ARCHITECTURAL FOCUS
A HEALING ENVIRONMENT
THE INTEGRATED CANCER TREATMENT CENTRE OF THE CHU DE QUÉBEC-UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL
The integrated cancer treatment centre ( centre intégré de cancérologie – CIC ) is a major step forward in the construction of the new hospital complex of the Quebec City-Laval University hospital centre ( CHU de Québec-Université Laval ) on the Hôpital de l ’ Enfant-Jésus campus in Quebec City . It includes all specialties and the latest technologies for the treatment of cancer .
The starting point for the architectural development of the CIC was the design of a green inner courtyard , surrounded by the oncology program . The aim was to provide pleasant reception areas , waiting rooms , traffic zones , care facilities and work areas that promote health and healing . An abundance of natural light , outdoor views , green spaces , warm materials and colours , and art characterize this calming new healthcare space , which offers the best practices and the latest technology .
CLINICAL PROGRAM AND DESIGN
With 32,230 m ² of floorspace , the CIC is Quebec ’ s largest cancer treatment centre and one of the largest in Canada . It is home to a technologically advanced program that delivers a wide range of specialized and overspecialized services and treatments to cancer patients . The facility includes a radio-oncology department ( teletherapy and brachytherapy ); consultation rooms organized into clinics based on the tumour site ; a chemotherapy ward capable of treating up to 70 patients simultaneously ; an oncological pharmacy ; a rapid-response oncology treatment department ( SIRO ); a treatment planning and simulation department ; a medical physics lab ; and several support offices for patients and staff . In order to integrate oncology research activities and bring them closer to medical realities , the CIC has spaces dedicated to research , innovation and teaching and will be connected to the future basic research centre . Two clinical research areas are located on the second and fourth floors , where they will intersect with the future research centre , and other offices are integrated with the consultation clinics to facilitate patients ’ participation in research protocols . The facility ’ s specialized elements include radiosurgery and adaptive radiotherapy , radiotherapy by orthovoltage and the careful integration of numerous cutting-edge medical devices : linear accelerators , magnetic resonance imaging scanners ( MRI ), a linear accelerator system with onboard MRI scanner ( MRI-LINAC ), CT scanners and positron emission tomography scanners ( PET / CT ).
The north side of the building consists of a podium for teletherapy , with bunkers on the ground floor and electromechanical services on the second . In the centre , a transversal , 6-level volume , which will be connected to the future basic research centre , contains brachytherapy rooms and research labs on the garden ( basement ) level , further teletherapy spaces on the ground floor and consultation clinics on the next three levels , with the top floor reserved for electromechanical services . On the south side , four levels surround the inner courtyard . This is where part of the
medical physics laboratory is located , along with a cyclotron , a future research imaging space and a teaching area at garden level . The rest of the medical physics centre and the treatment planning and simulation department are situated on the ground floor , under two floors dedicated to chemotherapy , with the oncological pharmacy on the second floor and the rapid-response treatment department on the third . This part of the complex was designed to accommodate two additional floors if a future expansion is needed .
The consultation clinics were designed to ensure patients ’ privacy , offer greater flexibility in their use and maximize staff efficiency . To enable a separation of public and private traffic flows , the examination rooms have double doors and are arranged around an interdisciplinary workspace reserved for medical staff . Thus , patients access the examination rooms through a public hallway , while staff members reach them via the central workspace .
To give patients more privacy , the chemotherapy ward is divided into six clusters of a dozen rooms arranged around a guard post . In each cluster , chairs are placed along the outside walls to allow patients to take advantage of natural light and views of the outside and rooftop gardens , while a closed room with gurneys is located next to the guard post . The oncological pharmacy is adjacent to the chemotherapy ward in order to facilitate medication supply , while the SIRO – where patients needing urgent oncological intervention are treated – is located on the third floor near a set of six gurneys reserved for apheresis treatments .
CONTEXT AND ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION
A major component of the new hospital complex was the requirement that the CIC had to be integrated into the existing hospital complex and its urban context with a comprehensive architectural vision . The centre was built near the edge of the site to offer patients as much privacy as possible . Its volumes were
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