A brand new facility built by DPR Construction for St. David’s North Austin Medical Center is dedicated to the care of mothers and their newborn infants.

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 Project Manager Brandon Murphy says the new building’s structure was constructed with cast in place concrete. 

  “The skin is precast and curtain wall,” he said.  “The vertical expansion structure, including the connector bridge, is constructed with steel.  The skin for the expansion areas is metal framing, sheathing and E.F.I.S.

“Interior construction materials used during the project include gypsum drywall partitions, acoustical ceiling, sheet vinyl, carpet and VCT flooring, aluminum and glass radius ornamental handrail system and watermark showers.”

  According to Murphy, the square footage for the Women’s Services Expansion and Renovation was 121,600sf.  The new addition was 33,500sf and the renovation totaled 56,700sf.

  “One unique aspect on the project was the number of different phases that had to occur,” he said.  “Some phases where ongoing at the same time in different parts of the hospital.  At one point in the project we had four major phases under construction in three separate wings of the hospital without effecting operations of the existing facility. 

“With the multiple areas under construction at one time, DPR’s focus was how to complete each phase without disrupting operations of the existing facility.  DPR’s superintendents reviewed work plans with the facility on a daily bases basis so the facility knew exactly where work was occurring in and around the existing facility at all times.”  Work plans were discussed with the facility in advance to allow time for the facility directors to provide timely notice to hospital personnel and patients if required.”

  Murphy says the use of DPR’s own forces to complete work such as drywall partitions and ceiling systems was beneficial while working in the existing facility. 

“During the renovations phases many existing ceilings and walls needed to be opened for access to run new MEP systems through the existing hospital to accommodate the new spaces,” he said.  “DPR’s drywall crew installed and maintained the infectious controls and opened the ceiling and walls to allow for the MEP work to commence. 

  “Immediately after the MEP work was completed, the ceiling and walls were restored with the same crew.  Eliminating the coordination of several different subcontracts minimized and in most cases eliminated any disruptions that are normally caused by this type of construction activity in an occupied area.

  “Another unique attribute was DPR utilized B.I.M. to help manage the construction of the concrete structure for the new women’s services tower.  This process helped with sequencing the construction of the concrete structure and formwork design.”

  Murphy says a major challenge the construction team met and   well baby well-baby nursery.

“Since the bottom section of the existing multi story multi-story precast panels were required to be removed, new supports were designed and installed to support the upper section of the precast, allowing the bottom of the panel to be cut off and removed,” he said.

“During this activity temporary weather protection, access and construction noise were concerns that were overcome.”

 In addition, Murphy says another challenge was scheduling the project with multiple phases to minimize the reduction of usable private patient room beds during the project.   

  “The demand for a patient bed is high at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center and it was very important to their operations to maintain and ultimately increase the number of beds during construction,” Murphy said. “Although the project added many new patient rooms, some of the phases required closing existing patient rooms to start the renovation.”

DPR worked closely with the facility to understand the patient room demands of each department, he said.

  “For example, the new 30 bed medical surgery unit needed to be complete prior to the post partum expansion which required closing 18 medical surgery beds,” he said.  “The demand for the post partum beds was not required until the new women’s service tower was complete, so it allowed the facility to use these private patent patient rooms for medical surgery beds.  This allowed DPR to continue with the second medical surgery wing expansion on the 4th floor.  A similar approach was used for the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the labor delivery rooms expansion at the existing second floor south wing.”

Since construction was required in and around an operating hospital, Murphy says it was imperative that the facility directors and the DPR team worked together closely on a daily bases basis to limit disruptions and to insure ensure a safe environment.

“DPR worked directly with Glenn Spradlin, the director of the facility daily,” he said.  “Spradlin attended the weekly subcontractor coordination and scheduling meetings.  This allowed Spradlin to be part of the planning process so that there were no surprises when the work was executed. 

“Input from all of the team members provided the best plan and limited disruptions while working in the existing facility. If the plan required a different design approach to minimize disruption of the faculties’ facilities’ operations, the architect, Earl Swensson Associates Inc., was quick to help implement a different detail to make the execution of the plan as smooth as possible without jeopardizing the end product.”

  Founded in 1990, DPR Construction Inc. has 15 offices and approximately 1,800 employees.  The general contractor focuses on technically demanding and sustainable projects for the advanced technology, life science, healthcare and corporate office markets.     –ab

Professional Team:
Project Manager:  Brandon Murphy
Project Superintendents:  Richard Sebesta and Phil Maguire, DPR Construction
Project Architect: Earl Swensson Associates Inc.

Key Subcontractors:
DPR Construction – Concrete Structure
Gate Precast – Precast
CMC Alamo Steel – Steel
DPR Construction – Drywall and Ceiling Systems
All Commercial Floors – Flooring
Alpha Painting and Decorating, Co. – Painting and Wallcovering
Steve Ward and Associates – Millwork
Dynamic Systems Inc. - Mechanical and Plumbing Systems
Northstar Fire Protection – Fire Protection
Schmidt Electric Co. Inc. – Electrical
Carroll Systems – Structure Cabling