Roberto J. Canales
Project Manager, BSME
Kaiser Permanente Medical Office Building Refresh Project
facts at a glance
Location: Vallejo, California
Project Start Date: August 2018
Estimated Completion: March 2020
Project Architect: Hibser-Yamauchi Inc.
Project Budget: $ 20 million (GMP)
Tier 1 Subcontractors: Anderson Flooring, Burnett & Sons, Contra Costa Electric, Thompson Painters, Kaiser Capital Projects Millworks.
Section Contents:
1. New Interior Finishes
The Kaiser Permanente - Vallejo Medical Center campus is a one-stop shop for all inpatient and outpatient needs for the residents of Solano County. To better serve these patients, the campus executed a Legacy Refresh project that provided American With Disabilities Accessibility updates along with complete refurbishing of front and back-of-house areas.
Fig. 1.1 Before: Staff back-of-house areas before renovations. Starting Clockwise from Top Fig. 1.2: Newborn Care Services area being prepared for demolition activities. Fig. 1.3: Dismantling of casework in preparation for renovated casework. Fig. 1.4: IT and Electrical Shutdown activities underway. Fig. 1.5: Section of back-of-house hallway to receive new flooring with fresh lacquer vapor barrier.
Fig. 1.6 After: Corian countertops, brushed stainless steel metal bases, pattern flooring, and full paint work are but some of the premium upgrades the Vallejo Medical Office Building received as a result of the $20 million Legacy Refresh Project. Over 30 inpatient/outpatient medical department received upgrades to their front-of-house reception areas as well as their back-of-house patient treatment facilities.
2. Casework Pre-Coordination
Reception area casework formed an integral part in the Legacy Refresh Project commitment of providing safe, accessible spaces to all patients and staff throughout the Kaiser Permanente - Vallejo facility. Keeping in mind that the installation of casework had to fit in to these spaces correctly the first time to minimize disruption to staff and patients, the old adage of 'measure twice, cut once' rang ever true throughout the coordination of the project.
Figure 2.1: Frontal view of casework contract drawings for area 2NE16. The casework measurements marked 'V.I.F.' or 'verify in field', proved to be absolutely worth double checking as most measurements taken were from 15 year old as-builts and not on existing field conditions.
Fig. 2.2: Rear view plastic laminate casework drawings calling out Corian solid surface counter tops with file drawers, desk locations and electrical/IT access panels.
Fig. 2.3: New casework was to accommodate existing electrical power and data receptacles. Careful field investigations required documenting quantity and placing dimensions of over 150 custom pieces for 30 medical offices.
3. Work Sequence and Power/IT Shutdowns
6 months of internal coordination and site investigation (beginning in January 2018, ending in June 2018) paid dividends when time came to begin executing demolition and installation activities. Electrical circuit traces studies were conducted for all departments across the Vallejo MOB patient care spaces to identify all appropriate electrical and IT panels for shut down and lock out/tag out during construction activities. Open and constant communication and a relationship built on trust proved invaluable for successfully kicking off work activities while keeping disruptions to a minimum.
Fig. 3.1: Site investigations found many coordination items that needed to be addressed prior to removing and installing new casework. One of the most pervasive was working with the existing electrical conduits. New casework dimensions differed from original casework in some instances, therefore power and data conduit needed to be adjusted accordingly.
Fig. 3.2: Coordination map of first installation activities that began in the first week of June 2018. In order to keep the MOB functioning during the Monday-Friday work week, demo and install activities took place during the weekends, starting close-of-business Friday, and concluding on Sunday evening. Here, 2 adjacent departments are shown; green denotes new casework installation, pink and yellow areas denote new flooring and original casework demolition activities.
Fig. 3.3: Casework and new flooring/painting/trim installation was tiered over 2 weekends per department. The first weekend, new flooring, painting, and trim work would be installed, original casework removed and replaced with temporary desks. 2nd weekend would see new plastic laminate and all Corian surfaces installed, finalizing the refresh for that particular department. Correctly disconnecting, storing, and re-installing all IT, computer, and phone equipment became a standard and crucial step in order to ensure all equipment was ready and accessible for the staff to use when they showed up to work on Monday morning.
©2017 by Roberto J. Canales | Mechanical Engineer