The mission-critical utilities plant that will serve Dallas’ new $1.2-billion Parkland health care campus, owned by the Parkland Health & Hospital System, will include design work by Dallas-based KAI Texas, which was chosen to design the exterior shell for the plant’s prime project engineer, Dallas-based Burns & McDonnell. The central utilities plant will integrate with the overall campus master plan design by Omaha-based HDR Architecture and Dallas-based Corgan Associates Inc.

KAI will lead the programming to design the interior space that will be occupied by staff at the central plant. Parkland plans to break ground for the central plant in 2011 with occupancy of the hospital set for late 2014. The new 862-bed hospital and all adjoining specialty clinics, logistics building and other support facilities such as the utilities plant will total 2.5 million sq ft and will replace the existing campus, constructed in 1954. The site for the new campus is just northeast of the existing Parkland site.

Once running at full capacity, the utilities plant will be able to provide 12,000 tons of chilled water, 110,000 lbs per hour of steam, and 20 MW of emergency power. Electrical energy, natural gas and diesel fuel will be used to power the plant. Burns & McDonnell will aim for the utilities plant to achieve a LEED-silver certification through a design that conserves energy and water use. High-efficiency thermal technologies for chilling and heating water are at the system’s core.

Parkland Hospital is one of the largest health-care projects in the history of North Texas.