Healthcare/Laboratory

SK&A provided testing and inspection services for the construction of the New Patient Tower and the North Parking Garage addition at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, a 50 year old hospital facility.  One of the largest hospitals in Maryland, the new seven-story wing located on the south side of the existing hospital provides 150 new private rooms.  In addition, the facility’s surgical services department was renovated and the parking garage expansion added 300 new parking spaces.  The existing entrance drive at the east entry and north parking lot was demolished and relocated.

The project scope also included: 

• A new retaining wall with new landscaping facing Sligo Creek Park
• Relocation of an existing monumental sign
• Two new retaining walls parallel to Forest Glen Road that retain the existing beam
• A new retaining wall facilitating a new entrance into the existing parking garage
• A new retaining wall facilitating the construction of a new bike path along Forest Glen Road
• The demolition and new construction of underground utilities for: water, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, power, and low voltage 
• The revision of the current site lighting to coordinate with the changes cited above

The first new hospital facility to be built in Montgomery County, Maryland in 35 years, this project involved the construction of a six-story hospital building, a medical office building, a parking garage, surface parking lot, and a storm water management pond.  The new 93-bed hospital facility offers emergency, surgical, medical, psychiatric, and obstretric care with all private patient rooms.  Construction of the project also included a site utility package defined as:

• Installation of 19 storm water management facilities and associated storm drains, including: bio-swales, micro bio-retention facilities, and a green roof component.
• The connection of onsite water and sewer to the systems provided along Observation Drive.  The water connection has two meter vaults with an on-site loop for redundancy and will also service the onsite fire hydrants.

Landscaped gardens include hardscaping and aesthetic amenities such as walls and a dry stream bed.  Additionally, sidewalks, site lights, bike racks, benches, railings, and other miscellaneous features are located in strategic areas across the property. Sustainable design elements were incorporated within the project’s design to achieve Gold certification.

SK&A provided soil analyses, testing and inspection of sitework and materials, as well as inspection of the waterproofing system for this project.

SK&A’s Repair & Restoration (R&R) Division has conducted various services for multiple existing buildings (Buildings #1, 4, 12, 14-16, 82 & 90) at the Walter Reed redevelopment site.  Services have included building envelope condition assessments (including waterproofing), garage surveys and repairs, as well as assistance/input regarding  “mothballing” or preservation efforts of various buildings onsite.  Construction administration and quality assurance services are also expected to be provided under future requests.   Examples  of completed projects include:

• Main (Original) Hospital, Building #1.  The site’s original hospital facility, Building 1, was completed in December 1908.  A red brick, three-story structure with a basement level, the building was designed in the “New Georgian” style of the era, with a white cupola and Corinthian columns.  R&R conducted a condition survey of the overall exterior façade, accessible roof areas, building envelope, and structural components.  Review of later mothballing efforts was also performed.  Overall, the structure was deemed in fair condition, however isolated components, such as the building fenestration, showed signs of distress.  A final condition assessment report was prepared, detailing the observations and providing recommendations for repair and maintenance.
• Abrams Hall, Building #14.  Built in or around 1976, Abrams Hall is a three-story residential building with three levels of underground parking garage for 487 cars.  An elevated plaza is located on the main level and is generally contained by the building.  In preparation for partial renovation of the building for new senior housing, SK&A provided structural design as well as repair & restoration services.  R&R conducted a facade condition survey, including exploratory investigation services from the ground to roof levels. A final condition assessment report was prepared, detailing the observations and providing recommendations for repair, in addition to photographic documentation and repair cost estimates.  Full façade repair drawings and specifications were provided as well.
• Central Heating Plant, Building #15.  Built in or around 1918, the former Central Heating Plant is a concrete, two-story building, with primarily brick exterior walls and an addition with a veneer facade.  Similar to Building #1, R&R conducted a condition survey of the exterior façade and building envelope of the building, as well as a review of structural components.  The building was found to be in overall fair condition and a final report summarizing recommended repairs and maintenance.

SK&A provided structural engineering services for new additions to Fauquier Hospital, a community hospital complex.  The additions primarily consisted of: (1) a five-story hospital tower addition, replacing the existing Neyhart Wing, and (2) a two-story vertical extension of the existing Fletcher Wing of the hospital.  Significant modifications were also made to the existing Fletcher Wing structure and foundations to enable the construction of the two new floor levels above the existing structure.

Other facilities at Fauquier Hospital, including support facilities, were added to the existing hospital included: a new MRI Suite, a new 2-level Operating Room (which expanded the existing operating capabilities), and a new Central Plant building.

A three-story addition to the biotechnology research center delivered via design-build approach.  The center includes biomedical research labs, lab support, scientific computing, and faculty office space for biotechnology research.  The project also includes a free-standing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility. 

SK&A has performed structural engineering services on numerous projects for Kaiser Permanente, including its 168,000 sf medical office headquarters in Silver Spring, a new medical office building in Manassas, VA, the Regional Laboratory facility in Rockville, and the Silver Spring Data Center 2.

• For the regional laboratory, an existing two-story medical office building was adapted for reuse as a laboratory facility.  The structure has concrete masonry unit (CMU) load-bearing walls supporting a steel bar joist and steel-framed roof and floor deck.  Sections of the 2nd floor and roof were strengthened to increase their load carrying capability, to suit laboratory and library usage, and to handle new roof-mounted equipment.  The project also included a new building addition at its northwest corner, and several new in-fill elevated floor areas.  The existing first floor of the building was demolished and lowered in its entirety to accommodate access flooring.  Existing masonry walls were structurally modified, and new openings incorporated into the walls.
• In addition, since 1994, SK&A’s Repair and Restoration Division has provided engineering services on over 50 Kaiser projects including garage repair, expansion joint replacement, load evaluation, supplemental equipment support framing designs, façade repair, and general structural condition assessments.  SK&A also provided design and field inspection of a rooftop transfer girder installation, facilitating the removal of a ground level column in a conference room at the East Jefferson facility.

From 1986 until today, SK&A has been the structural engineer-of-record for all of the new construction, alterations, and structural retrofit work that has been or is being built at the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, DC.

Gross area of new floor design undertaken at CNMC by SK&A, either constructed or under construction, consists of approximately 570,000 sf of hospital, laboratory, administrative, and support spaces (exclusive of service levels within the hospital), and 230,000 sf of structured parking.

The various expansions of the CNMC have generally been in the form of lateral tower additions to the main building, several vertical extensions of the main hospital tower at several stages, and construction of various support faculties, utility upgrades (including a full retrofit of electrical systems), new rooftop heliport, new laboratory spaces, a new MRI unit on the second floor, and a new medical office building.