Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/137453
photos: chris bolin Central Alberta Cancer Centre by Godfrey Budd he new Central Alberta Cancer Centre (CACC) is a cancer treatment facility that will serve central Alberta and offer radiation therapy for the first time in the area. The Red Deer centre, which opens in fall this year, will form part of a radiation therapy corridor which, besides existing facilities in Calgary and Edmonton and a recently opened facility in Lethbridge, will include another centre that will be built in Grand Prairie. The lower floor of the two-storey building has three linear accelerator vaults, although one of them will remain a shell for now. The other two vaults will house a Varian Truebeam linear accelerator. Made in Silicon Valley, the Truebeam is said to be a state-of-the-art device for cancer treatment, has a price tag of over $3-million per unit and can be used to deliver numerous forms of radiation therapy to a variety of disease sites. An additional fourth vault may also be added at some future date to a space that is outside the new CACC and next door to the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. The centre is the second site in Alberta to have doorless vaults. "The typical ones of the past had a large T Central Alberta Cancer Centre p52-55Central Alberta Cancer.indd 53 door that closed behind the patient like in a bank vault," says Sergio Poles, a principal at HFKS Architects Inc. that led the design on the project. A zigzag design from the treatment area within the vault to beyond the exit helps contain the radiation. "The radiation cannot get around the corners of the zigzag," says Poles. "New technology allows for better control of the treatment beam compared to the past." Formerly, linear accelerators included shielded doors plus the maze. "The vault walls have two wall types, one with standard density concrete and the other with high-density concrete. Special high-density concrete is used to absorb rays and stop their spread. In this design, the north and south walls along the primary beam receive the most radiation. The east and west walls don't get the direct beam," says Michael Dowler, senior principal at HFKS. Despite being on a lower floor, the areas near the vaults have lots of natural light thanks to three light wells. Inside the vaults, back-lit photographic panels in the ceiling give the patient the impression of a skylight. The lower floor is also the location of staff offices, waiting rooms and a CT scanner. Areas for patients feature lots of wood tones and wood-grain walls. "The floors have warmer colours to make the environment for patients less institutional. Also, we wanted to make it easy for patients and families to find staff or particular places they needed to get to, so there's good 'wayfinding' with the use of floor finishes and patterns. So, from the reception area, a patient might follow, say, this green floor pattern that will take you to the treatment area," says Poles. Besides the main entrance, there is a pharmacy, waiting area, an outpatient department and examination rooms. The upper floor has a chemotherapy centre where drugs can be administered intravenously. The building has been designed on an open-plan basis, although sections can be curtained off and there is plenty of light streaming from the windows that begin above the june 2013 /53 13-05-30 2:12 PM