Taylor Design

Taylor Design is a strategy-based design firm with practices in Architectural Design, Interior Design and Design Strategy; with offices in northern and southern California.

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Tech Talk: The Ideal Cancer Center: Improving Designs through the Patient’s Lens

“From the first moments I realized I had cancer, my instincts as a medical planner and designer kicked in. I decided early on to lean into the discomfort and trauma of what was happening to me as a way to broaden my awareness, empathy and compassion for myself, and others. With a personal commitment to lead with vulnerability, I documented a very personal experience and sought insights and solutions that I could bring back to my profession and improve cancer care facility design in the future. I am grateful to be part of a team at Taylor Design that was willing to explore and expand my findings with me.”

– Teresa Endres, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, AAH, Medical Planning Director at Taylor Design

 

The Big Why: Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and, according to the National Cancer Institute, there will be more than 2 million new cases of the disease diagnosed in the country this year. With the current advancements in treatment, many of the cancers diagnosed today are survivable. However, with numbers like these, it should come as no surprise that most of us will be touched, directly or indirectly, by cancer in our lifetime.

An Already “Big Why” Becomes Personal: As healthcare architects who steadfastly believe that “Design Empowers People,” Taylor Design has always understood the gravity of this disease, as well as the important role that the physical environment has on the well-being of people who need cancer care. This awareness hit even closer to home in 2021 when, during the height of COVID, two of our own– Senior Associate and Medical Planning Director Teresa Endres and Lead Interior Designer Lauren Wagner – each received a life-altering cancer diagnosis.

An Inspired Journey: Although Teresa and Lauren were faced with very different diagnostic, treatment, and eventual recovery paths, they were united by their courage, curiosity and compassion – as well as their newfound shared identity as “healthcare designer as patient.” In December 2022, fueled by their personal observations and experiences – as well as a renewed inspiration to improve the healthcare experience of others through design – they and many of their equally inspired colleagues embarked on a mission to create the “Ideal Cancer Center” (ICC).

Building on best practices already embraced by the healthcare design profession, such as Evidence-Based Design (EBD) and patient-centered design principles, their goal for the ICC is to drive progress in the way the healthcare industry perceives a cancer care facility’s role in supporting individual healing and recovery. They developed the theoretical ICC bolstered by Taylor Design’s resources and expertise, the perspective of more than 100 individuals touched by a personal experience with cancer (including their valued partner and fellow cancer survivor Nanci Timmins of HCAI/OSHPD), and 10 months of intense research and design.

Fresh Insights and Expanded Possibilities: This focused effort resulted in a new, inspired cancer center design model that offers workable and highly functional design solutions to further reinforce the healthcare providers’ mission to deliver the most innovative, progressive, and personalized care for their patients. It achieves this in a flexible and resilient environment, while also elevating the personal experience of the patient, family member and healthcare team. The ICC erases the gap between inpatient and outpatient cancer services by situating both in one facility. It expands basic design principles to more astutely address the patient’s and other users’ needs, reimagines adjacencies and flow to improve efficiency, addresses code and constructability issues, and offers fresh and innovative insight for the next generation of shared diagnostic, treatment and recovery facilities. In addition to the identification of several distinctive, yet achievable, departures from what is typical in the design industry’s current thinking and approach, the study outlines a “Kit of Care Center Parts” that allows for scaling these solutions for various needs, sites and conditions.

Furthering the Conversation: Eager to further move the needle on what might be possible in the next generation of cancer care facility design, Teresa, Lauren, and the rest of the Taylor Design research team are sharing with the industry their insights and innovations gained from the study. Since its debut at the 2023 Healthcare Design Conference in New Orleans, the Ideal Cancer Center has also been featured at the Kent State 2024 Design Symposium “Enhancing the Cancer Care Journey: Architectural Strategies for Cancer Care Environments,” and is currently scheduled to be presented at the AIA’s Central Valley and Orange County chapters in the fall of 2024. Taylor Design is also delivering more in-depth and customized presentations to healthcare providers for their planning, design and construction teams – all with the intention of continuing this important discussion and delivering on the company’s brand promise of improving user experience through Design that Empowers People.

 


If you are interested in learning more about how to bring the Ideal Cancer Center research to your organization, please contact tdmarketing@wearetaylor.com.

 

Teresa EndresTeresa Endres, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, AAH, is a Board Certified Healthcare Architect who brings over 30 years of professional experience as a medical planning director, planning manager, project director, healthcare architect, and Owner’s PM dedicated to healthcare projects in the United States and internationally. Her projects total over 25.5 million SF with a construction cost over $18 billion. Teresa is a senior member of the Taylor Design team and is based in Sacramento.