Pratt Design Studio was given the challenge of creating a new identity and campus master plan for Condell’s main campus. The planning resulted in a project that was 200,000 square feet of new construction and a 60,000-square-foot renovation. Pratt Design Studio was the lead architect on the project and worked with HDR on code related issues and Construction Administration. The project program included:
By consolidating a variety of proposed projects into one comprehensive expansion, Pratt Design Studio saved the client time and money. If undertaken individually, the various components would have kept the hospital campus under construction for 10 years. Instead, with our new master plan, all work was completed in three years with a single contractor.
Pratt Design Studio phased and scheduled the project’s components strategically to accommodate the hospital’s primary needs of maintaining continuous operations while expanding critical clinical and administrative areas.
One challenge in phasing this project is that the new expansion was located at the existing entrance. To minimize disruption to patient, staff and visitor flow an interim entry area was created to allow direct way-finding to existing service lines. Solutions developed by Pratt Design Studio helped the center maintain smooth, uninterrupted operations. As a result, the medical center experienced increased market share and growth during the construction program.
A key challenge was to tie in the expansion to the existing structure, which had low floor-to-floor heights. Building ramps between the new and existing buildings was not an option. Pratt Design Studio’s solution was to design ducts that were placed on the building exterior in chases as “mechanical buttresses.” The shafts were made of self-supporting precast concrete that accelerated erection time and reduced the interior space lost to columns. Elevator shafts and linen and trash chutes were located on the perimeter in this area. This solution achieved maximum space planning flexibility for each floor, provided clear above-ceiling space free of large ducts, and became a key design feature of the building exterior.
