their delivery to patients.

    ArchitectStantec
    PhotographyDavid Wakely