Project Highlights

• 2-story vertical expansion
• multiple existing building adjacencies
• column-hung structural system to enable construction during occupancy

Overview

The goal of this project was to increase the number of private patient rooms at Methodist Hospital. The new 40,000 square foot addition, which rises 2 stories above the fifth floor of the existing east bed tower, adds 24 new private rooms per floor. In the four buildings that adjoin the expansion, an additional 150,000 square feet of space was renovated to accommodate more private rooms, larger operating rooms, and a new imaging center. The primary structure is a two-way flat slab concrete, chosen to provide a floor system that could handle contemporary mechanical/electrical systems while accommodating the shallow floor systems of the adjacent 1957 building. A column hung system provided the structural strength to hold the concrete needed to build the addition and maintain function and occupancy of the hospital throughout construction. Prior to the design phase, MBJ conducted a structural evaluation to ensure the original structure had been appropriately provisioned for future expansion. The current addition was also structurally designed for future expansion.