US Oncology Round Rock Cancer Center

The 8,000-square-foot expansion of this existing chemotherapy infusion suite to include radiation therapy made Texas Oncology, Round Rock a fully integrated cancer center with improved access to quality care. The project scope includes a linear accelerator, giving cancer patients access to radiation technology that can treat otherwise inoperable tumors and cancers.

The suite expansion consists of new oncologist and physicist offices; dosimetry (the calculation of the absorbed dose in matter and tissue resulting from the exposure to indirectly and directly ionizing radiation), exam, and control rooms; a GE computer tomography suite; and 1,500-square-foot vault addition for Varian’s linear accelerator. The adaptable design also incorporates space for future expansion of a second vault.

The team designed and sited the new vault addition to seamlessly integrate into the existing four-story outpatient building. Stucco plaster and indigenous Texas limestone veneers were used over the four- to eight-foot-thick, high density (HD) concrete walls. Expansive soils at the vault addition required RS&H to provide cased piers to a depth of 25 feet to support the three-foot-thick concrete mat slab, walls, and roof loads.

To protect owner’s technology investment, a 15-year seamed waterproof membrane below the vault mat slab and 20-year TPO roofing membrane were selected. RS&H provided a duct return below the counter to mitigate heat generated by the computer systems at the control area. This provided a significant reduction in heat load and required less cooling of the space. US Oncology incorporated RS&H’s cooling design concept into their guidelines for future projects. The team also coordinated with the Physicist to determine computer tomography and linear accelerator suite shielding requirements.