Medical center prescribed metal for its success
The University of Arizona Medical Center South Campus Behavioral Health Pavilion and Crisis Response Center, Tucson, Ariz., meets the challenges of a complex interdisciplinary program, acute safety and security requirements, demanding environmental conditions and a rigorous cost management agenda.
Metal was the prescription that led to its success. Completed in July 2011 under budget at only $187-per-square-foot, the 204,000-square-foot facility features two functionally inter-related buildings, a 96-bed psychiatric hospital and a crisis response center. Operating in tandem to serve multiple facets of behavioral care, the buildings are organized around a shared service court providing secure access for medical staff, law enforcement, courtroom personnel, and patient and material transfers. Each building features layered zones for patients, staff, and visitors with dedicated circulation networks.
Energy reduction was a primary sustainable strategy. Optimum building orientation, indigenous landscaping, locally produced building materials with high recycling content and careful glazing strategies promote a sustainable healing environment.
Metal was selected to create a cost-effective and durable exterior skin suitable for a university building, perform effectively in the hot, arid climate of southern Arizona. It could also provide reflective surfaces to minimize heat absorption. “The southern façade of the Behavioral Health Pavilion, clad in a beautiful ornamental metal design, significantly aids in the thermal management (shade) of the entire building,” says Mark Brown, LEED Green Associate, DPR Construction, Phoenix. “The building materials not only aid in the aesthetic, but assist the structure’s energy management.”
Also, “a university building of this type has to feel permanent and relate to its context,” says Carl Hampson, AIA, associate principal/design leader at Cannon Design, Los Angeles. “Metal was themost cost-effective and durable material that allowed selection of colors and hues that evoke the desert surroundings. Cost was minimized on the exterior skin without compromising quality, giving more of the budget back to patient amenities. Metal is used on upper floors as a light material, while the base is expressed in concrete block.” Lightweight, perforated aluminum metal panels made up the south façade’s fully cantilevered sunscreen system.
They filter daylight reducing energy loads up to 30 percent and provide fully recyclable products that contribute to the project’s sustainable design goals. Bristol, Conn.- based Morin Corp. provided aluminum GAXC-12 concealed fastener panels in a Champagne Pearl Kynar finish that made up 80 percent of the exterior cladding. Moon Township, Pa.-based CENTRIA provided BR5-36 aluminum, 40 percent perforated wall panels coated in a Dark Bronze Kynar finish for approximately 14,000 square feet of coverage. The Kynar finishes are from Arkema Inc., King of Prussia, Pa.
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The University of Arizona Medical Center South Campus Behavioral Health Pavilion and Crisis Response Center, Tucson, Ariz.
Completed: August 2011
Total square footage: 208,000 square feet
Building owner: Pima County Architect: Cannon Design, Los Angeles, www.cannondesign.com
General contractor/metal installer: DPR Construction, Phoenix,
www.dpr.com
Coatings: Arkema Inc., King of Prussia, Pa., www.arkema-inc.com
Metal wall panels: CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa., www.centria.com, and Morin Corp., A Kingspan Group Company, Bristol, Conn., www.morincorp.com
