MD Anderson Cancer Center Alkek Expansion

The McCarthy healthcare construction project included a 500,000-square-foot, design-build vertical and horizontal expansion and renovation composed of a 12-story addition above and 24-story elevator tower next to the existing and continually operating 12-story hospital. The expansion includes 240 new inpatient rooms, pharmacy, facility support space, observation deck, three shell floors with room for 144 future patient rooms, as well as the renovation of existing spaces and upgrade of existing structure and infrastructure to support the expansion.

Building on top of an operational 12-story hospital posed a variety of challenges. McCarthy, in close collaboration with design-build architect HKS and other key team members, successfully completed this project on time and on budget, taking the client’s expectations to new heights, literally. More than doubling the hospital in height, McCarthy’s solution-oriented approach enabled the team to find a way to add two additional floors to the expansion project, taking the expectation from 10 expansion floors to 12. Glass fiber reinforced concrete was used for the building skin, enabling the foundation to support the weight of additional floors while staying within the existing budget. The result is a world-class hospital facility with a hospitality environment, helping make the patient journey as comforting as possible.