Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre, Lisbon, Portugal: 2024 Design Showcase Award Of Merit

Designed to blend seamlessly with its predecessor, the neighboring Cancer Research Centre designed by the late Charles Correa, the Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre in Lisbon, Portugal, opened in October 2023.

With a goal to improve treatment and the quality of life for those affected by the disease, the 392,700-square-foot project focuses on operational efficiencies to accelerate treatment and care, bringing together surgical services, research, and clinical trials under one roof.

It was submitted to the Design Showcase by HDR (Omaha, Neb.), Sachin Agshikar (Mahim, Mumbai, India), and João Laranjo Arquitectos (Portimão, Algarve, Portugal).

Innovative architectural features—including round operating rooms with glass walls that change from transparent to opaque at the flip of a switch; infusion bays featuring contemporary pods with views of the water and built-in seating inspired by first-class airline seats; and natural elements such as water features, courtyards, and views of nature—reinforce this strategy while delivering a peaceful environment designed to inspire hope.

Here, Fernando Rodrigues, senior principal of health planning at HDR, and Sachin Agshikar, architect at Sachin Agshikar Architects, discuss some of the project’s defining features.

Healthcare Design: How did the project’s goal to create an atmosphere of tranquility, possibility, and hope shape the overall planning and design?

Fernando Rodrigues: The building is formulated around the notion of experiential design, the idea of making a place that is associated with hope and technical advancement and with a strong focus on positive emotion to enhance healing.

Design interventions were focused on light and water, paralleling a specific and well-tailored program to address a treatment protocol for pancreatic cancer associated with cell therapies. The building establishes a care environment in which the functionality and the colocation of these components strongly support new treatments.

The human experience was important. The clarity of movement and circulation of people to their destinations had to be purely intuitive. All destinations had to be understood through the natural ambulation of people. We were asked to transmit hope without having to write “hope” anywhere in the building … and I believe we were successful.

Sachin Agshikar: Here, architecture had to go hand in hand with the healing process. Visiting a hospital can be daunting for patients and their relatives, both physically and emotionally. A way to relieve them from this stress is to create a building that generates positive energy and a feeling of tranquility. This leads to hope and recovery.

This was made possible by incorporating two large courtyards shaded with a pergola, which allows natural light into the building from the north and east sides. Other conscious design decisions that reconcile with nature include two large pools visible at the building entrance as well as from the waiting areas, research labs, and second-floor patient rooms.

Patients and visitors can sit next to the water under a tree instead of spending time in an enclosed waiting area. Scientists can step outside for a break as well.

HCD: How did the project team approach the planning to support the goal to speed up treatment and care?

Rodrigues: A big premise of the success of addressing pancreatic cancer was that the time for action is very short. From diagnosis to treatment, there is no time to spare. A reduction in treatment cycle time required proximity of research, scientists, tools (such as the bioreactor), and faculty working on the treatment and driving discovery. Bringing everyone together made sense and created a translational focus.

Additionally, the building had to accommodate the infrastructure associated with a clean lab environment, which is something we didn’t have precedence for in Portugal. This is the first cGMP lab in Portugal.

To do that, we had to create clean pathways for the movement of material. For example, staff need to be able to extract cell material from a patient and transport that material through an environment that will not introduce any contaminants.

The clean pathways from the operating rooms (OR) to the cGMP lab enable safe transport of material without involving a cooler. Staff can now create therapies that can be successfully applied to the patient in a shorter time.

HCD: A notable feature of the project is the circular operating rooms, which are visible upon arrival. Discuss the thinking behind this strategy.

Rodrigues: Historically, the operating theater was envisioned as a circular space driven by the functional need of spectators. An evocative idea, but the justification of functionality was not there.

We thought it was important to create an environment with a different shape that performs, at the very least, at the same level as the rectangular versions.

An OR without corners could make best use of the footprint of the space on the floor. Things get stuck in the corners. If we have 500 square feet of circular space, it could be better leveraged.

Additionally, the shape removes the constraints of the orientation of the patient in the room, allowing staff to have a 360-degree orientation to the patient.

The ORs also are seen from the outside allowing natural daylight to fall into them. The natural daylight has been well received by the staff and their experience of the space.

HCD: Jurors appreciated the play of texture in the architecture and the use of bold colors. What interior design features carry out these strategies?

Rodrigues: Within a short walk of the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower and physically connected to the Centre for the Unknown, the building’s materiality and architectural references speak to the historic and aesthetically iconic roots of Lisbon and the coastline.

Contrasting this strong reference to legacy and the spiritual draw of the sandstone material is color. The window thresholds are yellow to represent that what is happening inside is innovative.

The color represents medical advancements and discovery within the facility. It is the same yellow used in the Portuguese flag where it represents the richness of the culture.

Agshikar: The interiors are kept simple with walls painted white. However, a feeling of warmth is created with the help of a wood-finish baffle ceiling and a dash of yellow used for specific walls.

A large blank wall has been reserved in the lobby for a mural, which is yet to be commissioned. Overall, the cancer hospital’s focus is on the emotional comfort of the patient and providing the best facilities for treatment.

For more coverage of Healthcare Design’s 2024 Design Showcase, go here.

Anne DiNardo is editor-in-chief of Healthcare Design. She can be reached at [email protected].