Pediatric Burn Unit patients at Torrance Memorial Medical Center recently teamed with workers from McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. to create mini renditions of the new hospital Patient Tower using Legos, and to mark the tower’s final concrete pour.
The event took place in view of the project site where construction of the medical center’s 398,350-sf patient tower is underway.
Among the patients participating was 5-year-old Robert Jones, who has been undergoing treatment for burn injuries at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. A former burn patient, Litzy Santos, 6, and her sister Karime also participated in the mini building project.
McCarthy workers joined the patients, donning construction gear and hard hats, to help with their building efforts. The workers invited the patients to give the command via two-way radio to complete the final concrete pour on the seventh-story deck—the top level of the new Patient Tower. McCarthy donated several sets of Legos to the Pediatric Unit to help keep young patients entertained during their hospitalization.
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is serving as general contractor for the $450 million Patient Tower project which is more than half-way finished. At its peak, there will be approximately 500 construction workers on site. The new hospital, which will replace Torrance Memorial’s original tower built in 1971, will feature the latest medical technologies, more beds and space and a modernized design. The seven-level Patient Tower will house 256 private rooms, 18 surgical and interventional treatment rooms as well as a basement with a central utility plant and a tunnel connecting the existing hospital to the new facility. The Burn Unit will relocate to the new Patient Tower once the new tower opens in spring 2015. +
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.
| Oct 13, 2010
HQ renovations aim for modern look
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ renovations to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New York City headquarters will feature a reworked reception lobby with back-painted glass, silk-screened logos, and a video wall.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 13, 2010
Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library
The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.
| Oct 13, 2010
County building aims for the sun, shade
The 187,032-sf East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, Calif., will be oriented to take advantage of daylighting, with exterior sunshades preventing unwanted heat gain and glare. The building is targeting LEED Silver. Strong horizontal massing helps both buildings better match their low-rise and residential neighbors.
| Oct 12, 2010
Holton Career and Resource Center, Durham, N.C.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. Early in the current decade, violence within the community of Northeast Central Durham, N.C., escalated to the point where school safety officers at Holton Junior High School feared for their own safety. The school eventually closed and the property sat vacant for five years.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 12, 2010
Richmond CenterStage, Richmond, Va.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Bronze Award. The Richmond CenterStage opened in 1928 in the Virginia capital as a grand movie palace named Loew’s Theatre. It was reinvented in 1983 as a performing arts center known as Carpenter Theatre and hobbled along until 2004, when the crumbling venue was mercifully shuttered.
