Bell was the Mechanical and Plumbing Design-Assist subcontractor on this $320 million UVA Hospital Expansion Project for a new 460,000+ SF 13-story tower. The project included a new emergency department, 16 Operating and Interventional Procedure Rooms, support departments, and six (6) floors of Intensive Care and Acute Care patient units.
Bell’s Budget Management resulted in over $3 million of accepted value savings to the mechanical and plumbing budget. Design Assist and Pre-construction Services also included the Early Procurement of Major Equipment and the off-site Prefabrication of Corridor Rack Systems.
In early March 2020, the bed tower was in the final stages of construction and originally scheduled to open in June 2020. With the COVID-19 crisis looming, an accelerated schedule and some last-minute design changes were critical. Bell temporarily repurposed the existing smoke-evacuation system, which provided slight negative air pressure to 12 intensive care unit (ICU) rooms. The installation of three (3) high-velocity stack fans permitted the remainder of the ICU floors to be converted to slightly negative pressure rooms. The use of a combination of economizer mode and the added fans made portions of floors negative and/or neutral.
In March 2022, the project was awarded LEED Silver by US Green Building Council AND it received the International Federation of Interior Architects (IFI) Design Distinction Award - Gold Award (Healthcare Category).
All Awards to Date:
The UHE project was also a finalist for the USGBC Virginia Community Leader Awards.
Project Photos: Halkin Mason Photography
