CHOC Children’s Hospital’s Bill Holmes Tower Named ENR California Best Health Care Project

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., (December 13, 2013) – ENR magazine named The Bill Holmes Tower at CHOC Children’s Hospital a 2013 Best Health Care Project. Design and construction team members from CHOC Children’s, McCarthy Building Companies, Jacobs and FKP Architects accepted the award Dec. 5 at the Long Beach Marriott during ENR’s annual award ceremony.

The ENR Best Project Awards celebrate and honor the building teams that created the best projects of the year nationwide. Approximately 104 entries were submitted for 18 building categories in California and Hawaii, and the Bill Holmes Tower was the only health care project in Southern California recognized as an ENR Best Project.

A panel of 11 judges from the architecture, engineering and construction industry selected the winning entries. Projects were scored on various criteria including overcoming challenges, teamwork, safety, innovation, contribution to the community, construction quality/craftsmanship and the function and/or aesthetic quality of the design. According to ENR California magazine, judges were impressed by the team’s safety performance for a project of this size built on an operational hospital campus.

“We’re incredibly honored to receive this award on behalf of everyone involved in the CHOC project,” said Max Burcham, McCarthy’s project director. “Our entire project team is extremely proud of creating a world-class health care facility that will greatly assist caring health care professionals and serve as a place of hope and healing to thousands of children and families for many years to come.”

The 425,524-square-foot Bill Holmes Tower, which opened in March 2013, boasts the region’s only dedicated pediatric operating rooms, emergency department, imaging department and laboratory. Enhanced patient and family amenities feature an in-house multimedia center; preteen and teen rooms; patient outdoor play area; café and outdoor garden; family resource center; and meditation and prayer center.

Built to serve the expanding needs of the region, the new tower is located on the south side of the existing CHOC Children’s hospital site. McCarthy Building Companies of Newport Beach served as general contractor for the project, which included construction of a seven–level patient tower plus a basement as well as a penthouse chiller room and helistop. Prior to construction, an office building and two-level parking structure were removed to make way for the new tower. McCarthy also renovated 50,000-square-feet of the existing facility and supporting central plant components in the basement of the existing CHOC North Tower.

Building a technologically advanced project of this complexity came with a multitude of challenges. By utilizing an integrated team approach and the latest building technology, the project team developed a variety of innovative solutions to overcome all challenges encountered. As a testament to the project’s success, the pediatric patient tower was completed 64 days early, enabling children to receive advanced medical care in the new CHOC facility sooner than originally anticipated. All of this was accomplished on a fully functioning hospital campus, while achieving an outstanding safety record and the highest levels of quality.

Based on input from parent and youth advisory councils as well as physicians and staff, the design of the Bill Holmes Tower features a lively exterior highlighted by a multi-colored glass skin, accented with colorful metal panels and a vertical beacon. At night, the façade transforms, providing a playful change in appearance.

The public spaces inside the new tower are infused with fun and excitement while patient floors create a peaceful healing environment. Organized and consolidated for optimum efficiency, the diagnostic and treatment areas are planned around flexible room concepts that can adapt to future technologies and changes in treatment techniques.

FKP Architects of Houston, Texas was the design architect and architect of record, and WBSA (Wood, Burghard & Swain Architects) of Irvine was the construction administration and associate architect for the Bill Holmes Tower. Other project consultants include Jacobs of Cypress, Calif., construction manager; Thomsen Engineering of Industry, Calif., civil engineer; and TMAD Taylor & Gaines of Pasadena, Calif., structural and MEP engineer.