|
contents | technologies | |||||||||
| Replacement hospital is using high performance precast wall system  Gate Precast Company is working with Skanska/MAPP to provide a high performance precast concrete wall system for the new 560,000-square-foot University Medical Center Inpatient Bed Tower in New Orleans, Louisiana. The new hospital will fill the void left after Hurricane Katrina destroyed The Medical Center of LSU at New Orleans in 2005. The seven-story, 424-bed Inpatient Tower is one component of the state-of-the-art 38-acre academic medical care campus, which was designed by a joint venture of Blitch Knevel Architects and NBBJ."Gate's all-inclusive envelope system offered the UMC's design team a degree of flexibility that is not typically associated with precast cladding or precast in general. Gate Precast is known for its ability to push the design envelope. The new hospital's high performance wall system offers a wide variety of attributes: polished precast finish, durability and continuous insulation protected by an innovative insulated panel guard which helps protect the insulation's edges," said Dean Gwin, Gate Precast President. The precast concrete wall panels will be manufactured with a high-quality, polished finish in its Alabama plant. Polishing the concrete surface with a coarse abrasive effect exposes the aggregates resulting in a smooth, shiny finish much like polished granite slabs. The precast concrete building envelope has been designed to endure hurricane force winds up to 150 mph yielding a facility that will enhance public safety in the event of natural and man-made disasters. The complex overall will total nearly 2.2 million square feet and will be completed in February 2015. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |