The design-build team of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and HDR Architecture, Inc. have begun construction of the new $150 million Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center in Los Angeles. The new 132,550-sf facility was designed to meet LEED Gold standards.
The four-story medical facility, which broke ground in January 25 will house five operating rooms, dentistry, oncology, and physical and occupational therapy services.
Additionally, the project will include 10 acres of site parking and landscape, offsite signalization and street improvements as well as a 31,000-square-foot LEED Silver-rated renovation to existing administration space.
To meet the environmentally tough standards of LEED Gold, the MLK, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center will pursue a variety of LEED credits. These include use of products with recycled content, locally manufactured products, 95% construction waste stream recycling, elimination of light pollution, water use reduction, and an elaborate rain water recycling program.
The project will be built with a conventional foundation on concrete piers, and a structural steel moment-frame with concrete-filled metal deck. The public-facing façade will be glass curtain-wall with stone accents at bottom level. “Back-of -house” facades will be plaster with punched window openings.
At the project peak, approximately 250 construction workers will be involved in construction, and many will be members of the local community.
In addition, McCarthy has joined forces with the National Association for Equal Justice in America (NAEJA) and Centennial High School in Compton to provide a student intern and construction project management training program for high school students interested in a career in construction. This program is intended to provide an educational experience for the students, as well as to aid the shrinking construction industry workforce by exposing a new generation to the field of construction. Projections show that the construction industry is expected to have a shortage of skilled workers as the baby boomer generation (1946-1964) retires over the next five years. In addition, many construction industry professionals and trades-people left the industry during the economic downturn which further exacerbates the worker shortage. The Construction Labor Research Council estimates that each year during this decade (2010 – 2020), the construction industry will need approximately 95,000 replacement workers and another 90,000 new workers.
Currently scheduled for an early completion in July 2013, the Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center project is now completing the deep foundation work. By summer, Wiggins says the project will be about 30 percent complete, with the structural steel work completed, the foundation and superstructure finished, and the shell beginning to take shape.
This is the second project McCarthy has completed at the medical center. The first was the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Public Health budgeted at $20 million, which opened in October 2011. This design/build project, located on the north end of the MLK, Jr. campus, replaced the existing South Health Center, and included construction of a two-level, 31,000-square-foot medical office building and an adjacent 76-car parking lot.
Other project team members involved in the current Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center project include: HDR Architecture, Inc. – architect and interior designer; KPFF - structural engineer; Psomas - civil engineer; SASCO - electrical design-builder; TMAD – mechanical and plumbing peer reviewer; Lynn Capouya - landscape architect; ACCO - Mechanical design-builder; Murray Company - plumbing design-builder and Sharpe Interiors/Eagle Summit - drywall/light-gauge framing subcontractor. BD+C
Related Stories
Architects | Dec 16, 2015
Architects create commission for diversity advancement
The 20-member group will assess recent data, set a plan of action, and report on results to the AIA Board of Directors.
Architects | Dec 15, 2015
ULI names Lord Richard Rogers the 2015 J.C. Nichols Prize winner
Rogers, Founder of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, works on projects that “shine a spotlight on the challenges that people in urban areas are facing."
Market Data | Dec 15, 2015
AIA: Architecture Billings Index hits another bump
Business conditions show continued strength in South and West regions.
Architects | Dec 14, 2015
New LEGO line lets builders construct iconic skylines
New York City, Berlin, and Venice are featured in the Architecture Skyline Collection.
Architects | Dec 14, 2015
Date named for announcement of 2016 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Laureate will be named the morning of January 13.
Architects | Dec 9, 2015
Architecture firms Cooper Carry and The Johnson Studio merge
The combination is expected to bolster each firm’s hospitality-related services.
Industry Research | Dec 8, 2015
AEC leaders say the 'talent wars' are heating up: BD+C exclusive survey
A new survey from Building Design+Construction shows that U.S. architecture, engineering, and construction firms are being stymied by the shortage of experienced design and construction professionals and project managers.
Architects | Dec 4, 2015
Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi win 2016 AIA Gold Medal Award
The husband and wife architect team—founders of VSBA Architects and Planners—are the award's first joint winners.
Architects | Dec 3, 2015
LMN Architects wins 2016 AIA Architecture Firm Award
The firm is known for projects like Vancouver Convention Centre West and the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.
Greenbuild Report | Dec 1, 2015
Data centers turn to alternative power sources, new heat controls and UPS systems
Data centers account for 2% of the nation’s electricity consumption and about 30% of the power used annually by the economy’s information and communications technology sector, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.