The University of Chicago Medicine (UChicago Medicine) is building Chicago’s first freestanding cancer center with inpatient and outpatient services. Aiming to bridge longstanding health disparities on Chicago’s South Side, the $815 million project will consolidate care and about 200 team members currently spread across at least five buildings.
The new facility, which broke ground in September, is expected to open to patients in spring 2027.
Designed by CannonDesign in collaboration with Blue Cottage of CannonDesign and Yazdani Studio, the center will serve both patient and academic needs by supporting the research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer. It will have a capacity for up to 200,000 outpatient visits and 5,000 inpatient admissions per year.
The 575,000-sf, seven-story building, with room for expansion, will offer 80 inpatient beds (64 medical-surgical beds and a 16-bed ICU), 90 consultation and outpatient exam rooms, and an urgent care clinic that protects immunocompromised cancer patients from extended emergency room visits. To promote patient comfort and privacy, private infusion bays will be grouped by cancer type.
To improve the patient experience, the new facility will provide support services for patients and their families—including lifestyle classes, nutrition education, survivor support, music therapy, fitness classes, and a retail store selling cancer-specific products such as wigs or clothing with openings for ports. Family-friendly features also will include showers and on-site laundry machines, inpatient family dining areas, and larger consultation rooms for patients who attend appointments with loved ones.
In addition to a ground floor that serves both the University of Chicago campus and the surrounding neighborhood, amenities include a café, wellness and meeting spaces, public art, educational opportunities, and a publicly accessible garden.
The project will create more than 500 construction jobs and will give at least 41% of $435 million in construction contracts to minority- and women-owned firms.
On the Building Team:
Owner: University of Chicago Medicine (UChicago Medicine)
Design architect and architect of record: CannonDesign
MEP engineer: Affiliated Engineers with RTM Engineers
Structural engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Contractor: Turner Construction
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%2001-ATRIUM1.png)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%2001-ATRIUM2.png)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%20230512_DUSK%20VIEW%20FINAL_LEADERSHIP%20PRESENTATION.jpg)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%20NE_FINAL.jpg)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%20NW_FINAL.jpg)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%20SE_FINAL.jpg)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%20SITE%20PLAN.png)
![UChicago Medicine first freestanding cancer center Rendering courtesy CannonDesign](/sites/default/files/inline-images/UChicago%20Medicine%20first%20freestanding%20cancer%20center%20SW_FINAL.jpg)
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Best AEC Firms of 2011/12
Later this year, we will launch Best AEC Firms 2012. We’re looking for firms that create truly positive workplaces for their AEC professionals and support staff. Keep an eye on this page for entry information. +
| Aug 11, 2010
Call for entries: Building enclosure design awards
The Boston Society of Architects and the Boston chapter of the Building Enclosure Council (BEC-Boston) have announced a High Performance Building award that will assess building enclosure innovation through the demonstrated design, construction, and operation of the building enclosure.
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA selects three projects for National Healthcare Design Awards
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) have selected the recipients of the AIA National Healthcare Design Awards program. The AIA Healthcare Awards program showcases the best of healthcare building design and healthcare design-oriented research. Projects exhibit conceptual strengths that solve aesthetic, civic, urban, and social concerns as well as the requisite functional and sustainability concerns of a hospital.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
RSMeans/RCD forecast 14% drop in hospital construction for 2009
RSMeans forecasts a 14% drop in hospital construction in 2009 compared to 2008, with $17.1 billion in registered hospital projects as of June 30, 2009. The Reed Construction Data unit finds renovation of healthcare facilities increasing, from 36% of projects in 2008, to 40% of projects in the pipeline in the first six months of 2009.