Joseph W. Hines, AIA Project Architect Gresham, Smith & Partners Dallas

In today's healthcare environment there are many treatments in the fight against cancer. Chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, and bone marrow transplants are all recognized procedures used by physicians to battle the debilitating disease. One of the more recent advances in cancer treatment is radiosurgery. Radiosurgery involves irradiating a brain tumor with a dose of precisely directed radiation that is delivered such that surrounding tissue is not damaged. One instrument used to perform radiosurgery is the gamma knife unit.

Many hospitals are considering a gamma knife center as an addition to their existing nuclear medicine programs. With this addition come many interrelationships and programmatic requirements that must be addressed. Hospital infrastructure, potential campus sites, intradepartmental relationships, and increased patient stress all play an important role in locating these new centers and developing the programs for the center's design. All these factors were addressed in developing South Carolina's only gamma knife center.

The Gamma Knife Center of the Carolinas successfully integrates into the existing campus while maintaining critical spatial relationships. The facility brings together the need for a high-tech medical environment with the patient's need for a warm, safe treatment experience through a well-developed space plan and the center's proximity to necessary support spaces. Through careful programming and the need to create a patient-friendly environment, innovative solutions were achieved to bring daylight into the unit and provide an efficient facility for both staff and patients alike.

Photos/Plans

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