Located in Vancouver, BC, the Cancer Prevention and Survivorship Centre (CPSC) expands and reimagines the existing Canadian Cancer Society offices and Jean C. Barber Lodge. The client’s mandate was to create a public face for the CCS’s West Coast head Office, where patients, staff, and the general public can meet both formally and informally to provide support and access to innovative research. The design solution, by SHAPE Architecture, presents a uniquely non-institutional character.
The project combines existing offices and cancer patient accommodations with a new public event space, lobby, and wellness centre. It also includes a lodge and subsidized hotel for cancer patients receiving treatment in Vancouver.
The existing lodge and office were made up of three distinct buildings on the site. Each of these buildings was constructed in a different era, leading to a wide variation in code standards and architectural quality. At the outset of the project, SHAPE Architecture considered adding a fourth building to meet the programmatic demands; however, this ultimately created too many future difficulties for renovations. Instead, the design team opted to unify the existing buildings and an extension into one coherent whole.
The three existing buildings were internally stripped down and placed within a single unified system. Where possible, building components were salvaged and reused in the new system. The addition creates a new consolidated single entrance to the facility and a generous shared atrium space designed to accommodate large public gatherings, host public outreach events and provide a public face for the Canadian Cancer Society. In addition, the project seeks to unite existing administrative functions with the new state-of-the-art Cancer Research + Survivorship Centre. Each of the three program components is united by top-lit oak stair that connects the building vertically and provides social and overlap space to encourage staff, patients, and researchers to interact.
The expansion is wrapped in an aluminum tube screen that suggests a protective veil, sheltering and sometimes revealing the building’s interior. This creates a new public face for the building that is both unifying and highly distinctive.
Key project sustainability goals were to repurpose existing construction while using new construction to connect the complex both functionally and environmentally. The building is constructed to BC Step Code Level 4.
