University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro

Cost: $411 Million

When the new, $411-million University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro opens its doors in 2011, it will integrate evidenced-based design and state-of-the-art technologies to transform the way patients receive health care.

Princeton Healthcare decided to construct a new hospital in 2005. Building a new facility was more cost-effective and better able to serve the community over the long term than expanding and renovating the hospital's existing campus, bounded by residential neighborhoods in downtown Princeton.

The 636,000-sq-ft, seven-story medical center will occupy 50 acres and serve as the hub of a 160-acre health campus off Route 1, between Scudders Mill Road and the Millstone River, in Plainsboro, N.J.  The campus will include the hospital, attached medical office building, education center, skilled nursing facility and a 32-acre public park.

UMCCP enlisted New York-based HOK (Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum) and RMJM, Princeton, N.J., to design the facility. Turner Construction Co., New York, is serving as the general contractor.

The hospital employs evidence-based design and is adopting best practices from hospitals across the country. Evidence-based design focuses on solutions that reduce stress, enhance patient safety and promote the healing process to improve patient care and medical outcomes.

Visitors will enter the medical center through a light-filled atrium. Public corridors and patient rooms will take advantage of natural light and views of the surrounding landscape and the Millstone River to create a warm and inviting environment.

Amenities in the 238 private rooms include Internet access, dedicated ventilation, temperature controls and room-service dining. Rooms are designed to prevent the spread of infections, reduce falls and improve communications.

Flexible designs permit the facility to accommodate emerging technologies and advances in medical care. Robotics and advanced imaging and treatment areas are included in the 600-sq-ft operating rooms. The 22,000-sq-ft Emergency Department features 28 private patient rooms and is equipped with a digital imaging and diagnostics facility, operating rooms and cardiac catheterization and vascular laboratories.

Demolition of existing structures on the site and utility relocation began in April 2008. Foundation excavation, ground stabilization and erosion work started a year later. Erection of the steel-frame structure will begin midsummer.

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The new facility will require over 7.2 million lbs of structural steel, 360,000 cu ft of concrete and 250,000 sheets of gypsum drywall.

An aluminum and glass curtain wall will cover the south face of the curved structure. Exterior screens attached to the facade will regulate sunlight and reduce the energy required to heat and cool the facility. The north wall will be clad in masonry with punch windows and highlighted with architectural metal panels.

The curved design creates a unique structural grid. To make the rooms the same width, the grid lines forming the rooms are a tangent off the radius of a circle. “There are virtually no 90-degree angles in the structural grid,” says Greg Ryan, project executive at Turner. “Essentially every bit of the layout needs to be done via GPS.”

Surveyors working on the layout will download CAD drawings into a program that identify column locations with GPS coordinates. Walls will also be laid out using GPS coordinates.

The project team is using building information modeling to coordinate designs. Three-dimensional models developed by the architects were overlaid on 3-D designs for the structural grid. Clash detection and resolution provided by 3-D visualization help the team identify where architectural features are not aligning with structural features.

Coordination of mechanical and electrical designs also employed clash detection.

UCMPP is designing the facility using LEED specification but will not seek LEED certification. The facility will generate its own electricity and steam with an onsite cogeneration power plant. The system is expected to reduce energy usage by 35%.

An ice-storage system will create ice at night when electricity rates are low. During the day, cold water produced when the ice melts will cool the facility.

Sustainable construction materials and interior finishes are used throughout the hospital. Low-flow fixtures and indigenous landscape materials will decrease water consumptions. Environmental control systems for lighting and temperature along with extensive use of daylighting will reduce electricity usage.

Ventilation systems will deliver 100% fresh air in critical patient care areas.

The new hospital will incorporate the latest digital technologies. Computer kiosks throughout will provide access to research, education and entertainment. A library will include print and electronic access to materials, high-tech classrooms that can be converted into an auditorium or integrated with surgical suites, and video-conferencing capabilities.

The Medical Center was selected by the Center for Health Design as a Pebble Project. The prestigious research initiative shares experiential information between health-care staff designing and building new facilities.

Project Team:

Owner: Princeton Medical Center
General Contractor: Turner Construction, New York
Architects: HOK, New York, and RMJM Hillier, Princeton, N.J.
Interior Designer: HOK/RMJM Hillier and CAMA Inc., New York
MEP Engineer: Syska Hennessy Group, New York
Civil Engineer: French & Parrello, Wall, N.J.
Structural Engineer: O’Donnell & Naccarato, Princeton, N.J.
Earthwork: Vollers Excavation & Construction Inc., North Branch, N.J.
Concrete: Maidson Concrete Construction: Malvern, Pa.
Masonry: Speranza Brickwork, Whitehouse Station, N.J.