MaineGeneral Medical Center, Harold Alfond Center for Health
A committed team spirit harnessed by an Integrated Project Delivery approach made the design and construction of the new Harold Alfond Center for Health a fluid and comprehensive process. Coming in 10 months ahead of schedule, and $20 million under budget, the client not only had a brand new medical center, but extra money to reinvest in patient care.
Client
MaineGeneral Medical Center
Location
Augusta, Maine
Markets/Services
Acute Care, Ambulatory Care, Architecture, Behavioral Health, Health & Wellness, Health, Interiors, Medical Planning, Programming
Size
640,000 SF
Featured Awards
Building Design + Construction Magazine, “Building Team Awards: Gold Award Winner,” 2014
Engineering News Record (ENR), “Best Healthcare Project Award - New England Region,” 2014
Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), “Illumination Award of Merit,” 2014
Collaboration is always key when working on a project, constructing a building, or creating spaces for people to live, heal, and grow. However, when our team was selected to construct the new MaineGeneral Medical Center Harold Alfond Center for Health, we took collaboration to the next level.
We used an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) process, which involves integrating all team members, disciplines, systems, and owners throughout the project’s life, operating alongside one another, on a daily basis.
This facilitated a true team approach when designing, coordinating and building the 600,000 SF replacement medical center that consolidates three inpatient facilities. That integrated team spirit held throughout the entire project when obstacles sprang up, such as when the budget did not allow for a heat recovery system that would provide a one-year payback to the owner, the different disciplines rolled up their sleeves and found ways to cut costs within their own respective processes.
The result is a medical center that came in 10 months ahead of schedule, and $20 million under budget.
The project is designed as a village of buildings with unique program uses: community education, a medical office building, diagnostic and treatment, ED, surgical suite, birthing suite, and inpatient units, linked with a singular public concourse with orienting views and access to outdoor spaces for rehabilitation, contemplation and gathering.
Because the center is built on a greenfield site where a golf course used to exist, our team wanted the building to reflect the surrounding nature as much as possible. Not only did we want the structure to look as if it belonged there, but we wanted those inside to experience the outside. Water features and courtyards are common elements within the center, fulfilling the client’s mission to promote wellness and healing, while celebrating the site’s beautiful setting.
Through intense collaboration at every stage of the project, the new Harold Alfond Center for Health is built holistically, comprehensively, and with each system reinforcing another, culminating in a highly efficient yet beautiful, patient-centered facility.