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DESCRIPTION: At first glance, the five-story Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center looks much like the other new buildings on the expanding medical center campus.  As in many of these buildings, behind the walls of the IU Simon Cancer Center, patients are being treated with the latest in medical equipment by dedicated professionals who share a philosophy of health and healing for body and spirit. 

Visitors and patients are greeted by a spacious central lobby graced with bamboo.  Traditionally, the 

grassy green canes of bamboo represent resilience and are believed to guard those nearby from unseen forces.  The bamboo’s ancient symbolism complements highly advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment, while the cancer center’s glass, brick and limestone exterior presents an evocative contrast to its western neighbor, historic Long Hospital – the first hospital built by IU – and blends into Indiana University to the north. 

The design of the building is about healing and utilizes evidence-based design (EBD) to improve patients’ health.  The principles of EBD are scientific and show a link between recovery and the way a hospital is laid out.  For example, research shows that hospital stays are shorter and have better outcomes when medical facilities address the emotional and psychological needs of patients along with medical needs.  For instance, bright lighting and high noise levels increase stress in patients. High stress levels, in turn, slow the healing process and increase the length of hospital stays.  As a result, decreasing light and noise levels in patient rooms and giving patients some control over lighting created more of a home-like environment, which reduced stress and sped healing.   

Eighty private patient rooms with accommodations for family members simplify the hospital stay at the IU Simon Cancer Center.  Natural light illuminates the chemotherapy infusion area, where patients can choose to have treatments in private rooms or with other patients in one of three larger rooms that 

accommodate more than 40 patients at a time and include cozy, homelike features such as fireplaces.   

Additionally, the Cancer Center offers multiple healing gardens for patients and visitors.  The gardens and vegetative rooftop areas are designated “green spaces” that meet or exceed the Green Guide for 

Healthcare guidelines, which are modeled from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria.  The Center boasts six vegetative roofs above critical hospital operations on three separate levels.  In addition to offering a peaceful healing environment, the roof areas enable the facility to decrease the heat island effect and reduce expensive underground storage for stormwater retention.  As a rule of thumb, a green roof retains 75 percent of the water that falls upon it.   

With an eye to the future, a few portions of the building have only been constructed to their shell so as to allow for continued changes in cancer care over the next two to three years.  When complete, the building will house three floors of outpatient services, 14 to 16 operating rooms, an expanded radiation oncology suite, the latest radiology and imaging facilities, and a retail pharmacy. 

linear accelerator.  HDC contains the addition of steel aggregate.  This steel provides strength and 

shielding, not to mention a significant amount of weight.  In fact HDC weighs nearly 300 pounds/cubic foot, which is double that of typical concrete.  As such, the team could only haul 3 to 4 yards of concrete per truck due to equipment limitations & highway weight restrictions. Second, the concrete is too heavy to pump, thus requiring the concrete to be poured via buckets.  These two time-intensive factors required the dedication of a concrete batch plant for this 16 hour operation.  

Technology - The existing hospital has a floor-to-floor height of just 12.5ft. A cancer hospital, in 

particular, is difficult to fit within this dimension because of especially large ductwork that is required. To resolve the challenge, the team opted for a 9-ft ceiling and a concrete structure that enabled them to flatten beams to maximize space.   Tying into the existing hospital did present an awesome challenge.  To facilitate the process, the Construction Manager and Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing-Fireprotection team utilized Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to coordinate the MEPFP systems.  BIM allowed the team to identify and resolve spatial clashes and conflicts between the building elements, which expedited coordination and reduced field issues.