Bon Secours Mercy Health’s new two-story, steel-framed medical office building includes
an emergency department, support spaces, clinic space, labs, pharmacy + imaging.

The building façade consists of insulated metal panel + tall glazing, allowing natural light throughout. Stair towers are floor-to-roof glazing with hidden backup structure to allow the spaces to shine.

The building design considers future horizontal expansion to include inpatient services. As such, the foundations are designed offset to accommodate a directly adjcent building. The site location + future inpatient services necessitated the structure to be designed as high seismic – seismic design category D. Further, the tall rooftop mechanical screening increases the building’s wind design requirements. The building uses robust, but efficient, steel moment frames to resist the high wind + high seismic, keeping the floorplan open now + in the future.

Other challenges typical to healthcare projects were vibration requirements + miscellaneous supports for medical equipment, coiling door frames, automated fire barrier doors, and transfer columns for unobstructed nurse stations.