DBIA Names 3 Healthcare Projects as 2015 National Awards of Merit Winners

The Design-Build Institute of America recently named three healthcare projects as 2015 National Awards of Merit winners. Recognized for exemplary collaboration and integration in Design-Build project delivery, the projects were evaluated by a panel of industry experts.

One project will be named National Award of Excellence winner in an awards ceremony during DBIA’s 2015 Design-Build Conference & Expo on Nov. 3 in Denver, Colorado. In addition, four National Awards of Excellence will be given for design (one for architecture and one for engineering), process and teaming; and one project will be honored as National Project of the Year. The healthcare winners are:

Chandler Regional Medical Center
The Chandler Regional Medical Center project team included Kitchell and Design-Build partner Orcutt | Winslow. The 171,000-square-foot hospital tower was completed 105 days ahead of schedule (with no weekend work, no double shifts) and under budget.

Rooted in collaboration, and dedicated to honoring Dignity Health’s mission, vision and values, a collective commitment was made by the architect, contractor and owner to involve all stakeholders from leadership through the end-users during the design and construction phases.

St. Jude Medical Center Northwest Tower
Built by McCarthy Building Companies in collaboration with Taylor Design and Petra-ICS, the new $228-million (construction cost) St. Jude Medical Center Northwest Tower project included construction of a four-story, 200,000-square-foot hospital connected to an existing tower; a 20,000-square-foot central utility plant; a 215-car parking structure expansion and re-routing of major site utilities on an active medical campus.

Through a comprehensive partnering approach, the team implemented a project-wide process of continual improvement, set common goals, overcame the project’s various challenges and successfully exceeded expectations. The team faced a complete change in project direction, as well as changes in scope including the unanticipated build-out of 50,000 square feet of space that was originally planned as shell space and a shift on the operating room floor to include new technology that had received funding.

High Desert Regional Health Center
Frequent funding losses, cost overruns and leadership changes drove the use of Design-Build on High Desert Regional Health Center in Lancaster, California. For example, a delay in the county’s execution of the contract required the team to strategize different alternatives to its accelerated schedule.

The team, which consisted of Design-Build partners Swinerton Builders and Lionakis, developed a multi-phased bid package approach that allowed for a head start on the site and structural packages. Getting a head start on several components allowed the team to expedite the start of construction while the design was still being finalized.