University of Pennsylvania Chester County Hospital Corridor
Additional Info
Award Winner : Modlogiq Inc.
Architectural Excellence : The University of Pennsylvania Chester County Hospital quickly needed a “temporary” corridor to connect two wings of the hospital and enable continued direct access to the Emergency Department while construction of an ongoing multi-million-dollar expansion forged ahead uninterrupted. However, the corridor was temporary only in the sense that once the expansion is completed in 2022, the corridor will no longer be needed and will be removed. Otherwise, it had to meet the strict requirements associated with permanent structures. These included a 2-hour rating for fire resistance, a minimum 8-foot clearance wall-to-wall, and the ability to stand up to the heavy traffic of gurneys and medical equipment. The corridor has 3 modules to limit weight to be lifted over a substantial span of a 250’ crane reach. Each module was constructed using structural steel and poured concrete floors and featured spray foam insulation for higher insulation value.
Cost Energy Effectiveness : By avoiding the expense and time that conventional construction methods would have entailed, off-site construction saved hundreds of man-hours and the attendant costs. In addition, building off-site provided labor efficiencies, with most of the work not being completed under prevailing wage standards of Chester County, resulting in an approximate 20% savings. Then there are the larger economic issues. Without the ability to drop in the modular corridor and enable direct access to the Emergency Department, patients would have had to been circuitously routed so that the multi-million-dollar expansion project could proceed unabated. How do you put a price on the minutes that could mean the difference between life and death in an emergency? The flip side of that question: How to calculate the savings realized by enabling the uninterrupted continuation of a multi-million expansion?
Design Firm Name : Providence Engineering
Engineering Firm Name : Providence Engineering
Green Building Description : The corridor is highly efficient. To mitigate the greenhouse effect, there are no windows. And the spray foam insulation combined with the high-efficiency HVAC mini-split mounted on the roof deliver year-round comfort while providing significant energy savings. Also, by building off-site, greenhouse gasses were reduced thanks to fewer trips to and from the actual hospital site by fewer contractors, subcontractors, vendors, inspectors, etc. Also, site waste and landfill impact were also greatly reduced.
Installer Firm Name : LF Driscoll
Occupied Date : 1/15/2020
Owner Firm Name : University of Pennsylvania Chester County Hospital
Production Start Date : 10/21/2019
Project Location City : West Chester
Project Location State Name : PA
Technical Innovation : Due to changing construction schedules, the need for the corridor took on sudden urgency. However, the confined area for placement of the corridor was virtually inaccessible. This was due to a number of factors, including the way two of the hospital wings were situated in relation to one another, the location of an intervening “blind” courtyard and the construction of the multi-million dollar expansion project. Using conventional construction methods would have made worker access expensive and time-consuming, not to mention the difficulties of lugging equipment, materials, and tools to the area. However, the solution of building the corridor modules completely off-site and dropping them into the highly confined space avoided all of that. In fact, the ability of site development and off-site construction to take place simultaneously shortened the schedule to just 4 weeks on site – a huge benefit for the hospital.
Total Square Feet : 615