It’s not easy to be cutting edge on health care in New York, but the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion for NYU Langone Health opened with a battery of new advancements. The 830,000-sq-ft, 21-story building became the city’s first hospital to offer private rooms to all patients, pursue LEED Platinum certification and implement a comprehensive flood resiliency program.

The new building, which broke ground in 2013 next to Tisch Hospital, expands offerings on the whole campus. Its base has a modern clinical program with 30 operating rooms, two MRI facilities, four procedure rooms, and multiple pre- and post-operation beds, while the tower has a range of standard, acute care, ICU, airborne infection isolation and protective environment patient rooms.

The facility also is home to the 160,000-sq-ft, 68-bed Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, the first new pediatric center in New York City in 15 years.

Millions of gallons of seawater flooded the site after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, requiring extensive remediation and modifications to the design to add custom-built flood doors, barriers and barricades. The decision was also made to reposition critical MEP systems above the 100-year floodplain. The controls include 250 ft of continuous barriers that automatically adjust when water levels rise. There are also flood-proof vaults with submarine doors for oil tanks and pumps.

The building also stands above active Amtrak tunnels and a sewer outflow, requiring careful design of caisson drilling, temporary columns, truss systems and structural bridging to protect the existing features and transfer—or “hang”—building loads.

The pavilion also offers flexibility for future expansion, including a chiller plant and a 3-megawatt natural gas reciprocating engine that can serve other facilities on campus. And its sustainable design elements include extensive use of recycled materials, efficient stormwater runoff management and high-efficiency windows. The health facility also is one of the country’s most digitally advanced, with extensive installation of robotic, electronic data, communications and imaging technologies.

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