Proton Therapy Center Expands Access to Advanced Treatment
Bringing specialized cancer treatment closer to home requires both clinical expertise and a site prepared to support it. In Wallingford, Yale New Haven Health and Hartford HealthCare partnered with Proton International to develop Connecticut’s first proton therapy facility, combining their clinical resources with experience in proton center development and operations. The 25,000-square-foot Connecticut Proton Therapy Center expands regional access to a treatment that targets tumors while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. Our firm supported the facility’s development with site/civil and geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting, and landscape architecture services, helping translate the partners’ healthcare goals into a coordinated site design.
Our Land Use group coordinated site layout, grading, utilities, drainage, landscape, and lighting plans. Stormwater measures included sand filters, infiltration chambers, deep sump catch basins, and oil/water/grit separators to address water quality, peak flows, and runoff volume.
Incorporating landscape architecture into this process helped bring the outdoor environment and infrastructure into a coordinated site plan, while also integrating native plantings into outdoor spaces for healing and gathering.
Supporting the healthcare partners and Proton International, Tighe & Bond worked closely with the developer and Town of Wallingford planning staff to advance site design and municipal reviews. Coordination addressed planning and zoning, wetlands, utilities, and aquifer protection requirements, connecting the partners’ development goals with local requirements.
The project illustrates the value of considering environmental conditions, stormwater, landscape design, and permitting together. Early coordination creates opportunities to address site constraints within the design, while communication among project partners supports implementation. This approach helped prepare an underutilized property for a new purpose: Expanding access to specialized cancer care.