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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2015
H+L has worked with SCL and its predecessor, Exempla,
for 30 years and was on the design team at the new Chil-
dren’s Hospital in Aurora. Simpson said that the experience
was invaluable on the Saint Joseph project.
“Health care is one of the most highly regulated and
highly constrained design types there is,” she said. “We did
as a firm take advantage of lessons learned fromChildren’s.”
This meant getting an early start on doors and associated
hardware, which in hospitals are “very precise and special-
ized” and have a long lead time.
The design team also made educated guesses on the
equipment to ensure power and space would be adequate.
“That part was a success,” said Simpson. “It saved us a lot of
time.”
“We implemented a lot of prefabrication to accelerate the
schedule,” said Gregor, noting that it not only helped save
time, but it also saved money and improved quality.
He pointed to “a shortage of trade resources” as a big factor
/ The New Saint Joseph Hospital /