Project Highlights

• Vertical and horizontal expansions adjacent to five different existing structures
• Fast track schedule
• Integrated steel delivery process
• Reduced schedule resulting in cost savings

Overview

Mayo Mankato Hospital Surgical Suite expansion involved vertical and horizontal additions adjacent to five existing structures with five different vintages and structural systems, including cast-in-place concrete and steel. The expansion includes a new surgical suite and a “hub” area to aid in patient/public circulation and is provisioned for future expansion, based on MBJ’s study and retrofit for three future additional stories.

One of the challenges of the vertical addition and surgical suite expansion was calculating for snow drift loads in areas not originally designed to carry the added load, while avoiding disruption to the existing hospital functions, misalignment of existing floors, and low ceiling clearance in what would become operating rooms. The solution was to frame over the existing roof with structural steel, so that the new roof would be set high enough to create an interstitial space for mechanical equipment and to align with the existing floor of the original hospital bed tower, an important design feature to ensure floor alignment for future expansion.

In addition to the design challenges of adding onto an existing hospital, the design was produced on a fast track schedule using an integrated steel delivery process, which integrates the steel fabrication detailing with the overall structural design. By using BIM as a tool to begin detailing before the design was completed, shop drawing production and review time was reduced by several weeks, saving both time and money.