Delicate, yet strong and deliberate

To help ease patient anxieties over being treated for a life-threatening disease, the architect's solution focused on providing spaces where patients felt comfortable and safe. The design consisted of "an open building that appeared delicate, yet strong and deliberate." 

To meet the open space and flexibility desired, the Outpatient Cancer Center was one of the first buildings to utilize an un-reinforced Reduced Beam Section Special Moment Frame, a system that in 1997, met the FEMA/SAC (Federal Emergency Management agency) requirements of 2001. 

After the '94 earthquake in Northridge, research led by Degenkolb Engineers found that many steel structures lost integrity when the more brittle (due to the high heat associated with welding) areas developed cracks in the welds due to stress concentrations at connections. The Reduced Beam Section system transfers stress concentration loads to areas of the beam that have been partially "carved" away, causing a more ductile form of yielding away from the connection. The result is a moment frame structure that can absorb greater forces, thus keeping occupants safer.