PROTON CENTER

VENEZIA - MESTRE, ITALY (2010)

The Proton Center, the third building by Ambasz in the 20 acres (approx. 8 Has) sanitary complex of the Ospedale dell’Angelo di Venezia-Mestre (The Guardian Angel’s Hospital of Venice-Mestre), will follow the same guidelines of sustainability, energy saving, and integration with the landscape that defined his two already existing buildings: the Ospedale dell’Angelo and the Banca dell’Occhio, a steminal cell ophthalmological research laboratory. Proton therapy is a type of particle therapy which uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often in the treatment of cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy is the ability to more precisely localize the radiation dosage when compared with other types of external beam radiotherapy. The Proton’s cyclotron and the treatment cells are housed in a concrete structure with concrete walls 2mt thick. The high technical complexity of this type of installation required a very careful attention to solving its many, sometimes contradictory, requirements. Covering the top and three sides of the Proton Center with earth and plants – an excellent device for isolating the building’s cyclotron and treatment cells - not only contributed to a reduction of energy consumption for heating and cooling of the building but also helped to integrate the building into the green park surrounding it. Visitors and patients are “received” by the building as they pass through a veritable “green house” of plants that prosper in the open. This greenhouse that is, in essence, the Center’s facade, is defined not by glass but by a net, which allows the sun and rain to reach the plants growing in pots while reducing the wind pressures that may dehydrate them. Separating the building’s interiors from the green house is a double glass facade.

Assistant Architect: C. Carattoni