Industry News

Kaiser Permanente is working with San Francisco architectural firm Gordon H. Chong & Partners in teamwork with SmithGroup Inc. to develop a standardized template for Kaiser's new hospitals. Establishing models for developing new facilities and renovating existing buildings, the templates will create flexible floorplans and layouts for Kaiser's small, medium, and large hospitals.

Central Montgomery Medical Center broke ground in early February 2003 on a $2-million emergency department renovation. Relocating and doubling the size of the existing department, the project will create 21 private rooms and is slated for completion in 2003. Central Montgomery Medical Center, owned by King of Prussia-based Universal Health Services, is also planning a new $8-million medical office building that will connect to the hospital, to begin construction in late 2003 and reach completion mid-2004.

Toyota Motor Corp. will spend $800-million to construct its sixth North American vehicle manufacturing plant in southwest San Antonio. Sited on 2000 acres, the facility will begin to produce 150,000 Tundra pickups annually in 2006.

Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., will renovate a classroom in the Crummer Graduate School of Business with $100,000 in funding from the Wachovia Foundation. Renamed the Wachovia Lecture Hall, the hall will be refurbished and upgraded with new technology, including advanced Internet capabilities and projection systems.

The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is constructing the 93,000-sf Automotive Research Building at SwRI's San Antonio campus. Housing SwRI's 600-employee Automotive Products and Emissions Research Division, the facility will feature state-of-the-art facilities for the division's fleet and field evaluations using full-scale vehicles.