The commission from the healthcare client, Exempla (now SCL Health), was straightforward: build us a 360-bed acute care replacement hospital in Denver with 21 ORs (two of them hybrids), 42 ED rooms (12 dedicated to eldercare), a 20,000-sf central utility plant, and 1,100 parking spaces. And, by the way, do it in 30 months.
Mortenson Construction and its partners completed the 831,000-sf, $623 million Saint Joseph Hospital well before the January 1, 2015, deadline, thanks largely to their extensive use of offsite prefabrication.
Mortenson found that for every dollar spent on prefab, about 13% of the investment would be returned as a quantifiable benefit to the project. Prefabrication was also seen as the only way to complete the project within the client’s rigorous schedule.
The team went all-out on modularity. They physically tested four different mockups of shower pan systems before arriving at a trench drain system where the entire room floor sloped toward the drain. Based on an evaluation of a full bathroom pod mockup, the team determined that the ceiling height could be reduced from nine feet to seven feet, 11 inches, saving $110,000.
The bathroom provider, Oldcastle Modular Eggrock Pods, produced 440 pods, 257 of which went into patient rooms.
The team completed 376 headwalls entirely in a nearby warehouse, along with 250 multi-trade prefabbed mechanical racks, each measuring 8x25 feet.
The hospital, which is being operated jointly with National Jewish Health, opened on time earlier this year.
PROJECT SUMMARY
HONORABLE MENTION
Saint Joseph Hospital
Denver, Colo.
BUILDING TEAM
Submitting firm: Mortenson Construction (CM/GC)
Owner: SCL Health
Architect: ESJH Design Team (joint venture of Davis Partnership, H+L Architecture, and ZGF Architects)
Interior architect: H+L Architecture
Structural/civil engineer: Martin/Martin
MEP engineer: Cator, Ruma & Associates
GENERAL INFORMATION
Project size: 831,327 sf
Construction cost: $360 million; total cost: $623 million
Construction time: December 2011 to July 2014
Delivery method: CM at risk
Related Stories
| Aug 29, 2022
Montana becomes first U.S. state to approve 3D printing in construction
Montana is the first U.S. state to give broad regulatory approval for 3D printing in building construction.
Architects | Apr 22, 2022
Top 10 green building projects for 2022
The American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment (COTE) has announced its COTE Top Ten Awards for significant achievements in advancing climate action.
Concrete Technology | Apr 19, 2022
SGH’s Applied Science & Research Center achieves ISO 17025 accreditation for concrete testing procedures
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger’s (SGH) Applied Science & Research Center recently received ISO/IEC17025 accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) for several concrete testing methods.
2021 Building Team Awards | Jan 14, 2022
First public-private partnership project in Veterans Administration history saves $34 million in costs
LEO A DALY and McCarthy Building Companies head the project team for the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center in BD+C’s 2021 Building Team Awards.
Building Team Awards | Dec 8, 2021
A performing arts center celebrates a legendary rocker and his birthplace
Buddy Holly Hall in Texas receives BD+C’s Silver Building Team Award.
Building Team Awards | Dec 7, 2021
A rapid response to a health emergency
Baptist Hospital of Miami’s 233-bed Hope Tower receives BD+C’s Bronze Building Team Award
Building Team Awards | Dec 3, 2021
Putting science on display, thanks to a design-build approach
UC Riverside’s Plant Growth Environments Facility receives BD+C’s Bronze Building Team Award.
Building Team Awards | Dec 2, 2021
An academic ‘precinct’ brings arts and sciences together
Wofford College’s Chandler Center for Environmental Studies receives BD+C’s Silver Building Team Award.
Building Team Awards | Dec 1, 2021
Denver sets the bar for water reclamation and reuse
A new administration building for the city’s water utility company scores Platinum in BD+C’s 2021 Building Team Awards.
2021 Building Team Awards | Nov 17, 2021
Caltech's new neuroscience building unites scientists, engineers to master the human brain
The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena wins a Gold Award in BD+C's 2021 Building Team Awards.
