University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Passavant Hospital in McCandless, Pa.
Posted
09/8/2011
A decade after Bethel Park, Pa.-based D-M Products Inc.
installed Wausau, Wis.-based Wausau Window and Wall Systems'
curtainwall on the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center's Passavant Hospital in McCandless, Pa.,
DM-Products returned to deliver the same performance and familiar
aesthetic for the hospital's new seven-story tower. The new UPMC
Passavant Pavilion is certified to meet LEED standards and includes
features such as natural lighting and outdoor views.
UPMC Passavant Pavilion provides increased capacity for advanced
tertiary cancer care, advanced cardiovascular and neurosurgical
treatments, and emergency medical care. The hospital's inpatient
volume has grown more than 30 percent over the past six years. The
number of inpatients and outpatients who come to UPMC Passavant
from outside of Allegheny County and outside of the state has
doubled during this time period.
Specifically addressing the community's needs, the new facility
adds capacity for 88 new hospital beds, bringing the total beds to
399; adds 27,000 square feet to the Cancer Center, tripling the
current size; and adds 21,000 square feet to the emergency
department, doubling treatment capacity. Officials project that 300
health care jobs will be created by the expansion of UPMC
Passavant, for a total of 2,500 employees hospital-wide.
The $100 million Passavant Pavilion project followed a strict,
four-year design and construction timeline. Pittsburgh-based P.J.
Dick Inc. served as the project's general contractor, bringing to
life UPMC's vision as designed by the Butler, Pa.-based
architectural firm, Burt Hill. The project is part of a master plan
to develop a more functional, sustainable and efficient future for
UPMC's McCandless campus and community.
UPMC Passavant Pavilion relied on building information modeling
tools to preview the project in three dimensions, while it was
still on the drawing board. The BIM tools and early discussions are
credited by building team members as contributing to the successful
coordination between the architectural design and the complex
engineering.
The 220,000-square-foot expansion was finalized in February and
the 30,000-square-foot renovation is expected to be completed in
September. The resulting efforts reconfigure the hospital's main
entrance around its key architectural features: the glass rotunda
and naturally lit interiors. Utilizing the airport concept of
separating arrivals and departures, Passavant's entrances are
positioned to naturally funnel visitors into the main registration
area where they will be greeted by customer service representatives
and directed to their destination.
D-M Products installed 37,565 square feet of Wausau Window and
Wall Systems' 8250 Series aluminum-framed curtainwall featuring a
2.5-Inch narrow sightline and 8.25-inch depth to clad the UPMC
Passavant Pavilion. Fabricated by Santa Monica, Calif.-based
Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, a clear anodize finish by Wausau-based
Linetec highlights the metallic tones and low-maintenance
durability of the system.
On the building's interior, the curtainwall maximizes
daylighting with staff lounges situated by the outside walls for
infusion of natural light. Within the enhanced and expanded Cancer
Center, windows also are installed in all chemo profusion rooms to
allow improved access, visibility and natural lighting.
"Daylight and outdoor views have proven benefits to health care
facilities," notes Lisa May, Wausau's health care market manager.
"In addition to the improved sense of wellbeing and improved
morale, studies report patients heal more quickly and use less pain
medication when they have access to window views, daylight and
maintain a sense of control over such comforts as lighting,
ventilation and indoor temperature."
"As a leading health care facility north of the city, UPMC
Passavant's vision is to build the 'hospital of the future' for
residents living in the communities north of Pittsburgh and
beyond," says Teresa G. Petrick, president, UPMC Passavant.
Linetec, www.linetec.com
Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, www.oldcastlebe.com,
Wausau Window and Wall Systems, www.wausauwindow.com