Jl 07 July August 4

All-Precast-Concrete Solutionfor University of Hawaii Schoolof Medicine Buildings

Bennett Fung, P.E.PrincipalSSFM International Inc.

— Honolulu, Hawai’i

Kathleen Wong, P.E.Structural Engineer

SSFM International Inc.Honolulu, Hawai’i

Les Kempers, P.E.Vice President, Marketing & Sales—Hawai iGPRM Prestress (affiliated with RockyMountain Prestress, Hawaii Branch)Kapolei, Hawai’i

An all-precast/prestressed-concrete system provedidea I for constructing both the Medical EducationBuilding and the Biomedical Sciences Building forthe University of Hawai’i’s John A. Burns School ofMedicine in Honolulu, Hawaii.Built with loadbearing, architectural precast concrete window-box panels, these components alongthe perimeter of the building provide the primarylateral and vertical load-resisting system to with-Sstand gravity, wind, and seismic loads. The panelsalso serve as the main architectural facade, featuring several attractive Hawaiian nature motifs.The internal precast concrete frame, comprisingdouble tees, inverted tees, and columns, furnisheslarge, unobstructed, column-free spaces and flexibility for future changes inside the buildings. Theprecast concrete double tees were designed to thestringent vibration criteria of the research laboratories. This article presents design features and production and construction highlights of the two newbuildings at the Kaka’ako campus of the Universityof Hawaii’s School of Medicine.

Built along the scenic Kakaako waterfront in Honolulu, Hawai’i, the newly completed Medical EducationBuilding and Biomedical Sciences Building are the

two primary facilities on the new Kaka’ako campus of the University of Hawai’i (UH) John A. Bums School of Medicine(Fig. 14). With a construction cost of $150 million, thesetwo buildings represent an important basis for expansion of

PCI JOURNAL

the UH School of Medicine. This article presents design features and production and construction highlights ofthese two new buildings.

The medical school campus is builton a 9.9 acre (4 ha) site overlookingthe Pacific Ocean in the middle of aformer industrial district undergoingredevelopment. The purpose of thenew facilities is to fulfill the school’sprimary mission, namely, to foster botheducation and research. Founded in1965, the UH School of Medicine wasenvisioned by and named after John A.Burns, the governor of Hawai’i at thattime, The school’s ultimate objectiveis to be the best medical school in theworld with an Asia-Pacific focus (seeJohn A. Bums School of Medicine: ACenter of Learning Serving the Hawai’iCommunity, p. 26).

In addition to revitalizing the university’ s medical school program, the newfacilities will function as an economicengine for the state of Hawai’i and willcreate quality jobs, increase biomedical research activity, and be a stimulusfor a strong biotechnical industry in thestate.

The medical school campus comprises the Medical Education Buildingand the Biomedical Sciences Building,both of which were built predominantlywith precast/prestressed concrete.

The Medical Education Building isfour stories high and has a floor area of114,000 ft2 (10,600 m2). It houses theeducational and office/administrativefacilities, a medical library, a multimedia auditorium, and an indoor/outdoorcafe.

Figures 9 and 10 show interior viewsof the building.

The Biomedical Sciences Building is also four stories high and has afloor area of 184,000 ft2 (17,100 m2).It houses the main laboratories, level 3biosafety areas, and vibration-sensitivelaboratory equipment.

THE PROJECT TEAM

Commissioned to plan and designthe new medical school campus wasarchitect of record Architects Hawai’iLtd., an architectural firm with wideexperience in planning and designinginstitutional and commercial buildings.Joining the architect was structural en-

Fig. 1. Northwest elevation of the Medical Education Building.

Fig. 2. An aerial view of the overall project.

Fig. 3. North elevation of the Medical Education Building.

July—August 2007 21

gineer of record SSFM InternationalInc., which is also well known for itsexpertise in the structural design oflow-rise institutional and commercialbuildings. In this project, SSFM provided structural engineering and construction administration services forthe new facilities under a design-assistproject delivery method with the general contractor.

The project was awarded to Hawaiian Dredging/Kajima Construction, thegeneral contactor.

The precaster on the project wasGPR]V1 Prestress LLC. It played amajor role in converting the projectfrom a cast-in-place concrete/steelstructure to a precastlprestressed concrete system. In addition, GPRM Prestress contributed several cost-savingideas and fabricated and delivered theprecast concrete components. Hawaiian Dredging/Kajima Construction performed the precast concrete erection.

Finally, this project could not havebeen constructed without the valuableinput and final approval of the owner, theUH John A. Burns School of Medicine.

SWITCHING TO ANALL-PRECAST SYSTEM

Original plans for the Medical Education Building were to use structuralsteel framing and to enclose the building with cold-formed metal stud exterior walls covered with exterior insulatedfinishing systems (EIFS). The Biomedical Sciences Building was to have beenbuilt using a cast-in-place, reinforcedconcrete system to accommodate thelaboratory vibration requirements anda similar EIFS enclosure.

Even though the design team had abasic building system in mind, it wasstill looking for more efficient and economical methods to improve the construction and aesthetics of the facility.This was especially pertinent to theBiomedical Sciences Building, whichhad some challenging design criteriaregarding vibration. The advantageof working in a design-assist methodwas having input from the generalcontractor early in the design phase.The general contractor suggested theuse of precast concrete slabs in lieu ofa structural steel floor and brought in

Fig. 4. Closer view of the north elevation of the Medical Education Building.

—

Fig. 5. Northeast elevation of the Biomedical Sciences Building.

ig. 6. Plaza courtyard looking north at the Medical Education Building.

PCI JOURNAL

precaster GPRM Prestress to providesome budgeting input for an option thatused prestressed concrete floor slabs inthe Biomedical Sciences Building withcast-in-place concrete construction.

With a set of plans in hand, the precaster provided the requested floor slabpricing but also asked if the designteam would consider a budget for anall-precast-concrete system. Furthermore, the precaster offered to frameout both buildings from the existingdrawings and provide a firm budget.

Initially, there were some concernsabout whether precast concrete wallscould achieve the desired look, but whenshown samples of finishes available inarchitectural precast concrete that theprecaster had developed, the designarchitect’s interest was piqued. After afew meetings to work out the jointingof the facade, articulation options incorporating Hawaiian motif patterns, andcolor schemes, the design architect waspersuaded to seriously consider precastconcrete as a viable option, provided thebudget was favorable.

The structural engineer was opento the idea of using precast concreteas the primary building material provided that some of the structural issues could be resolved with a precastconcrete system and it met the budgetconstraints. In particular, the structural engineer was concerned aboutthe vibration requirements in the laboratories and how precast/prestressedconcrete could resolve that challenge.The vibration requirement was satisfied by using a stiff structural systemincorporating short, semirestrained,precast concrete double tees.

The engineer was also pleased thatthe entire exterior facade would beutilized as a shear frame for the lateralrequirements instead of needing manyshear walls inside the structure or aheavily reinforced concrete momentframe that would be difficult to providethe stiffness required for the Biomedical Sciences Building. Ultimately, thebuildings’ structural issues were resolved with a precastlprestressed concrete system.

The general contractor (HawaiianDredging/Kajima Construction) wasshown some of the advantages of usingan all-precast-concrete system, suchas single-source responsibility for the Fig. 8. Exterior view of the atrium lobby of the Medical Education Building.

Fig. 7. Plaza courtyard looking west at the Biomedical Sciences Building.

—I


Table 1. Number and Dimensions of Precast/Prestressed Concrete Components

Precast/Prestressed Component Medical Education Building Biomedical Sciences Building

Dimensions Niuutnber or Amount Dimensions Number or Amount

24in.deepx7ft 24in.deepx7ft44 in. wide x 60 ft 156 in. wide x 35 ft long 186long

l8in.deepx7ft 24in.deepx7ft4165Double tees 4 in. wide x ft in. wide x 32 ft long

long

24in.deepx7ft4 93in. wide x 50 ft long

32in.deepx7ft4 60in. widex 39ftlong

28 in. wide x 36 28 in. wide x 36 in.

Inverted-tee beams and rectangular in. deep1037 linear ft

deep4151 linear ft

beams 12 in. wide x 24 12 in. wide x 24 in.in. deep deep

Columns 20 in. square 633 linear ft 20 in. square 1904 linear ft

Three-floor stairs 2 Three-floor stairs 2Stair core walls and stair units

Four-floor stairs 1 Four-floor stairs 1

16½ in. thick 16½ in. thickPiles octagonal piles, 60 22,000 linear ft octagonal piles, 60 22,000 linear ft

ft long ft long

8 in. thick x 14 ft 76 8 in. thick x 17 ft 105highx22ftlong highx22ftlong

8in.thickxl4ft 56 8in.thickxl7ft 12highx 30 ft long highx 3oftlong

8in.thickxl7ft 40high x 11 ft long

l6in.thickxl7ft 12Wall panels’ high x 29 ft long

l6in.thickxl7ft 6high x 19 ft long

l6in.thickxl7ft 6highx l6ftlong

Healing plantspanel, 12 in. thick x 119 ft high x 21 ft long

Slabs NA 6 in. thick 6085 ft2

Soffit girders NA 28 in. wide x 12 in. 880 linear ftdeep

About 47,000 ft2 total of wall panels were used in the Medical Education Building and about 64,500 ft2 total were used in the Biomedical Sciences Building.

Note: I in. = 25.4 mm; 1 ft = 0.3048 m; I ft2 = 0.093 m2.

Building Code with a 2A seismiczone, a site coefficient SD, an 80 mphdesign wind velocity, and an exposurecategory D.

Figures 11 and 12 show floor plansand elevations of the Medical Education Building and Biomedical SciencesBuilding.

Both the Medical Education Building and Biomedical Sciences Building used a similar structural buildingframe, namely, loadbearing precastconcrete window-box panel units onthe perimeter combined with a double-

tee flooring system on the interior ofthe building. The double tees are supported along the interior with invertedtees, which in turn rest on columns.

Because the buildings are situated oncompressible lagoon (marsh) deposits,

a deep pile foundation was required.

The Medical Education Building ismade up of two separate wings joined

by a 12-ft-wide (3.7 m) bridge. The

floor framing consists of 7 ft 4 in.—wide

(2.2 m) x 24-in.-deep (610 mm) double

tees spanning 60 ft (18 m), with a 3-in.-

thick (75 mm) topping of cast-in-place

concrete. The double tees are support

ed along the interior by 28-in.-wide x

36-in.-deep (710 mm x 914 mm) inverted tees, which sit on 20-in.-square

(510 mm) columns. The bridge isconstructed of 1 8-in.-deep (460 mm)double tees with a 3-in.-thick (75 mm)

topping of cast-in-place concrete.

The 8-in.-thick (200 mm), archi

tectural precast concrete, loadbearing

window-box panels along the perim

eter provide bearing support for the

precast concrete floors and steel roof

framing, and are designed as frame


Fig. 11. Floor plan and elevation of the Medical Education Building.

topping to meet the vibration requirements of the laboratory equipment.

The vibration challenge is further discussed in the following section. Similarto the Medical Education Building, theloadbearing architectural precast concrete window-box panels provide themain bearing and lateral support for thestructure. The thickness of the panelsused in the Medical Education Build-

ing ranges from 8 in. to 24 in. thick(200 mm and 610 mm).

MAJOR CHAllENGES

One of the challenges faced early inthe design stages of the project was toprovide an open floor area that couldaccommodate modular work and office

spaces and also be flexible enough toaccommodate future changes in staffspace and research requirements. Forexample, in the case of the MedicalEducation Building, the original steel-framed building would have requiredcolumns every 30 ft (9.1 m) at the intenor bays as well as around the entireperimeter. The architectural facadewould then be fabricated with metal


;ig. 12. Floor plan and elevation of the Biomedical Sciences Building.

i,TJ1J

PCI JOURNAL

framing and EIFS to fit between thesteel supports.

Inmiediately, concerns arose regarding the durability of such a structurebecause of its proximity to the ocean.The steel, metal framing, and EIFSwould be exposed to possible corrosionand/or moisture problems. Concernswere also raised regarding limitationsof available floor space as governed bythe column locations.

Therefore, to provide a more openand flexible floor space, it became logical to use a precast, prestressed concretesystem that could provide longer spans.For example, the double tees couldspan twice as far as the steel beams,from 30 ft to 60 ft (9.1 m to 18.3 m).Also, the number of column lines couldbe reduced from three rows to one rowdown the center, thereby reducing thenumber of columns and column footings by nearly half.

Following this scheme, the loadbearing architectural precast concrete panels would provide the structural verticalgravity support system, the lateral load-resisting system, and the primary architectural facade for the building. Thedetailed patterns cast into the precastconcrete panels are further discussed inDistinguishable Building Features.

Another advantage of using precastconcrete is that most of the componentsneeded for its manufacture are readilyavailable and that it is also manufactured locally. This is a more desirableoption for the contractor instead of having to import materials from the mainland United States or another country.

A further challenge the designers faced was the floor system at theBiomedical Sciences Building, whichwas originally intended to use a cast-in-place concrete structure. The floorsystem in this building was requiredto meet the strict vibration limitations(2000 micro-in, per sec) of the laboratory equipment. Consequently, thefloor system had to be stiff enough todampen the vibrations generated frompeople walking along the corridor andbetween laboratory stations. A vibration amplitude of a 185 lb (84 kg) person walking 85 paces per minute wasused to investigate various concretetopping thicknesses, double-tee depthsat various spans, various end restraints,and various concrete strengths.

Fig. 13. Precast concrete panels with kapa motif,

Fig. 14. Precast concrete panels with Fig. 15. Closeup of precast concretehealing plant motif. panel with healing plant motif.

Fig. 16. Viewing of first window-box panels in precaster’s plant by owner-design team.


cast concrete walls. However, becauseof weight restrictions of the crane andhauling the panels, the panels were castwith large typical window openings tokeep the weight in line with shippinglimits and crane capacities and thenwere infilled with a separate precastconcrete panel once the window-boxpanels were in place.

CONSTRUCTIONHIGHLIGHTS

Planning of the project started in January 2001 (for a time line, see Table 3).The design of the buildings took abouttwo and a half years, partially becausethe initial design was converted to aprecastJprestressed concrete system but

also because of the many and variedchallenges of a complex project suchas this. Clearance of the site and foundation work began in January 2003. Asmentioned previously, because of thepoor, marshy site, piles needed to bedriven to bedrock.

The precaster prepared precast-concrete-component shop drawings fromSeptember 2002 to October 2003. Fabrication of the precast concrete components took place at the GPRM Prestressplant in Kapolei from January 2003 toApril 2004. Figure 16 shows a window-box panel unit being inspected atthe plant. The pieces were transportedto the project site by tractor-trailer withthe special tilt-up arrangement to meetlane width and bridge clearance limitations (see Fig. 17).

Erection of the precast concrete for theMedical Education Building took placefrom June 2003 to November 2003, followed by erection of the Biomedical Sciences Building from November 2003 toMay 2004. Erection occurred smoothlyand with minimal problems.

Figures 18 through 21 show various phases of the erection. Figure 22shows the completed Medical Education Building.

The total time of construction of theproject was two and a half years fromfoundation work to landscaping. TheMedical Education Building was occupied by October 2004, and the Biomedical Sciences Building was openeda year later.

The total construction cost for theentire project was about $150 million.This included decorative artwork, landscaping, and other ancillary work.

The owner and design-constructionteam are pleased that they switchedthe design from structural steel/reinforced concrete to precastlprestressedconcrete in order to build the two newmedical buildings. The buildings arenot only functionally efficient but arealso aesthetically beautiful.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge the architect of record, Architects Hawai’i Ltd.(AHL), for the planning and design ofthis project, and in particular Walter H.Muraoka, AlA, ACHA, AHL’s principal-in-charge; David Bylund, AlA; and

__.t_

‘ ..—

Fig. 19. First set of all panel types erected at project site. This picture shows theclassic loadbearing panel system in place.

Fig. 20. Erection of double tees at Biomedical Sciences Building.

32 PCI JOURNAL

Jeff Nakamura, AlA, for their valuableinput to this article and project.

In addition, the authors thankGregg Takayama of the Universityof Hawai’i John A. Burns School ofMedicine for permission to publishthis article.

CREDITS

Owner: University of Hawai ‘i JohnA. Burns School of Medicine;Honolulu, Hawai’i

Architect of Record: ArchitectsHawai’i Ltd.; Honolulu, Hawai’i

Engineer of Record: SSFMInternational Inc.; Honolulu,Hawai’i

General Contractor: HawaiianDredging/Kajima Construction;Honolulu, Hawai’i

Precaster: GPRM Prestress LLC(affiliated with Rocky MountainPrestress, Hawai’i branch); Kapolei,Hawai ‘i

Photographer of Finished Buildings:Ed Gross/The Image Group Inc.;Honolulu, Hawai ‘i

Photographer of Buildings duringConstruction: SSFM InternationalInc., GPRM Prestress LLC, and

Hawaiian Dredging/KajimaConstruction

Other Awards: 2006 ConcreteAchievement Award, sponsoredby Hawaiian Cement; New Public!

Government, Project of the Year,NAIOP-Hawai’i; GCA BuildHawai’i Award of Excellence; andASID Award of Merit.

A

_____\.

%5 r’’

- ; —

_____

4.t.1ir—- -

_ _

- / T-

____ ______

Fig. 21. Erection of floor system showing columns, inverted tees, and double tees in place.

Fig. 22. Northeast elevation of the completed Medical Education Building showingexterior artwork.


Documents

Jl 07 July August 4