The Clark/McCarthy construction team, a joint venture between McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and Clark Construction, is in the process of installing the project’s base isolators, a unique seismic safety system designed for this project. Base isolation works by dissipating earthquake-generated energy and will enable the new Stanford Hospital to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.

The project will feature 206 base isolators of two sizes that will be placed on pedestals in the building’s foundation, essentially acting as roller skates under the building during an earthquake. This allows the building to shift up to 6 feet — 3 feet each way — during a seismic event. The smaller of the base isolators weigh 2.5 tons each, and the larger ones weigh 4 tons each.

The base isolator system will help to ensure continuity of care in the event of an earthquake, which is essential given that Stanford Hospital is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the region between San Francisco and San Jose.

The $2 billion hospital was designed by New York-based Rafael Viñoly Architects in association with Lee, Burkhart, Liu Inc., with offices in San Francisco, and will connect to the existing hospital via bridge and tunnel.

The facility will include a flexible pavilion design with oversized windows allowing for natural light and views from the 368 patient rooms, which will total 600 patient beds on site after the addition. The project also features the new Level 1 Trauma Center — three times the size of the current emergency department — with 58 treatment bays; surgical, diagnostic and treatment rooms; a central courtyard; and a green roof.

“Technologically, it will be one of the most advanced hospitals in the world with all of the smart systems in place,” said Bert Hurlbut, vice president of construction for the Stanford Hospital project.

The facility, designed for LEED Silver certification, will feature a displaced ventilation system, which pushes air high and ventilates low, giving patients a comfortable flow of air. Plus, it uses less energy to run, Hurlbut said. The window system is also hooked up to the building automation system, so instead of turning on the air conditioning, the building will slowly lower the blinds to start blocking some of the sunlight.

The Stanford Hospital is part of the SUMC Renewal Project, which also includes the expansion of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, the renovation of Hoover Pavilion, the Welch Road Utility Project and the replacement of School of Medicine facilities. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the hospital is expected to open for patient care in early 2018 while remaining operational.

The post Stanford Hospital Team Installs Base Isolators appeared first on HCO News.

Known as the original Palo Alto Hospital, Hoover Pavilion was renovated to accommodate modern medicine, while preserving the exterior of the 83-year-old landmark Art Deco building. San Francisco-based Page & Turnbull served as the preservation architect.

The 82,000-square-foot landmark building was constructed in 1930 with a second wing added in 1939. In order to recreate the historic space, the design team had to study the history of the building through old photographs, diagrams and reports. The research helped determine the design, which was approved unanimously by the City of Palo Alto and the Architectural Review Board.

Page & Turnbull restored and reused the 1931 façade and building, which was originally designed in the style of a ziggurat: a terraced pyramid built by Babylonians during ancient Mesopotamia. The project also included significant upgrades to the interior spaces to allow for wider hallways and more open spaces. That rehabilitation work included analyzing terra cotta tile wall panels, board from concrete, wood windows, historic light fixtures and the replacement of the pyramidal roof. All of the work on the project conformed to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

Page & Turnbull conducted a paint analysis to determine the building’s original colors, and the company also used photographs to replicate a decorative metal finial that was removed in the 1940s. During the project, there were issues with contaminated concrete aggregate used in 1939, but Page & Turnbull was able to come up with a cost-effective and design-friendly solution for the concrete.

The building houses community physicians and Stanford Hospital clinics, as well as the Stanford Health Library, a pharmacy and a cafe. It is integrated into the surrounding campus through extensive landscaping and gardens, including a lawn and Redwood Grove, which allows for easier patient and employee access. The new parking garage will also add more than 1,000 parking spaces for employees, patients and staff, making it easier to park at the facility. Plus, the parking structure is constructed of precast elements that include a hybrid moment frame system for increased seismic performance.

The Hoover Pavilion project is part of the $5 billion Stanford University Medical Center Renewal Project, which includes the $2 billion Stanford Hospital, as well as the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital expansion project, the Welch Road Utility Project and the replacement of School of Medicine facilities.

“Stanford Hospital & Clinics seeks to transform patient care, with a focus on delivering our unique brand of leading edge and coordinated care,” said Amir Dan Rubin, president and CEO, Stanford Hospital & Clinics in a statement. “Advancing the way in which care is delivered requires state-of-the-art facilities that are designed to provide patients with a healing environment and can accommodate new technologies as they become available. We believe the new Stanford Hospital will be the world’s most advanced inpatient setting.”

The construction team broke ground on the 824,000-square-foot Stanford Hospital in May. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the hospital is expected to open for patient care in early 2018 but remains operational.

The post Hoover Pavilion Marks First Step in Stanford Project appeared first on HCO News.

The $2 billion hospital is being designed by New York-based Rafael Viñoly Architects in association with Lee, Burkhart, Liu Inc., with offices in San Francisco, and will connect to the existing hospital via bridge and tunnel. It is part of the SUMC Renewal Project, which also includes the expansion of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, the renovation of Hoover Pavilion, the Welch Road Utility Project and the replacement of School of Medicine facilities. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the hospital is expected to open for patient care in early 2018 but remains operational.

Greg Schoonover, vice president and project executive for McCarthy, said that a large part of the project’s success thus far is a result of collocation. The project team consolidated offices in Palo Alto, Calif., in the latter part of 2012 and will be mobilizing to an office across the street from the job site in August. “This project made me realize the importance of collocation,” he said. “If we had a coordination problem, we could just walk down the hallway to get it resolved by the [design team].”

The facility will include a flexible pavilion design with oversized windows allowing for natural light and views from the 368 patient rooms, which will total 600 patient beds on site after the addition. The project also features a new Level 1 Trauma Center — three times the size of the current emergency department — with 58 treatment bays; surgical, diagnostic and treatment rooms; a central courtyard; and rooftop gardens. It will also be built to withhold the effects of and remain functional after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.

Schoonover described the project as unique because it is base isolated and has a duel-glazed curtain wall system. Plus, it has a displacement ventilation system. Another standout feature is that the patient towers are being built in four separate pods that connect to a podium level, which makes up the first four levels of the building. “When you look at the project after completion, these pods will look independent buildings with a central atrium area as the focal point,” he said.

Compared to other projects he completed in the past, Schoonover said that the project team enhanced the level of modeling for the job, and McCarthy’s use of BIM as a whole continues to advance with each project the company completes.

“We are setting out to not have any deferred approvals at all,” Schoonover said. “Constructability reviews and coordination are incorporated into the drawings already. That allows us to have a more successful time in the field as we’re proceeding to go ahead with construction. Much of that is due to collocation and all the technology we’re using, which helps streamline the process and will make the job run much more smoothly.”

McCarthy earned a Celebration of Engineering & Technology Innovation (CETI) Award earlier this year specifically, for using BIManywhere software on the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center replacement project, which is currently in Phase III of construction. Schoonover said that the Stanford construction team plans to use the same software as they move further along in the construction process.

Because of McCarthy’s expertise and innovative approach to construction for the health care sector, HC+O News interviewed Jim Mynott, vice president of design management for McCarthy’s Newport Beach-based Southern California office, and Chris Pechacek, director of virtual design and construction for the company’s Northern Pacific division, based in its San Francisco office. In this second part of the two-part interview, Mynott and Pechacek discuss how BIM software can help the operation of a facility.

To listen to the first part of the interview, click here.

The post PODCAST Part II: McCarthy Breaks Ground on Stanford Hospital appeared first on HCO News.