Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) is building the $563 million Patient Care Tower II in Orange, Calif. Promoting a serene, healing environment, the tower will feature leading design and safety principles, private rooms, and enhanced amenities. The facility will also include advanced pediatric surgical suites and emergency, laboratory, pathology, imaging, and radiology services. The project is expected to reach completion in December of 2012. Serving as the general contractor for the project, McCarthy Building Company is building a 425,524-sf tower including one basement level and seven upper levels as well as a penthouse chiller room and helistop. McCarthy will also conduct a 50,000-sf renovation of the existing facility and supporting central plant components in the basement of the existing CHOC North Tower. BIM (Building Information Modeling) is being used by the project team to refine coordination and reduce conflicts between systems during installation. FKP Architects of Houston is the design architect and WBSA (Wood, Burghard & Swain Architects) of Irvine, Calif., is the construction administration architect.
The building will incorporate environmental health principles and sustainable building guidelines as recognized by the Green Guide for Healthcare, U.S. Green Building Council, and state of California energy mandates. During construction, McCarthy will minimize unrecyclable construction waste, maintain proper indoor air quality, and filter storm water/runoff. Some of the building’s sustainable design features include: recyclable materials; low-emitting insulating exterior glass panels; light colored skin materials; green roofing; insulation isolation of skin materials; ozone protection/refrigerant selection; abundant use and optimization of natural light; increasing green space with healing gardens; low-emitting interior materials such as floor, wall, and ceiling finishes; energy management technology; water efficient landscaping; and irrigation management. Jacobs of Cypress, Calif. is the project’s construction manager; Thomsen Engineering of Industry, Calif., is the civil engineer; TMAD Taylor & Gaines of Pasadena, Calif., is the structural and MEP engineer.
