Providence, RI

Veterans Administration Medical Center Building ICU Addition

Scope/Solutions

The Veterans Administration (VA) needed to expand the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Providence facility to accommodate increasing health care demands and advancing technology. The VA undertook a project to construct a new single-story addition elevated to align with the existing ICU on the second floor of Building 1. SGH served as the structural engineer of record for the new addition, which houses nine new ICU rooms.

SGH designed the steel-framed structure for the addition and an integrated stair tower. Highlights of our design include the following:

  • Exposed columns to elevate the addition
  • Shallow footings to match the depth of the existing foundations to avoid imposing lateral loads on the existing 1946 structure
  • Offsets from Building 1’s existing cast-in-place structure to structurally separate it from the new addition
  • Steel moment frames as the lateral-load-resisting system to provide the maximum flexibility for future space planning
  • Steel framing to support large mechanical equipment on the roof
  • Considerations for future expansion below the ICU addition, including foundations set at a lower elevation to accommodate new slabs-on-grade and underground utilities

Project Summary

Icon: completion-date

2018

Completion Date
Icon: construction-value

8M

Construction Value
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15K

Project Size
Solutions
New Construction
Services
Structures
Markets
Health Care & Life Sciences
Client(s)
e4h
Specialized Capabilities
Building Design

Key team members

Michael Bolduc
Associate Principal
781.907.9247 mjbolduc@sgh.com
John Thomsen
Managing Principal, New Structural Design, Boston
781.907.9351 jhthomsen@sgh.com
View Bio

Additional Projects

Northeast

Maine Medical Center Coulombe Family Tower Expansion

The recent expansion of the Coulombe Family Tower includes a two-story, vertical addition to the five-story hospital building that SGH designed in the mid-2000s. Anticipating continued growth, Maine Medical Center (MMC) asked SGH to design the original base structure to accommodate additional stories. When MMC was ready to expand, they considered another impending need and asked the project team if the new addition could support a rooftop heliport. SGH provided building enclosure and structural engineering services for the project, which was completed while the Coulombe Family Tower remained occupied.
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