In this Spring edition, articles include:

Time to Build: Today, owners are getting the best value in a generation.
by Mike Bolen, Chairman & CEO, McCarthy
Many owners are beginning to take advantage of a welcome side-effect of the current recession: an unprecedented drop in the cost of building materials and labor.

Why Building the Community is Just as Important as Building the Project.
by Angeles Garcia, McCarthy Project Manager, Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center
When a construction project is in full swing in a neighborhood, next door to a business, or along a heavily traveled highway, it can be a nuisance. Find out how to turn this project challenge into a win-win for everyone.

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Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

Designed by the San Francisco office of Anshen+Allen, the new $260 million Acute Care Pavilion is the first acute care facility in the state to meet the rigorous standards for quality and safety mandated by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), while also achieving the level of occupant health and environmental sustainability required to earn LEED-Certified status. The facility will be equipped and staffed to receive patients on October 10.

“Construction oversight of OSHPD facilities adds a heightened level of complexity to already complicated healthcare construction projects in California, based on the state’s strict criteria for passing project inspections, reviews and approvals,” said Dan Stone of CCQA Inc., inspector-of-record for the project. “McCarthy skillfully managed the many construction details to meet the agency’s high standards.”

OSHPD oversight of California hospitals stems from the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, which caused several hospitals to collapse, endangering the lives of hundreds of patients and hampering the hospitals’ ability to provide emergency care to the injured. In 1973 the state of California passed the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Seismic Safety Act and, ever since, construction of acute care and psychiatric hospitals, as well as multi-story skilled nursing homes and intermediate care facilities, in the state has been governed by this legislation. The standards not only help enforce patient safety during the earthquake, but also ensure that facilities can continue to function and care for the injured following earthquakes.

For the Acute Care Pavilion, Rady Children’s Hospital employed one onsite inspector-of-record and three field inspectors, bound to the letter of the law. McCarthy served the integral role of working through all construction issues, developing proactive solutions, documenting every discussion and construction activity, and communicating with OSHPD inspectors, who visited the site three times a week. Not a single detail of the project could afford to be overlooked, from the drilling operation that involved the installation of individual 60-foot-deep by eight-inch-wide holes to accommodate seismic tie-down rods, to the torque of each bolt. Building Information Modeling (BIM) allowed the construction team to address many of the seismic issues.

Rady Children’s Hospital is the only dedicated child-specific medical center in the San Diego region, and demand for services had outgrown its existing facilities. The new 279,000-square foot Acute Care Pavilion was built on a tight, 148,650-square-foot site at the southeast end of the hospital campus, adjacent to the existing Rose Pavilion. Second- and third-floor bridges and a ground-floor walkway connect the existing facility to the new four-story building.

When equipped, the Acute Care Pavilion will house a much-needed surgical center, 84 medical-surgical beds, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and a cancer center. It also will provide 16 operating rooms with associated support departments, a 28-bed hematology and oncology unit, and a 10-bed bone marrow transplant intensive care unit.

The facility’s exterior features a glass-fiber reinforced, precast concrete exterior; integral-colored plaster; storefront and curtain wall glass systems with colored accents; metal panels and railings; and a billowing steel front entry canopy carrying the hospital’s “kite” insignia.

“Rady Children’s Hospital has been committed to incorporating green practices throughout its operations for many years, so when it came time for us to expand, we set on a mission to become the largest children’s hospital in the state with a world-class LEED Certified facility,” said Tim Jacoby, vice president of facilities for Rady Children’s Hospital, who led the successful team collaboration.  “Due to the degree of difficulty in meeting OSHPD and LEED requirements simultaneously, we knew the McCarthy team would be up against a huge challenge. Meeting our goal was not only a significant achievement for the hospital, but a milestone for the state of California.”

To knowledgeably address the LEED aspects of the project and carry through the facility’s sustainable design in a thoughtful, practical manner, McCarthy employed a dedicated LEED accredited professional and, since the project began in early 2008, 10 of the construction team’s members have become LEED APs.

“Construction execution required rigorous tracking and monitoring, along with a great deal of creative solution-finding, to keep the project on course toward LEED Certification,” said Steve Van Dyke, project director for McCarthy. “The construction team took extra measures and precautions at every turn to ensure compliance with the LEED credits.”

Working in accordance with LEED 2.1, the project team is on track to receive 31 of the 25 points needed to become LEED Certified. Eric Lum, LEED AP, has served as LEED project coordinator for Anshen+Allen, spearheading the design application review, and Don Sadler, AIA, LEED AP, served as principal-in-charge for the design firm. McCarthy is in the process of submitting the construction documentation needed for official certification.

Since beginning the LEED application process for this project, the U.S. Green Building Council has rolled out the LEED 3.0 for Healthcare Green Building Rating System, which is likely to make it more enticing for hospitals to seek LEED certification. LEED 3.0 for Healthcare is more applicable, addressing such specific issues as increased sensitivity to chemicals and pollutants, traveling distances from parking facilities, and access to natural spaces.

The new Rady Children’s Hospital Acute Care Pavilion has earned an “Innovation in Design” credit for the introduction of a series of healing gardens that utilize sustainable design principles and embrace the hospital’s healing arts program, which originally was developed in 1993 in conjunction with the Rose Pavilion construction. The program seeks to enrich the experience of patients, families and staff via visual and performing arts, and through the creation of healing gardens that draw on artists’ talents to transform normally lackluster courtyards into whimsical, outdoor retreats.

 In conjunction with the hospital’s healing arts program, the new Acute Care Pavilion provides an environment focused on the needs and imaginations of children — one that is also intended to help relieve the stress of families with sick or injured children. Central to the theme of the building is the “River of Life”, manifested through an immense, four-story mineral panel that incorporates a kinetic lighting system, which radiates a rainbow of vibrant colors through the front entry curtain wall. A mosaic tile version of the “River of Life” flows from the mineral lobby wall, out the front door and into the first-floor courtyard, which serves as one of several healing gardens.

Named “Carley’s Magical Gardens”, these playful, landscaped areas were designed through the collaboration of local artists T.J. Dixon, Kim Emerson, Albert De Matteis, and James Nelson. The first floor garden off the main entry, intended for use by parents and siblings, sets the stage for the whimsical themes experienced throughout the facility.

Located on the second floor off the hematology and oncology unit, the primary healing garden features a giant, tiled bird with a place for patients to deposit their wishes, which staff will later collect in order to better understand the children’s wants and needs. A life-size bronze figure of a young girl sitting at an eight-foot-long table is the centerpiece of the second-floor healing garden, and provides a place for organized activities and family gatherings. Other fanciful objects include a mosaic tile and concrete tree playhouse, complete with Hot Wheels tracks; a privacy bench; performance stage; and interactive garden screens and gates. A divided basketball playing area accommodates both regular and immune-deficient patients.

On the third floor is a landscaped bamboo garden with a rubber-surfaced playing area for patients and a retreat area for staff members. A vast ground-floor outdoor terrace, strictly for staff use, features Jacaranda trees, white light posts and bike racks.

Each floor of the building embraces its own nature theme – including sea, beach, sky and outer space – that are carried out with objects woven into the flooring, stamped ceiling tiles, nurse station vitrines, patient room and ceiling soffit murals, etched glass doors, restroom tile and lighting fixtures. The fourth-floor neonatal intensive care center accommodates 32 bassinettes, and features serpentine nurse stations that give staff a line of sight at all times. Patient rooms contain bathrooms with bathtubs or showers. Large wooden Nana doors surround the main reception and NICU desks for patient privacy.

The project team achieved 23 percent below Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency by utilizing the LEED Energy Cost Budget methodology. This was achieved by incorporating: 1) occupancy sensors in operating rooms to reduce the ventilation rate by 60 percent when unoccupied, yielding a 45 percent annual energy savings; 2) variable frequency drives on air handling unit motors to adjust the fan speed due to filter loading; 3) carbon dioxide monitoring for high occupancy areas to reduce ventilation rates, based on the number of occupants; 4) a supply air temperature reset strategy, which saves energy by adjusting air temperatures based on load; 5) a 24,000-square-foot cogeneration plant that provides free heating and high temperature water, and contains two 700-ton natural gas-fired absorption chillers; and 6) variable frequency drives on cooling tower fans and hot water pumps.

The project also utilizes recycled and locally obtained steel, concrete and other building materials; low VOC-emitting paints, glues, carpet, and wood; water-efficient landscaping; abundant daylighting, even at operating rooms; and a dedicated bicycle storage area. A reflective concrete “cool roof” system helps minimize heat gain and control rainwater run-off, and painted steel screens conceal rooftop mechanical systems.  
Nearly 80 percent of construction waste materials at the job site was recycled. The project team went above and beyond the LEED requirements by declaring the entire hospital campus a “no smoking” zone. A thorough, 14-day flush-out of the building began upon construction completion.

KPFF of San Francisco served as the structural engineer; RBF, San Diego, civil engineer; Randall Lamb, San Diego, electrical engineer; Shadpour Consulting Engineers, San Diego, mechanical engineer; and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley was the landscape architect.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms and has been ranked among the top five national healthcare builders by Modern Healthcare since the magazine began its annual ranking more than 30 years ago. In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The police station building is designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and is on track to be the first LEED Platinum project for a higher education institution in San Diego County.

The $17.8 million project is part of the San Diego Community College District’s $1.555 billion Propositions S and N construction program, which is providing for new instructional and career training facilities, major renovations, campus-wide infrastructure projects, and parking and public safety enhancements at City, Mesa and Miramar colleges, and six Continuing Education campuses.  A virtual tour of the new Miramar College parking facility and police substation can be viewed at www.sdmiramar.edu/facilities/construction_updates.asp.

“The McCarthy team brought a cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, efficient- operating parking structure concept to the table, together with some innovative approaches to our achieving LEED Platinum Certification on the police substation,” said David Umstot, vice chancellor of the San Diego Community College District. “We’re looking forward to again collaborating with them to complete this ambitious endeavor.”

Most recently, McCarthy built the new $28.9 million, 50,000-square-foot Allied Health Education and Training Facility at San Diego Mesa College in the Clairemont area of San Diego. Also funded by the Propositions S and N construction bond program, the Allied Health building is tracking LEED Gold certification.

The four-story, above-grade parking structure at Miramar College will be constructed with poured-in-place reinforced concrete. The scope of work for McCarthy includes related site work, including drought-tolerant landscaping and high-efficiency irrigation systems that use reclaimed water.

The adjacent single-story police substation will provide a central hub for campus safety and security, wayfinding and parking permitting. Key to its sustainable design is a green roof grid system, which will cover the majority of the roof deck. The grid system uses modular panels for ease of installation, roof access and maintenance. A green screen will cover the west elevation of the parking structure and achieve the look of a vertical garden. The vegetation to be used will contribute to a microclimate that is central to the facility’s passive thermal and natural ventilation design.

The xeriscape plants to be incorporated into the roof system will significantly reduce the need for stormwater infrastructure conveyance and retention systems. They also will help remove impurities from storm-water runoff, while reducing maintenance costs for filtration systems.

Additionally, the green roof and wall systems will reduce the heat island effect and complement the benefits of the pervious pavement to be used in the parking area. The green screen on the west elevation of the parking structure will further contribute to lower ambient heat gain, both within the police substation and the new parking structure.

An array of other sustainable design features factor into the building’s LEED Platinum level sustainable design, including terra cotta rain screens that create a vented facade and increase building envelope energy efficiency; curtain walls that have horizontal exterior siding on the south, vertical fins on the east, and a large glazed area facing north; operable windows that provide natural ventilation; Solatube skylights that capture natural light and enhance occupants’ work conditions; ceilings in the office and work areas that open to the concrete slab and optimize the radiant properties of the building’s thermal mass; and suspended ceiling “clouds” that enhance acoustical performance while serving as reflectors for daylight.

Still more green features include “cradle to cradle” certified finish materials, renewable and recycled flooring, and low-emitting casework materials.  The reception area of the police substation will showcase a recessed, interactive flat screen panel that informs visitors of the building’s sustainable features, and reinforces Miramar College’s sustainability goals.

“Construction execution will require conscientious tracking and monitoring to keep the project on the correct course toward LEED Certification,” said Bob Betz, project director of McCarthy Building Companies. “We’re looking forward to working with the San Diego Community College District to help realize its mission to build the first LEED Platinum community college facility in the region.”

Harley Ellis Devereaux is the design architect, with International Parking Design as the architect-of-record. Jessen Wright Structural Engineers is the structural engineer, Randall Lamb Associates is the electrical engineer, SC Engineers is the mechanical engineer, and Burkett & Wong Engineers is the civil engineer.  Schmidt Design Group is serving as the landscape architect.  Gafcon, Inc. serves as the program manager for the Propositions S and N construction bond program.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been one of the leading parking structure builders since the advent of the modern parking structure in the 1960s. The company has delivered nearly 400 parking facilities throughout the United States, with parking spaces for more than 70,000 cars in California alone. The firm offers general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for parking structures; healthcare, educational, mixed-use, laboratory, biotechnical, retail, entertainment, industrial, multifamily and microelectronics facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; and bridges and highways. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Images provided courtesy of Alan Decker Photography.

How True Builders Make a Difference
by Derek Glanvill, President and COO
A true builder has an end-to-end view of the entire construction process, from preconstruction through delivery and beyond. That adds value for owners, but there’s one central issue at the heart of the construction industry itself: forgetting how to build.

Is There a Perfect World in Project Delivery?
by Sue Stewart, Senior Vice President
The answer may be that creating the perfect project delivery method starts by implementing no defined project delivery method at all. Find out why.

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The new parking structure represents the first phase of Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas’ overall $200 million expansion project, which will also include a new emergency department that will more than double the current capacity and add 36 inpatient beds and a new central energy plant. Farther-reaching plans include expansion for outpatient services, medical office space and additional critical care and inpatient beds to serve the community well into the future.

The new 278,000-square-foot, three-story structure will encompass five levels, including one subterranean and one rooftop level. The structure will consist of Class II cast-in-place reinforced concrete, which McCarthy is self-performing. The exterior will feature a combination of concrete and EIFS synthetic stucco.

The scope of work for McCarthy includes related site work, which will entail landscaping, installation of irrigation systems, and significant rerouting of existing utilities.

“With the construction site for the new parking structure being on an active hospital campus, the project poses some significant ingress/egress issues as well as subcontractor scheduling challenges,” said McCarthy Project Director Robert Betz. “We’re in the process of devising a plan with Scripps Health that will allow us to work within the construction area in a manner that will minimize disruption to ongoing traffic and activities at the hospital during construction.”

 It is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete grading and excavation for the parking structure before structural work begins.

International Parking Design is the architect-of-record. Jessen-Wright is the structural engineer, E3 Design Group is the electrical engineer, B&P Associates is the mechanical engineer, and Latitude 33 is serving as the civil engineer. M.W. Peltz & Associates is the landscape architect.

About Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas
Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas (www.scripps.org) is one of five acute care hospital campuses within Scripps Health, a non-profit health care organization based in San Diego, Calif. In 2008 and 2009, Scripps was named a 100 Best Companies to Work For® by FORTUNE magazine. Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas is North San Diego County’s first certified primary stroke center, first World Health Organization designated Baby Friendly Hospital in San Diego, and the only CARF-accredited Brain Injury Program in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties. Scripps Encinitas offers a full range of clinical and surgical services, including 24-hour emergency services; intensive care, cancer/oncology; orthopedics; neurology; urology; ophthalmology; a Level II neonatal nursery; award-winning OB/GYN and maternal and infant health services; and an ambulatory surgery center. With more than 650 physicans, over 1,400 employees and 142 beds, Scripps Encinitas has served the growing communities of San Diego’s North County since 1978.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been one of the leading parking structure builders since the advent of the modern parking structure in the 1960s. The company has delivered nearly 400 parking facilities throughout the United States, with parking spaces for more than 70,000 cars in California alone. The firm offers general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for parking structures; healthcare, educational, mixed-use, laboratory, biotechnical, retail, entertainment, industrial, multifamily and microelectronics facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; and bridges and highways. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The new $92 million instructional building is being funded by the $1.555 billion Propositions S and N construction bond program, which is providing for new teaching and learning facilities, major renovations and campus infrastructure projects at Mesa, City and Miramar colleges, and six continuing education campuses.  Construction is expected to begin in early September 2010, with completion slated for November 2012.

This is the second major project McCarthy has been awarded by the San Diego Community College District at San Diego Mesa College. The company also built the new three-story, 50,000-square-foot Allied Health Building, which was completed in August.

“McCarthy was well-positioned for this project based on its extensive experience with laboratories and higher education construction projects,” said David Umstot, vice chancellor of facilities management for the San Diego Community College District.  “The stellar performance of the McCarthy team on the adjacent Allied Health project at Mesa College factored heavily into their being selected for this technically complex project.”

Designed by Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building will house four floors of classrooms, laboratory space and offices for the departments of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physical sciences.  Additionally, several faculty/student interaction areas will be incorporated into the building’s design. The new Math and Science Building will be constructed of structural steel with concrete shear walls and an exterior curtain wall.

The $92 million San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building is designed to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification under guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council. Many of the latest sustainable design features will be incorporated into the building’s design in an effort to achieve LEED Silver certification.

The new Math and Science Building will occupy the area immediately east of the existing Learning and Resource Building and south of the I-300 Building on the San Diego Mesa College campus. Two existing buildings will have to be demolished to make room for the new facility.

According to McCarthy Project Director Robert Betz, the biggest challenge facing the construction team is the project’s location on a compact 200,000-square-foot site right in the middle of the campus.

“Project access is a major issue that will pose ingress/egress as well as subcontractor scheduling challenges,” said Betz. “We are in the process of devising a plan that will allow us to work within the site constraints while minimizing disruption to ongoing traffic and activities at the campus during the construction period.”

Project team consultants for the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building include Hope Engineering for structural engineering, and X-nth for mechanical and electrical engineering. The program manager for the Propositions S and N construction program for the San Diego Community College District is Gafcon.

About San Diego Mesa College
Among the largest community colleges in California and the nation, San Diego Mesa College is a fully accredited two-year college offering 160 Associate degree and certificate programs. Recognized in 2007 as one of the top 100 producers of associate degrees in the nation, Mesa College ranks as San Diego’s top transfer institution. The college also serves as an important economic catalyst for the region. Its career programs and industry alliances offer graduates almost immediate job placement in the fields of allied health, biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, business technology, consumer studies, and more. Other top specialized career programs include fashion, architecture, multimedia, animal health technology, American Sign Language, interior design, and hospitality and event management. More information is available online at www.sdmesa.edu.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and is ranked among the top five education builders by Engineering News-Record. The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

CCIP vs. OCIP: Which Comprehensive Insurance Program is Right for You?
by Bill Sharp, Vice President, Risk Management
With the size and scope of projects becoming larger every day, program sponsors (owners and contractors) are seeking alternative ways to address insurance needs, both from a coverage standpoint and a cost standpoint.

When the Hospital Board Says, “Build it Green!”
by John Kreidich AIA, LEED AP, Manager, Healthcare Services
Building green in the healthcare environment is here to stay. Well-chosen green building investments will yield benefits with either no additional cost or with a return on investment well within a hospital’s internal rate of return over the life of the improvements.

5 Questions to Ask Your Contractor About SAFETY
An Interview with Gary Amsinger, CSP, Corporate Vice President, Safety
In addition to simply keeping workers healthy and productive, strong safety execution reduces exposure for owners. Amsinger suggests that owners should ask, at the very least, these basic five questions of their prospective contractor.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial editions.

Located in the heart of the city at 3020 Children’s Way, the new $260 million Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion is on track to become one of California’s first LEED certified OSHPD (Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) healthcare facilities under strict guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Prominently visible from San Diego’s I-805, the Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion is situated on a 148,650-square-foot site at the southeast end of the hospital campus, adjacent to the existing Rady Children’s Hospital Rose Pavilion. A bridge will connect the existing facility to the new four-story building.

The Patient Care Pavilion will house a much-needed surgical center, 84 medical-surgical beds, a neo-natal intensive care center, and cancer center. The facility will have 16 operating rooms with associated support departments, a 28-bed hematology and oncology unit, 10-bed bone marrow transplant intensive care unit, 32-bed neo-natal intensive care unit, and 84 acuity adaptable medical surgery beds. Construction began in December 2007 and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010.

“Rady Children’s Hospital is committed to adopting green practices throughout its operations,” said Tim Jacoby, vice president of facilities for Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego. “The McCarthy team is successfully moving us toward our goal of becoming the largest children’s hospital in the state with a world-class, LEED certified facility.”

Not only will the Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion be one of the first LEED certified OSHPD facilities in California, it also will be one of the first LEED certified healthcare facilities within San Diego County. So far, only a few healthcare organizations in the region have applied to meet LEED requirements.

Designed by San Francisco-based architectural firm Ashen + Allen, the new Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion features a glass-fiber reinforced, precast concrete exterior; dimensional travertine stone; storefront and curtain wall glass systems with colored accents; and metal panels, railings and canopies.

“McCarthy has a huge responsibility placed on them to carry through with construction of the facility’s sustainable design in a thoughtful, practical manner,” said Ashen + Allen’s Eric Lum, Ph.D, AIA, LEED AP, LEED project administrator. “They’ve been extremely diligent with the construction coordination.”

Building one of the first LEED designed OSHPD healthcare facilities in California is a job McCarthy has taken as seriously as the cause:  fulfilling the increased demand for children’s critical care in the San Diego area. To knowledgeably address the LEED aspects of the project, McCarthy employed a dedicated LEED AP professional and, since the project began in early 2008, nine of the team’s members have become LEED APs.

The McCarthy team is targeting 20 percent below Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency. Other sustainable features include a reflective concrete “cool roof” that will minimize heat gain and control rainwater runoff; recycled and locally obtained steel, concrete and other building materials; low VOC-emitting paints, glues, carpet, and wood; water-efficient landscaping; natural light; high-efficiency air conditioning and mechanical systems; and a dedicated bicycle storage area.  Nearly 80 percent of construction waste materials at the job site is being recycled.

In addition to providing outstanding indoor air quality, the design will maximize natural light and utilize high-efficiency air conditioning and mechanical equipment to provide sustainable, lower-overall life cycle operating costs that positively impact the ongoing operation of the hospital. The building also will feature a green roof system that will help control the rainwater run-off from the roof.

As a pediatric institution, the new Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion will provide an environment focused on the needs and imaginations of children. Central to the theme of the hospital are “Carley’s Magical Gardens”, a series of mythical healing gardens designed through the collaboration of artists T.J. Dixon, Kim Emerson, Albert De Matteis, and James Nelson.

Located on the second floor off the hematology and oncology unit, the primary healing garden will hold hidden clues that lead children to 12 golden eggs belonging to “Marisa, the Magical Bird”.  When their search is complete, they can put their wishes into Marisa’s “golden locket”, where they later will be collected by staff to better understand the children’s thoughts and needs. “Carley’s Birthday Party”, featuring a life-size bronze figure of a young girl sitting at an eight-foot-long table holding her puppy, will be the centerpiece of the healing garden, and provide a place for organized activities as well as a gathering point for large families. Other whimsical objects include a mosaic tile and concrete tree house,  bronze statue of “Digger the Dog”, playhouse with mechanical toys, privacy bench, performance stage, and interactive garden screens and gates.

A second landscaped healing garden for parents and siblings will be located on the first floor, off the main entrance. Visitors can meander down a pathway and over a wooden bridge, where they will be taken to a magical place with “Turtles Taking Tea at the Tidelands Fountain”, the “Court of the Frog King”, and a 17-foot mahagony and brass row boat complete with a ships wheel and throttle. The mosaic tile “River of Life” within the healing garden ties into the “Fountain of Life” wall in the lobby. Outside the main entrance will be two groupings of life-size painted bronze seals – one a mother with two cubs, the other four seals gleefully frolicking.

A third landscaped garden, located on the third floor, will feature a bronze dog with its puppies, interactive garden screens, and various sound elements. A fourth outdoor landscaped area on the first floor, named the Leichtag Family Healing Garden in honor of its donor, is intended for use by staff.

“Our construction team is inspired by the passion and commitment of the Rady Children’s Hospital staff to bring this project to life,” said McCarthy Executive Vice President Ron Hall.  “We understand this is not just another construction project, but rather a life-saving mission on behalf of parents and their children.”

KPFF of San Francisco is the structural engineer; RBF, San Diego, civil engineer; Randall Lamb, San Diego, electrical engineer; Shadpour Consulting Engineers, San Diego, mechanical engineer; and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley is serving as landscape architect.

McCarthy also performed design/build services for the adjacent 332,279-square-foot, 1,000-car parking structure including a podium deck to accommodate the new Ronald McDonald House.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been ranked among the top five national healthcare builders by Modern Healthcare since the magazine began its annual ranking more than 30 years ago. The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The new research laboratory has a function similar to the existing 145,000-square-foot UCSD School of Medicine Leichtag Family Foundation for Biomedical Research Building, which McCarthy completed for the University in spring of 2004. The newer facility will be part of the ongoing expansion of the School of Medicine campus.
Boone Hellman, campus architect for UCSD, is overseeing the $90 million project, with James Gillie, senior director of construction services for UCSD, supervising construction. Anticipating a two-year build-out, McCarthy will begin construction in fall of 2010.

Designed by nationally known ZGFArchitects, LLP (ZGF), the research building will fit within the modern design context of the academic mall on the School of Medicine campus.  The facility will encompass wet labs, open lab space, meeting rooms and support space on four stories above ground, with core lab space and support mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems located in the basement. The exterior of the building will be a combination of architectural concrete, curtain wall, metal panels, and terra cotta cladding.

A primary goal for the new facility is to achieve LEED Gold or possibly Platinum level of certification from the United States Green Building Council. This will necessitate an intensive, thoughtful approach to all aspects of design and construction and especially the build-out of the overall mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems to ensure optimum energy efficiency.

“The University and our design team have an expectation of this being one of the most sustainably designed and highest performing research labs on the UCSD campus and possibly in the country,” said Joe Collins, AIA, a partner with ZGF and principal architect for the new UCSD education laboratory. “We’ve had a lot of success teaming with McCarthy on past UC-system projects.  For this new facility, we’re going a step beyond to create, along with the owner, a customized project delivery system that brings the major trades into the project earlier to ensure its success.”

According to Bob Betz, project director for McCarthy, the aspect of the project that will prove most challenging is construction of the lab space and the highly MEP-intensive areas of the overhead construction.  Building Information Modeling (BIM) will be utilized extensively to help in the coordination of these spaces.
One of the more important features of the building design is the exterior architectural concrete work, which McCarthy will self perform. The firm previously achieved noteworthy success on the poured-in-place concrete of the nearby award-winning Student Academic Services Facility, completed by McCarthy in August 2007.

KPFF of Portland and San Diego is the structural engineer for the new UCSD Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility.  IBE Consulting Engineers, based in Sherman Oaks, is the mechanical and plumbing engineer, and Integrated Engineering Consultants of Los Angeles is the electrical engineer. Spurlock Poirier of San Diego is the landscape architect.  RFD, also of San Diego, is the laboratory-planning consultant.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2008) and among the top 10 education builders (Engineering News-Record, October 2006). The firm has been building in the education market for the last 50 years. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company has managed construction or built more than 300 K-12 school projects nationwide, totaling more than $2 billion in construction value, and nearly 100 higher education projects on more than 50 campuses. In addition to San Diego, McCarthy has offices in Newport Beach, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis; Dallas and Atlanta.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has introduced its new ‘green’ client newsletter, Insights That Build^SM.  It’s all part of the company’s goal of Leaving Green Footprints^®, a 10-year old program aimed at reducing McCarthy’s carbon footprint.  The first electronic edition includes valuable thought-leading content including:

How to get the best final cost on your next project
by Mike Bolen, Chairman and CEO
‘Conventional wisdom’ says that owners can’t have it all. In fact-by taking the right approach-you can turn an old saying into a smarter strategy: ‘Good, fast and cheap: pick all three.’

Design management – why owners get a better result
by Jim Mynott, Director of Design Management
In this economic climate, execution time from proposal to start of construction can be a deciding factor for project funding. A design management approach can help—and it maximizes other owner advantages.

Five things you should ask your contractor about quality
by Chad Dorgan, Vice President, Quality
There are few words in construction that are more used – or more misused – than the word “quality.”  To understand what it means to YOUR construction project, you and your contractor need to talk.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled ‘Other Regional Editions’.  These include Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Nevada/Utah, Texas, Central, and Southeast editions.