Siting of the $130 million Comer Children's Hospital created a headache that required a cure.

The block bordered by 57th, 58th, Drexel and Maryland streets was selected for the facility in the University of Chicago Hospitals system, but the block's eastern half contained structures that could not be demolished for space, said Sheila Cahnman, associate vice president in the Chicago office of Charlotte, N.C.-based HLM Design, the architect of record.

Buildings that could not come down included the American School of Correspondence structure, a designated Chicago Landmark, and the Ronald McDonald House.
The solution was to build a long, narrow building on the block's western half, and even then, some structures were knocked down for space, said Curt Wagner, construction executive with the M.A. Mortenson Co./The Meyne Co. Joint Venture, the Chicago-based construction manager.

The hospital's footprint is 354 ft. long and 133 ft. wide. Ninety-eight caissons were sunk about 55 ft. deep to support the structure.

The lateral strength of the narrow building was a concern, even though it is only seven stories high, because of Chicago's occasionally fierce winds, Cahnman said. Steel members in some locations were thickened, and cross-bracing was included to give the structure strength.

Work on Comer began in November 2001 and is expected to finish in August 2004.
Only two shafts were incorporated in the facility for utility lines, she said. And like many health-care buildings, the hospital has a large number of dedicated specialty systems - medical air, medical vacuum, oxygen, nitrogen, nitrous oxide - as well as the usual mechanical, electrical and plumbing lines.

To make sure everything fits, careful coordination was required in the installation of the utility lines, even though the building features a relatively generous 15-ft.-deep floor-to-floor height, she said.

Typically, sprinkler lines were given the top spot in the ceiling cavity because of the protection they provide against fire, Wagner said. In some locations, other lines were so massive that they would prevent access above for maintenance. In those cases, the placement was reshuffled, and the sprinkler lines took a lower position.

Roads to Comer

The road layout and other nearby structures in the UCH system impacted the project.
Ambulances frequently cruise down 58th Street south of the site to deliver patients to the emergency room of the Bernard Mitchell Hospital, an adult inpatient facility. And, patient and staff traffic is heavy to the west on Maryland Avenue, which also lies alongside the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine.

Construction started on the site's south end and progressed north where the most room is, Wagner said. Crawler cranes, rather than tower cranes, were used for steel erection. And, three different building areas rose at the same time, rather than only one, so materials could be shifted to where they were needed.

"You need to be always aware of your neighbors," Wagner added. "The university has property adjacent to the site and so does the hospital [system]."

A lane of Maryland Avenue and space on the north were used for staging the most essential materials but provided only limited lay-down area. Just-in-time delivery was used otherwise.

About 1,500 tons of steel support the facility. Many connections were bolted, but here, too, flexibility has been important. For instance, the links on columns that support a canopy to be cantilevered over the entrance will be welded for sturdiness.
Further complicating the project is the other construction on the South Side campus, said Ray Donato, manager of new construction projects, planning, design for UCH. Construction activity for the Gerald Ratner Athletics Facility, the Interdivisional Research Building and the Graduate School of Business is also heavy.

Coordination among the different project teams helped prevent problems, Donato said.

Honing in on Comer

The hospital will be built one block north of the existing Children's Hospital.
Facilities in Comer will include medical/surgical units, pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, surgical suites, preoperative areas, recovery rooms and some of the typical hospital commons areas such as food service.

Pier-supported bridges will connect the hospital to its neighbors, one link to Mitchell Hospital and another to the Duchossois Center. Tunnels directly below the bridges will provide the channels for medical-gas feeds, which terminate at a tank farm.

Comer features 46,000 sq. ft. of precast and 50,000 sq. ft. of curtain-wall cladding to relate the structure to its similarly clad neighbors.

There are distinctive features on Comer, including leaf patterns imprinted in the precast for lightheartedness, Donato said.

"Part of the exterior is supposed to look like a children's book," added John Easton, director of public relations for UCH.

The hospital is named after Gary Comer, founder of the Dodgeville, Wis.-based Lands' End Inc. clothing empire. Comer, a native of Chicago's South Side, made a $21 million donation to help build the facility.

Responding to Client Needs

Ensuring the structure helps deliver optimal patient care was important.
Mock-up rooms allowed UCH and its clients to assess the quality of the structure, Donato said. Reproductions of typical patient rooms and pediatric and neonatal ICUs were put up in the American School of Correspondence building, and several groups toured them.

The process resulted in modifications, some of which were suggested by medical professionals. Nursing alcoves, for example, were designed with direct viewing into the patient rooms.

"That's somewhat different from your typical hospital, where your patient age is higher than this hospital's," Wagner said.

The Kids' Advisory Board, a group of current and former patients who provided the staff and the design team with the child's perspective on hospital stays, asked for vibrant colors, big bathrooms and group areas where mingling among hospital guests and their families can occur, Donato said.

The Family Advisory Board asked for large patient rooms to accommodate family members, and the 308-sq.-ft. rooms are almost twice the size of those in Children's Hospital. Common spaces are geared toward families and include such things as kitchens and laundry facilities.

A mock-up of the curtain wall was done primarily for the benefit of the erection team so that it could evaluate the constructability. Adjustments were made, such as the narrowing of caulk joints between the glazing and frame for improved adhesion.

Meeting Medical Needs

Several elements were incorporated in the design well in advance of the feedback process.

Systems were designed to prevent the spread of infection. Air-handling units are equipped with high-efficiency particulate absolute, or HEPA, filters, and air is reportedly 99 percent filtered against airborne contaminants before being discharged, Donato said.

Isolation rooms with independent exhaust systems were incorporated on each floor to protect patients from the environment or vice-versa. An anteroom separates the patient from public.

Pressure testing has started on medical-gas lines, Wagner said. Later on, purging the systems makes certain the vital gases being carried are clean. Solder residue and copper particles from cutting could contaminate the lines.

An independent agency was hired to test for leakage in the lines, and the results will be forwarded directly to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Materials beefed up the building to prevent the spread of fire for at least two hours, Wagner said. Drywall and metal studs stymie the horizontal movement of flames, and concrete smothers its vertical progress.

Some high technology was installed in the facility, such as a nurse locator. The system involves the use of ceiling-based infrared detectors that track the movement of nursing staff.

"When they page the nurse, the nurse doesn't have to go back to the nursing station," Donato said. "She can go right to the pager."