On October 15, a joint venture comprised of the general contractors Clark Construction and JR Abbott Construction ceremonially broke ground for the new Behavioral Health Teaching Facility at the University of Washington’s Medical Center-Northwest campus in Seattle.
The six-story 184,000-sf facility, designed by SRG Partnership, is scheduled to open to residents in December 2023, according to the Seattle Times. Funded through $234 million in state appropriation, the facility is being built adjacent to the campus’s main hospital wing.
According to the University, the new building will have a 150-bed capacity, with 75 long-term civil commitment beds, 25 geropsychiatric beds, and 50 licensed med-surgery beds with the capacity to treat patients with psychiatric diagnoses and/or substance use disorders. Its top three floors will feature highly flexible inpatient units designed to respond to client needs from highly structured programs to programs that promote independent functioning and a transition to the community.
TELEPSYCHIATRY SERVICES A KEY COMPONENT
The project team and the University are calling this building one of a kind, in that it will provide a fully integrated and welcoming healing environment for patients struggling with physical and behavioral health problems. The building will include a procedural area for electroconvulsive therapy, and neuromodulation where patients can be treated with brain simulation therapy.
Also see: California University of Science and Medicine’s new School of Medicine
Brett Earnest, Clark’s Senior Vice President, says his firm has been working with the university for nearly two years to develop the facility, which when completed will serve as the home for the statewide 24/7 telepsychiatry consultation program and an interdisciplinary training and workforce development program focused on preparing and supporting the next generation of behavioral health providers for Washington State.
The Building Team is working under an Integrated Project Delivery contract. Its members include KPFF Consulting Engineers, Thornton Tomasetti, Ricca Design Studios, OJB Landscape Architecture, Mazzetti, PAE Engineers, McKinstry, VECA Electric, Schuff Steel, Performance Contracting Inc., and Queen City.
RECONNECTING MIND AND BODY
The Seattle Times reports that patients will have access to terraces and decks, sleep in secured private bedrooms, and meet with physicians and other staff in spacious treatment areas. Terracotta tiles will flank the building’s outer structure. Common spaces will feature calming muted colors. Outdoor benches will be crafted from reclaimed trees. The first floor of the building will house a public dining hall for staff and visitors.
Carl Hampson, SRG’s Design Principal, told the newspaper that choices for materials and fixtures were prioritized based on patient safety criteria. The building’s design, created in collaboration with our clinical stakeholders, will promote healing and well-being, “reinforcing the connection between mind and body,” Hampson said.
Related Stories
| Jul 28, 2014
LEO A DALY hires Peter Yakowicz to oversee VA projects
New hire will work with healthcare and federal market sectors on programs specifically for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
| Jul 23, 2014
Holistic care model, regulatory changes make outpatient facilities a high priority [2014 Giants 300 Report]
With the Affordable Care Act still in its infancy, Building Teams are seeing reverberations in the investment decisions of healthcare providers, including new ideas about the types of buildings they are asked to create.
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, McCarthy, and Skanska USA top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare contractors and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Jacobs, and URS Corp. top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
HDR, Stantec, and HKS top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.
| Jul 20, 2014
IPD contract saves time and money for cancer center [2014 Building Team Awards]
Partners share the risk and reward of extreme collaboration on this LEED Silver project, which relies heavily on Lean principles.
| Jul 18, 2014
Contractors warm up to new technologies, invent new management schemes [2014 Giants 300 Report]
“UAV.” “LATISTA.” “CMST.” If BD+C Giants 300 contractors have anything to say about it, these new terms may someday be as well known as “BIM” or “LEED.” Here’s a sampling of what Giant GCs and CMs are doing by way of technological and managerial innovation.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Construction Management Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, Barton Malow, Hill International top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest construction management and project management firms in the United States.
