Best Medical Facility
Texas Children’s Austin North Hospital and Garage
Description
New Children’s Hospital Campus in North Austin with Architectural Precast Panels on the Main Hospital/Outpatient Building and a Precast Parking Garage. Schedule and site logistics coordination were key to allowing concurrent construction of multiple structures utilizing multiple tower and ground cranes simultaneously.
Project Timeline
The precaster, Coreslab Structures Texas, was engaged to provide budgetary pricing, and then helped progress the design throughout late 2020 and into early 2021. The erection of the parking garage took place in early 2022 and was subsequently followed by the erection of the hospital/outpatient building. Schedule and site logistics coordination were key to allowing the use of multiple tower and ground cranes simultaneously for the concurrent construction of multiple structures.
Key design features
The hospital/outpatient building is clad in 270 pieces of 6-inch-thick architectural precast concrete paneling, covering a total area of 55,400 square feet. By reducing the parapet height in the hospital/outpatient building the team was able to eliminate the need for additional braces and made the cladding system more economical.
‘Leave-out precast panels’ were sequenced to be installed in the later phases of construction, so interior materials and equipment could be easily placed in the building. After the interior materials and equipment were installed, then the final precast concrete elements were placed, and the exterior skin was fully complete.
Accomplishments
While precast concrete fills the structural needs of the parking garage it also allows for efficient future expansion, and the architectural details of the garage create a customized esthetic. Furthermore, the architectural paneling on the hospital/outpatient building provides a very pragmatic way for hospital equipment to be loaded into the building, but the precast paneling also serves an important role in visually connecting several buildings on this site. This project is truly a classic demonstration of the dynamic and diverse nature of precast concrete.
Precast concrete components
The total precast parking garage consists of over 1,000 pieces of precast concrete to complete this large structure, 447 of which were the double tees used to create the roughly 300,000 square feet of the elevated deck over 6 suspended levels. This garage was designed for future expansion by incorporating removable spandrels on the north elevation.
To meet aesthetic goals, custom reveal patterns and low-profile columns were used. Reducing the depth of the haunches on exterior columns allowed for a more pronounced relief between the vertical and horizontal elements of the façade. Additionally, the garage incorporates a pedestrian bridge to seamlessly tie the structure into the main building.
- Precast Manufacturer: Coreslab Structures (Texas) Inc. – Cedar Park, Texas
- Architect: Page Southerland Page, Inc. –Austin, Texas
- General Contractor: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. – Houston, Texas
- Precast Engineer: Unintech Consulting Engineers, Inc. – San Antonio, Texas
- Engineer of Record: Walter P. Moore – Austin, Texas
PCMA Associates
