BUILDING STATISTICS: Part One

GENERAL BUILDING DATA

• Smilow Cancer Hospital
• 20 York Street, New Haven, CT 06510-3202
• Yale-New Haven Hospital
• Cancer Hospital
• 497,000 sq. ft.
• 14 patient floors + 2  mechanical floors
• Primary Project Team
• Owner: Yale-New Haven Hospital // New Haven, CT // www.ynhh.org
• Construction Manager: Turner Construction Company // Milford, CT // www.turnerconstruction.com
• Architect: Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott // Boston, MA // www.sbra.com
• Structural Engineer: Spiegel Zamecnik & Shah // New Haven, CT // www.szsdc.com
• Mechanical/Electrical Engineer: BR+A Consulting Engineers, Inc. // Boston, MA // www.brplusa.com
• Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer, Code Consultant: R.W. Sullivan Consulting Engineers, Inc. // Boston, MA // www.rwsullivan.com
• Civil Engineer: Tighe & Bond Consulting Engineers // Norwalk, CT // www.tighebond.com
• Dates of Construction: September 2006 – February 2010
• Overall Project Cost: $253M
• Delivery Method: Design-Bid-Build with Guaranteed Maximum Price

ARCHITECTURE

Located in the middle of New Haven, the addition of the Smilow Cancer Hospital to the Yale-New Haven Hospital complex will feature a state-of-the-art building with the latest equipment for the treatment of the disease. The several areas of specialization are separated among the sixteen stories of the building, with the larger equipment (i.e. MRIs, ultrasound, operating rooms) housed primarily on the lower floors and the 112 inpatient rooms—all single rooms—starting on the eleventh floor. As for the exterior, the façade emulates that of the surrounding buildings in the complex with its glass and terra cotta curtain walls. For ease of installation, a unitized curtain wall panel system was used: the glass and terra cotta come in pre-installed panels ready to be attached to the structure. The hospital’s roof is a combination of cast-in-place concrete roof deck and metal (steel) decking. The insulation and waterproofing are comprised of fully adhered thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) sheet membrane roofing over mechanically attached insulation and cover board.

Being one of the most comprehensive cancer facilities in the New England region, the city of New Haven extended its Medical Zone to allow the construction of the Smilow Cancer Hospital back in 2006, despite some opposition from a few local residents. Those opposed to the new building were mostly concerned about issues such as traffic, parking, and “architectural integration with the neighborhood.” The design of the building follows the 1999 Connecticut State Building Code which adopts mostly from the BOCA National Building Code/1996.

BUILDING STATISTICS: Part Two

PRIMARY ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

Structural

The structural system for Smilow Cancer Hospital is primarily steel moment and gravity frames combined with four reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls which help support the building’s lateral loads. The hospital’s typical floor system is a composite concrete floor slab on metal decking (7-1/2” total depth) supported on wide flange beams. These beams are typically W18x35, and the girders are W24x55. Column sizes range from W14x43 to W24x370 and W14x550. Some Hollow Structural Section (HSS) columns are also used. Smilow’s typical bay size is approximately 30’ x 30’ with the two intermediate beams spaced 10’ apart. As previously mentioned, lateral loads are shared by four RC shear walls and six different steel moment frames (4 around the perimeter of the building and 2 along the interior). Towards the roof, the moment frames are replaced by one- or two-story lateral braced frames. The steel columns continue down into the basement where they are anchored to a 4-ft. thick concrete mat slab foundation. This thickness doubles to 8 ft. at the shear wall locations.

Mechanical

Smilow Cancer Hospital’s mechanical system consists of eight air-handling units (AHU) with a capacity of 70,000-75,000 cubic feet per minute each. Six of these AHUs are housed on the 5th mechanical floor, and the other two are on the roof of the hospital. Four of the units serve the basement through 5th floors, while the rest are dedicated solely to the patient tower on the 7th through 15th floors. Because of the critical role played by the HVAC system in a hospital, all AHUs are connected to an emergency power source.

Lighting/Electrical

Power is provided to Smilow Cancer Hospital via two systems: a 480/277V, 3 phase, 4 wire system and a 208/120V 3 Phase, 4 wire system. In times when emergency power is needed, three 2000kW/2500kVA diesel generators are available. All mechanical equipment is served at 480/277V, as is about half of the lighting fixtures. The rest are served by the low voltage lighting system. Lighting throughout the hospital is a combination of incandescent, fluorescent, metal halide, and halogen fixtures. All single and three lamp fixtures are tandem wired to avoid single lamp ballasts. Also, all fluorescent ballasts are the electronic type and adhere to U.I.’s energy blueprint program dated January 1, 2000. As such, total harmonic distortion was limited to 15%.

Construction

Construction of the Smilow Cancer Hospital is managed by Turner Construction Company who used the design-bid-build delivery method with a guaranteed maximum price. All subcontractors received a full set of construction documents from which they could generate a bid offer.

ENGINEERING SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Fire Protection

Fire protection for the hospital conforms to the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 13 code. As such, the entire building is covered by a quick response sprinkler system. Sprinkler head types include semi-recessed, upright, sidewall, and concealed. All sprinklers are manufactured and supplied by Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Company.

Transportation

Vertical transportation through the building is facilitated by three main elevator lobbies: visitor, patient, and service. Each lobby is contained within the C-shaped shear walls. There are six visitor elevators, two patient elevators, and four service elevators. During a fire or other emergency, stairwells are located conveniently close to each elevator lobby as well as at other areas throughout the building.

Telecommunications

Telephone service will be provided to the hospital via a system of empty conduit, raceway, and/or trough from incoming service area to outlet boxes. Four 4-inch conduits will be run from the mainframe room to the telecommunications closets.