Work began in New Brunswick on the state’s first free-standing cancer hospital in June 2021. Now, the $750 million facility – a collaboration between RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in partnership with New Brunswick Development Corp. – is celebrating another milestone.

Engineering firm O’Donnell & Naccarato announced the topping out of the forthcoming 520,000-square-foot Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center Nov. 2.

Scheduled to open in 2024, the hospital will accommodate inpatient and outpatient treatment, research laboratories, retail space and ancillary services.

O&N provided structural engineering services for the project in partnership with DEVCO and design firm HOK.

At 12 stories, plus a penthouse, the building will be one of the tallest stand-alone properties in the city. Inside, a four-story open atrium; winding, ribbon staircase and steel box-truss pedestrian bridge will connect the facility to the original Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which O&N designed and constructed nearly three decades ago.

According to O&N, other structural achievements at the new Cancer Pavilion include more than 50 building column transfers along the height of the facility and multiple double-cantilevered canopies over entrances and drop-off aisles.

The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Based in Philadelphia, O’Donnell & Naccarato has four offices nationwide, including a New Jersey location in Mountainside.