Award of Merit: Health Care
UHS Fairfax Hospital, Kirkland, Wash.
Work on the two-story, 34,000-sq-ft expansion of an existing behavioral health facility included the addition of 68 new beds. It also included the design and installation of significant stormwater treatment systems such as a chamber system covering an area equivalent to several football fields.
The project scope required considerable site redevelopment work as well as accommodating the treatment systems and 133 parking stalls. The work was done while the hospital remained in operation.
There were numerous challenges associated with keeping the front entrance to the hospital functional, safe and separate from construction activities. To meet these challenges, the team created a series of phased temporary entrance plans to safely manage and direct pedestrian, auto and ambulance traffic. Another challenge was the project's 10-month completion date. The general contractor attributes meeting that deadline to teamwork and the use of an integrated project delivery process, which provided work-arounds for issues that had the potential to derail the schedule.
Other innovative approaches on the project included the involvement of the drywall company and exterior envelope contractor in early design as a contract signer.
The MEP contractor also ran all overhead utilities, including multitrade racks, ductwork, sprinkler piping and electrical conduit, resulting in a cost savings of $100,000.
Key Players
Owner/Developer Universal Health Systems
General Contractor/Construction Manager BNBuilders
Lead Design Firm Boulder Architects
Structural/Civil Engineer KPFF Engineers
MEP Engineer McKinstry Co.
Landscape Architect Berger Partnership
Geotechnical Engineer Associated Earth Sciences Inc.
