Tight schedules and near-impossible deadlines are nothing new in the AEC world. But the Building Team for the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif., faced especially alarming consequences for failure.
In 2006, a federally appointed receivership ordered the state of California and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide a 1,722-bed housing and healthcare facility for inmate-patients with long-term medical, acute medical, and intermediate mental health needs. A court-imposed deadline of January 2014 was set, with no room for an extension.
Failure to meet this deadline could result in imprisonment for some responsible parties. Following legal and economic hurdles, the project’s second phase began in June 2011 with the selection of a joint venture of Clark Construction Group and McCarthy Building Cos., in design partnership with HDR. (Phase one, including utilities, roadwork, grading, a central plant, and an electric perimeter fence, was begun a few months earlier by HOK and a Hensel Phelps-Granite joint venture.)
SILVER AWARD
Project summary
Housing and Healthcare Facility Stockton (HHF Stockton) Bid Package 2
California Health Care Facility, StocktonBUILDING TEAM
Submitting firm: McCarthy Building Cos.
Owner/developer: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Architect, MEP: HDR
Structural: Crosby Group
CM: Vanir Construction Management
GC: Clark/McCarthy, a Joint VentureGENERAL INFORMATION
Project size: 1.2 million sf
Construction cost: $528 million
Construction period: October 2011 to July 2013
Delivery method: Design-build
With a 742-day delivery schedule, the phase two team spent five months designing a 31-building complex for the 100-acre site. At 1.2 million sf, the program included 23 inmate housing buildings, a central kitchen, an administration building, a plant maintenance operation and facility maintenance building, four apartment-style units for overnight family visitations, and a shared services facility.
During the design phase, drafting was performed within a 3D Revit model, which was linked to the team’s Primavera cost-loaded critical path method schedule, creating a 5D model that incorporated the added dimensions of time and cost. The design had to address more than 4,000 criteria documents, with approval required from more than 30 stakeholders. Building codes for both correctional and healthcare facilities had to be considered. Licensing and permitting took place alongside the design process to solve potential problems before they arose.
The team then had 19 months to build the complex. A task force was created to keep all parties—the owner, facilities personnel, design-builders, and outside consultants—organized. With more than 1,200 workers completing $2 million of work each day, the task force ensured that the project stayed on track. All construction documents were added to a digital plan room, accessible via kiosks as well as at an on-site field office.
Economic development for the depressed region was a high priority for the client. Both the design-build team and the Department of Corrections organized outreach events offering employment opportunities. Of the 4,118 workers employed through the outreach program, more than 2,000 lived within a 50-mile radius of the project.
Ultimately, the facility was completed on time. Judges commented on the way the Building Team worked together to meet deadlines, and praised the complex’s clear wayfinding elements and ample daylighting.
“The Stockton healthcare facility takes an approach that is unlike other prison healthcare facilities by enhancing the healing environment through the use of natural light,” says judge Susan Heinking, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP O+M, Director of Sustainabilty and VP at VOA Associates. “This design not only improves the quality of the environment to heal in, but also improves the quality of the environment for the healthcare provider.”
Related Stories
| Oct 4, 2013
CRB opens Atlanta office
Georgia’s status as a burgeoning hub for the life sciences industry has fueled CRB’s decision to open an office in Atlanta to better serve its clients in the market. CRB is a leading provider of engineering, design and construction services for customers in the biotech, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.
| Sep 27, 2013
NYC releases first year-to-year energy performance data on commercial properties
A new report provides information on energy performance of New York City's largest buildings (mostly commercial, multi-family residential). It provides an analysis of 2011 data from city-required energy “benchmarking”—or the tracking and comparison of energy performance—in more than 24,000 buildings that are over 50,000 square feet.
| Sep 27, 2013
ASHRAE/IES publish first standard focused on commissioning process
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process.
| Sep 26, 2013
6 ways to maximize home-field advantage in sports venue design
Home-field advantage can play a significant role in game outcomes. Here are ways AEC firms can help create the conditions that draw big crowds, energize the home team to perform better, and disrupt visiting players.
| Sep 26, 2013
Literature review affirms benefits of daylighting, architectural glazing
The use of glass as a building material positively impacts learning, healing, productivity and well-being, according to a white paper published by Guardian Industries and the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The findings highlight the significant influence daylighting and outside views have on employees, workers, students, consumers and patients.
| Sep 26, 2013
Mobilizing your job site to achieve a paperless project: fact or fiction?
True mobility in the field has rapidly evolved from lock-box kiosks on each floor to laptops on rolling carts to tablets and iPads loaded with drawings sets stored in the cloud. And WiFi-ready job sites have gone from “nice to have” to “must have” status in just a little over a year.
| Sep 26, 2013
Leading in the face of change
As AEC firms navigate toward an uncertain future, the most effective leaders are those who eagerly adapt to change. Here are three attitudes that drive leaders who are of most value to their firms.
| Sep 23, 2013
The art of rewarding employees
What’s the best way to reward those employees who go the extra mile, particularly when it’s not always feasible to give large financial bonuses? According to author and “recognition expert” Dr. Bob Nelson, the most effective employee rewards are also the least expensive.
| Sep 23, 2013
Six-acre Essex Crossing development set to transform vacant New York property
A six-acre parcel on the Lower East Side of New York City, vacant since tenements were torn down in 1967, will be the site of the new Essex Crossing mixed-use development. The product of a compromise between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and various interested community groups, the complex will include ~1,000 apartments.
| Sep 20, 2013
August housing starts reveal multifamily still healthy but single-family stagnating
Peter Muoio, Ph.D., senior principal and economist with Auction.com Research, says the Census Bureau's August Housing Starts data released yesterday hints at improvements in the single-family sector with multifamily slowing down.