commentBuilding any new hospital is tough in California. Adding and modernizing an existing hospital can often be more difficult, but the project team behind the SHARP Memorial Hospital Modernization achieved stellar results.
The SHARP Memorial Hospital Modernization is a 315,000-sq-ft tower that adds 128 beds, 10 operating rooms and an emergency department to the existing hospital. The $148-million project took four years to build.
One of the challenges that the project team encountered when building the seven-story tower was that the columns for the project were expected to weigh 730 lbs per ft.
Because the size requirements of the columns would have impacted hospital space, alternative ideas were sought. It was discovered that the column weight and size could be cut in half with a deeper column.
The project team used SidePlate technology for the columns and used columns that weighed 60% less.
The project team also had to install complex mechanical and electrical systems throughout the facility, including basement traction elevators, pneumatic tube system and tying in existing infrastructure with new fire protection and building control systems.
Project Team
Owner: SHARP Memorial, San Diego
General Contractor: Gilbane Building Co., San Diego
Architect: NBBJ Architects, Seattle
Civil Engineer: Martin & Ziemniak, San Diego
Mechanical Engineer: Shadpour Consulting Engineers, Inc., San Diego
Structural Engineer: ABKJ Structural, Los Angeles
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