Healthy choice: UW Medical Foundation Centennial Building

Team overcomes tight site for UW office building

UW Medical Foundation Centennial Building

The UW Medical Foundation wanted a new office building near the hospital where faculty worked in Madison.

The only option was one constrained site.

“We were working right next to an active hospital,” said Dan Carlson, project manager for Madison-based Vogel Bros. Building Co. “Access had to be maintained throughout the site.”

Carlson said it took meticulous coordination and scheduling to keep the campus operational while achieving the design goals for the Medical Foundation Centennial Building.

The first challenge was moving the UW Health Med Flight Operations jet fuel storage, which originally was near the main entrance of the proposed office building. Before excavation began, crews installed a new storage tank to ensure a continuous fuel supply, Carlson said.

The construction team tightly controlled everything passing through the construction zone, whether it was employees or oxygen system deliveries, to prevent any drop-off in hospital operations, said Mark Wells, senior assistant dean of facilities for the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

Vogel Bros. used a master schedule and just-in-time material deliveries to build without a staging area, Wells said.

“Good contractors are good at scheduling,” he said. “They really have to get down to the nitty-gritty details.”

Construction practices and energy recovery systems helped the Centennial Building qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Those design elements are consistent with the UW Medical Foundation’s neighbors and provide energy savings, Wells said.

Various UW maintenance departments were involved as consultants during the project, and, once the building was completed, department employees took training on the new systems, Carlson said.

“All those people were involved upfront,” he said, “so they could look at the documents and make sure we were designing the building up to state and campus standards.”

The Centennial Building curves around a courtyard and the Keystone House, an adjacent historical landmark. The curvilinear design of the building preserves green space while providing access to natural views and lighting, Wells said.

“I think all of those things really make a quite pleasant space,” he said.

Wells said the Centennial Building fulfilled its purpose of freeing space within the hospital for clinical activities and supporting the recruitment and retention of top talent.

“We’re really pleased with the final results,” he said.

— John Buchel

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3m_Bs-hBtE[/youtube]

Location: Madison

Submitting company: Vogel Bros. Building Co., Madison

Design/Builder: Vogel Bros.

Architect: Flad & Associates Inc., Madison

Engineers: J.F. Ahern Co., Fond du Lac (plumbing); Illingworth-Kilgust Mechanical Inc., Madison (HVAC)

Owner: UW Medical Foundation, Madison

Project size: 135,000 square feet

Project cost: $39.75 million

Start date: Sept. 8, 2008

Completion date: April 30, 2010