The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain environments conducive to the growth of industry in India—partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes. At the recently-held CII-HealthCare East conference in Kolkata, India, Tarun Kumar, AIA, LEED AP, Vice President, Cannon Design International in Mumbai, and construction administrator, William J. Albers, Associate, presented a case study of the Tata Medical Centre, Cancer Hospital, recently under construction in Kolkata.
Eastern India’s first world-class cancer hospital and research center will cater to patients from West Bengal, northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, with 150 inpatient beds and an outpatient and ambulatory care facility. To foster a sense of community and place, an exceptional level of care has been devoted to the project’s siting and organization. Rather than simply housing all programmatic components in one large boxlike building, a campus setting was created by accommodating care delivery, research, academic, and support functions in separate yet linked structures. These buildings surround a central courtyard that forms the heart of the campus, with gathering spaces and gardens that foster communication and interaction among patients, family, clinicians, researchers, faculty, and students. The result is a vibrant environment for scientific discovery and multidisciplinary patient care.